Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët (Manche)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
- Liberation: 2 August 1944
- Deployed units:
358th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division
77. Infanterie-Division
- History:
A little over a week after the start of the Normandy landings, the town of Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët was the target of a violent Allied air raid. The bombings aimed to slow the movement of German reinforcements from the southern Cotentin Peninsula towards the front line by transforming this important road junction into a heap of ruins that was difficult to cross. Thus, on June 14, 1944, at 8:15 p.m., several successive waves of bombers landed, dropping their cargo on the village. Despite leaflets dropped before June 6, urging the population to seek refuge outside the housing projects, many residents still lived in Saint-Hilaire. The bombs, which destroyed 80% of the buildings, caused fires that were not extinguished for two days due to a lack of water to fight them. 30 civilians were killed, and several dozen others were injured.
On August 1st, as the Americans approached the southern limits of the Cotentin Peninsula, General Dempsey reorganized his troops to prepare for the next operations, particularly the entry of Allied forces into Brittany. The 90th Infantry Division thus transferred to the command of the 15th Corps, subordinate to General Patton’s Third Army. The division’s new mission was to « seize and secure the bridges over the Sélune in the Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët sector » the following day, in order to be able to repel any enemy counterattacks in this sector. At 11:00 p.m., the 358th Infantry Regiment (IR) began its advance from the Périers region.
At first light on August 2nd, the infantrymen left the vehicles transporting them to the Isigny-le-Buat sector and continued their infiltration on foot. The 3rd Battalion is in the lead, led by the postman Louis Launay, originally from Milly; along the way, it reduces some isolated resistance without being delayed. While reconnaissance elements approach the town around 7:30 a.m. from the railway line to define the axes of approach and potential German defensive positions, Company I of the 358th IR reaches the destroyed Paveille bridge over the Sélune to the west of the place called Les Isles around 11 a.m. Simultaneously, Company K sets up defensive positions and then prepares to advance towards the center of the village: after a rapid artillery preparation and supported by light armored vehicles, the American soldiers mount the assault at 2 p.m. and engage via Rue d’Egypte, after crossing an intact bridge over the Sélune. They are attacked by a section belonging to the 77th Infantry Division, entrenched in the houses. The fighting between the Americans and the Germans continued until 5 p.m.: the defenders retreated and were only able to engage in rearguard action, hoping to trade ground for precious hours to reorganize.
The 90th Infantry Division resumed its action on August 3rd in the direction of Fougères. While the war gradually moved away from Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët, the town continued to be regularly hit by shells: several of these, this time German, claimed ten additional casualties among the population on August 6th and 7th.
The reconstruction of the town, begun as soon as the fighting in the area ended, was not completed until 1964.
Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët map:
Back to the Normandy cities in 1944