Exmes (Orne)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
Liberation: August 15, 1944
Deployed units:
Groupement Tactique de Langlade, 2ème division blindée
5th Armored Division
357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division
358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division
359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division
2. SS Panzer-Division “Das Reich”
116. Panzer-Division
History:
On August 15, 1944, the 90th Infantry Division was ordered to advance eastward in accordance with the XV Corps plan and to identify elements of the 5th Armored Division present in the area. Company C of the 359th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Robert L. Bacon) reached the outskirts of Exmes during the day. But the multiple German counter-attacks on the village of Bourg Saint-Léonard during the following days forced the 90th Infantry Division to reorganize its system: on August 17, the 2nd Battalion of the 358th Infantry Regiment (IR) commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Christian H. Clarke, Jr takes a position in place of Company C of the 359th IR.
On August 19, 1944, the task force led by Major Massu belonging to the 2nd French Armored Division (commanded by General Leclerc) was ordered to cross Exmes and then to proceed to the departmental road 13, East of Chambois. The commune of Exmes was reached that same day and Colonel Langlade installed the command post of his battle group.
Exmes maps:
