Les Ormes () is a
commune in the
Yonne department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in Eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...
in north-central
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
History
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Yonne region fell under German occupation after the
Battle of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...
in 1940. The area would again see fighting in August 1944 during
Operation Houndsworth
Operation Houndsworth was the codename for a British Special Air Service operation during the Second World War. The operation carried out by 'A' Squadron, 1st Special Air Service between 6 June and 6 September 1944, was centred on Dijon in the B ...
, in which local
Maquis
Maquis may refer to:
Resistance groups
* Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance
* Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War
* The network ...
resistance fighters and British commandos from the
Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...
were tasked with harassing German troops behind the frontlines.
On August 23, 1944, a detachment of commandos from C Squadron, 1st Special Air Service (led by Captain Derrick Harrison) stumbled upon a
Waffen-SS unit preparing to execute local civilians in Les Ormes' town square. The two SAS jeeps opened fire on the Germans, and a brief firefight ensued before the commandos made their escape. Harrison estimated at least 60 German soldiers wounded or
killed in action. One commando, Lance Corporal James 'Curly' Hall, was killed.
See also
*
Communes of the Yonne department
The following is a list of the 423 communes of the Yonne
Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgo ...
References
Communes of Yonne
{{Yonne-geo-stub