Flers (Orne)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
August 17, 1944: A Challenger tank and Cromwell tanks of the 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry (11th Armoured Division) pass through Flers.
Photo : IWM B9329
- Liberation: 17 August 1944
- Deployed units:
1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division
3rd (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Reconnaissance Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division
159th Infantry Brigade, 11th Armoured Division
II. SS-PanzerKorps
- History:
Shortly after 1:00 a.m. on June 6, 1944, an air raid targeted the town of Flers in preparation for the D-Day landings, killing seven members of the Fouchard family on Rue de La Fontaine. In accordance with Allied intentions, most of the communication routes crossing the Normandy towns were to be bombed to disrupt the movement of reinforcements toward the future beachhead, forcing them to multiply bypass routes. The Allies also targeted a fuel depot located near Flers.
At the first light of D-Day, residents made the connection between the leaflets dropped a few days earlier by the Allies, urging them to leave the towns, and the D-Day landings that had begun on the coast: realizing that the front line was still far from Flers, many civilians chose to remain in their homes and apartments. But at 7:45 p.m. and then at 8:30 p.m. on D-Day, 26 American B-17 “Flying Fortress” bombers belonging to the 8th Air Force, divided into two waves, appeared in the sky. They dropped 73 tons of bombs on the city, which was transformed into a vast field of ruins. Residents were surprised in the streets by the explosions, and the human toll was catastrophic. 98 civilians were killed during this terrible raid. Ten of them perished in the crypt of Saint-Germain Church. A massive fire broke out when the water pipes were breached, preventing any firefighters from responding. Aerial bombardments continued the following night, as well as on June 12, 13, and 14. In total, 107 residents of Flers were killed during the liberation, which destroyed 70% of the town.
Initially scheduled to fall under Allied control by June 21 at the latest, the town of Flers still had to wait nearly two months to be liberated. By August 16, the 11th Armored Division was only two kilometers northwest of the town, reaching Saint-Georges-des-Groseillers where it came under artillery fire. Around noon, C Squadron of the 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment, which was temporarily detached to the benefit of the 11th Armored Division, reached the outskirts of Flers and cautiously entered the town, whose approach routes were littered with abandoned or destroyed German vehicles. They were followed by soldiers from the 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment, who took up the rear. The Germans of the II. SS-PanzerKorps, retreating towards Argentan and Falaise, abandoned the town to the Allies, who were greeted by cheers from the population.
British soldiers of the 159th Infantry Brigade (11th Armored Division), namely the infantrymen of the 1st Battalion The Herefordshire Regiment, supported by the armored vehicles of the 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry, entered Flers from the north on the morning of August 17. At 9:30 a.m., they linked up with men of the 3rd Infantry Division, completed their reconnaissance of the entire town, before continuing their advance towards Briouze.
Map of Flers :
