June 17, 1940, in La Manche…

The Phoney War…

Before the war, Saint-Sauveur de Pierrepont was a peaceful village that was not destined to become a symbol of the fighting in La Manche in 1940. Overlooking the marshes, the small village was located just outside La Haye-du-Puits, on the road to Les Pieux and Cherbourg. The men had gone to war in September 39, as they had throughout the country, called up by the general mobilization. For months, little had been heard of the “front”, as nothing much was happening there, apart from a few helping hands. The old-timers of ’14 were grumbling into their moustaches, saying that it wasn’t the same as in their day, that in their day, “…we attacked the Krauts every day…”. But nothing could be done. It was the “The Phoney War…”, in other words, a period when the two sides observed each other, facing each other without planning an offensive, waiting for a better industrial mobilization that would give them the upper hand. In Saint-Sauveur-de-Pierrepont, far from the front line, concerns were quite different. The commune’s mobilized members regularly write that, where they are, “...nothing is happening...”.

1940, The “Blitzkrieg” and the debacle

The situation changed dramatically in the spring of 1940, when Hitler launched his armored and parachute divisions to conquer Scandinavia. From May 10, his troops invaded the Netherlands, Belgium and crossed the Ardennes into northern France. Surprised by this unprecedented way of waging war, based on the “Blitzkrieg” (lightning offensive), the French army was forced to retreat after heavy fighting. Every day, French soldiers were strafed relentlessly by German aircraft, and had to walk for miles on end with enemy armor at their heels. Sometimes heroic rearguard action took place, from Belgium to Dunkirk, via the Meuse or the banks of the Loire, but everywhere, one impression dominated. The debacle.

May 1940, worry and hope

On May 27, the Prefecture of La Manche announced that the department was now included in the army zone, and therefore likely to experience major military operations. However, until the beginning of June, Saint-Sauveur-de-Pierrepont finally lived far from the war, which she followed by the newspapers and the radio. There is hardly any news from the soldiers, the mail is more irregular. The Cherbourg region becomes the target of German bombers and the alerts are multiplying there, like the shots of DCA. On June 9, we learned that the Germans were in Rouen. Inexorably, the war is getting closer. The columns of refugees crossing the Channel carry the most improbable news, aggravating the anxiety. But morale soon returned to Saint-Sauveur-de-Pierrepont at the sight of the many English convoys that passed the town and fled to Cherbourg.

The courage of the defenders in the face of Rommel

Everything changed on June 17! Two German armored columns, coming from the Orne via Vire, cross the south of the département, one heading for Saint-Lô then Carentan, the other passing through Gavray and Coutances. These were the advanced units of the 7th armored division, commanded by a daring young general, Erwin Rommel. Hitler had set him a clear objective: to take Cherbourg, which he intended to do as quickly as possible.

On June 17, 1940, when all seemed lost and “...the war is over, Pétain said so…” was heard everywhere, a handful of diehard soldiers still clung to the defensive lines in the Cotentin region. They are sailors, artillerymen, Senegalese riflemen, infantrymen of varying ages, whom fate has placed there, on the defense line hastily established along the Cotentin marshes. Equipped with a few cannons and equipment sometimes dating back to the other war, they had to single-handedly stop Rommel’s Panzer in order to allow the reembarkation of the British troops pouring into Cherbourg, as well as the French forces and all essential administrations.

The first fighting took place north of La Haye-du-Puits on the evening of June 17. After crossing the La Manche without resistance, Rommel’s troops came to a standstill on the Cherbourg road at Denneville. As night fell, the Germans decided not to prolong the engagement, but at dawn, artillery fire broke out, silencing the French defensive position. The French unit resisted, but suffered many casualties and was eventually forced to withdraw. The Germans took the position and continued their advance.

Rommel at Barneville – Photo Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-296-1982-04A

Uneven struggle and Rommel’s victory

A few kilometers away, another French strongpoint suffered much the same fate, the one set up at Saint-Sauveur-de-Pierrepont. Equipped with two cannons, the position commanded by marine engineer Ramas was tasked with slowing down the Germans for as long as possible. Accepting the sacrifice, these men fought one against ten, outclassed by German mechanical power. Within minutes, the artillery pieces were destroyed, and the wounded gunners withdrew, as did the infantrymen and Senegalese fighting alongside them. The position commander was killed, along with two sailors, and many wounded lay on the battlefield, ploughed by German shells. With the last lock broken, Rommel was able to rush back to Cherbourg.

On the west coast, near Carentan, delaying action also took place, but failed to halt the Panzer advance for long. The battle for Cherbourg began and ended on June 19. Rommel’s victory at last…

Years later, La Manche was once again the scene of terrible fighting between the Germans and the Allies. After the Normandy landings, the Battle of the Hedges took place, claiming many victims among both combatants and civilians. A battle that reopened the gates of freedom for France and Europe. The Normandy Victory Museum in Carentan tells the story of the Battle of the Hedges and pays tribute to all its victims.