Parfouru-sur-Odon (Calvados)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
Liberation: August 4, 1944
Deployed units:
231st Infantry Brigade, 50th Infantry Division
Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130, Panzer-Lehr-Division
History:
On 11 June 1944, Major Wilhelm von Schönburg-Waldenburg, commander of the 2nd Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130 (Panzer-Lehr-Division) battalion, was killed in his Panzer IV tank with his crew on the road between Tilly-Sur-Seulles and Cristot. The Germans decided to bury him in the communal cemetery of Parfouru-sur-Odon.
When the front line reached this locality nearly two months later, on 4 August 1944 at 1 am, the Germans requisitioned all means of transport to the inhabitants (bicycles, carts…). They then abandon the village of Parfouru-sur-Odon in a hurry at daybreak. The British of the 231st Infantry Brigade (50th Infantry Division) released the commune later in the day.
Parfouru-sur-Odon maps:
