Saint Aubin-sur-Mer (, literally ''Saint Aubin on Sea'') is a commune in the Calvadosdepartment, in northwestern France. Administratively, it is part of the
arrondissement of Caen
The arrondissement of Caen is an arrondissement of France in the Calvados department in the Normandy region. It has 201 communes. Its population is 384,540 (2016), and its area is .
Composition
The communes of the arrondissement of Caen, and th ...
and the
canton of Courseulles-sur-Mer The canton of Courseulles-sur-Mer is an administrative division of the Calvados department, northwestern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Courseulles-sur-Mer.
It consis ...
. It is 2.1 km east of
Bernières-sur-Mer
Bernières-sur-Mer (, literally ''Bernières on Sea''), in the arrondissement of Caen, is a commune in the Calvados department of Normandy, in northwestern France. It is part of the canton of Courseulles-sur-Mer. It lies on the English Channel ...
, 4 km north of
Douvres-la-Délivrande
Douvres-la-Délivrande () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The name was simply Douvres until 1961, when it was expanded to refer to the basilica Notre-Dame de la Délivrande ("Our Lady of Del ...
and 16 km north of
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Langrune-sur-Mer. Upon its creation in 1851, by the will of Napoleon III , Saint-Aubin had a population of and Langrune . Nicknamed "Queen of Iodine", at low tide its banks of seaside rocks expose, an air of iodine saturates the beaches, thanks to the bladder-fucus and kelp deposited there.
During the second half of the 19th century, the population of Saint-Aubin declined to the point that in 1901, there were only inhabitants. In July 1876, a train station was opened in Saint-Aubin along the Caen à la mer line, permitting the development of a sea resort. The 1920s brought the construction of its Rococo or Art Deco villas, and its 1800 m seawall (dam walk), today the seafront buildings open passages to the narrow alleys, where old fishermen's houses are the watchful guardians of the past. Located in the heart of the Canadian and British D-Day beaches, the waterfront, to a large extent, did not suffer from the misdeeds of the war.
D-Day
At the beginning of the Battle of Normandy, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Rodney Keller, landed 15,000 Canadians and 9,000 British troops on the Calvados coast. Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, one of five Canadian landing sites. was located at the eastern end of Canada's assigned landing sector of Juno Beach. On
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
10th Armoured Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse)
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
, and the guns of the 19th Canadian (Army) Field Regiment, RCA. The Canadians were met by about 100 defenders who garrisoned the town's fortified 'Resistance Nest'. The Germans were largely unaffected by the preparatory barrage, as such they were able to put up heavy resistance at the beach and in the town, for most of the day, as the Canadians pushed inland.
Widerstandnesten WN27 was located at: North 49.332846 degrees and West 00.395439 degrees and in June 1944 for targeting purposes was at: LCC MR Grid 014850 (Ref. GSGS 4250 1:50K: Creully Sheet 7E/5). The (WN) Resistance Nest at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer was a platoon sized position, incorporating reinforced concrete (Verstärkt Feltmessig: Vf Type 2) gun casemates, with additional observation and fighting positions, located to dominate exits off the beach, into the town. A tight and compact position on the western side of town, the fight to hold WN27 was commanded by Züg Führer (Acting Commander) Lieutenant Gustav Pflochsch - Kompanie 5. / Grenadier-Regiment 736./ Bataillon II. The crew served weapon shelters were linked by both underground passages and a well-developed system of trenches. WN 27 additionally incorporated a battalion heavy mortar detachment, located directly behind the beach seawall. Several of the villas and houses, in the town, had been strengthened and fortified as additional fighting positions, and to locate site snipers. Approaches into the position were well protected by K.V. Gruppe Courseulles minefields. The left front (NW) sea approach was protected by a large Beach Minefield: Mf 56, and beach front, above the left seawall, by Mf 44. The left rear (SW) land approach was protected Beach Minefield: Mf 55 and its rear left flank by tactical minefield: Mf 45.
The coastline at St Aubin-dur-Mer was low lying, and to its east were low cliffs for a mile and a half, with a sea wall along most of it. Offshore, eastwards were rocky outcrops parts of which were exposed at low tide: les Essarts de Langrune. Having survived a weakened beach bombardment programme, at 07h39, WN 27 began to take indirect fire; from landing craft LCT (Mk4) embarked SP 105mm Artillery. Firing on the run in, 19th Canadian (Army) Field Regiment, RCA, forty-eight guns fired for 30 minutes, putting down a very effective concentration, landing its first battery at 09h10. Heavily mortared getting off the narrowed (tide) and congested beach, the first gun was in action at 09h20. Observation and reconnaissance parties reported finding few targets in the early stages, when there was much close fighting, in the town. With no relief, the position was then covered by LCT (Rocket) 5" Drenching Fire at H-8 and H-5 and the two flanks enveloped by Hedgerows 60 lbers, from LCA(HR)s at H-3, intended to cut the wire entanglements and detonate the landmines, securing the approaches onto the crew fighting positions. Disrupting any attempt at recovery, WN 27 began to take direct fire from arriving LCT (Mk3) DD Tanks of C Squadron, 10th Canadian Armoured Regiment, The Fort Garry Horse, at H-Hr (07h55 BST). ‘C’ Squadron landed and managed to give supporting fire from the beach.
Attacked from its left flank, WN 27 was assaulted by ‘B’ Company, The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment (OC Major R.B. Forbes) they landing just west of the town, at 08h10, it having the difficult task of clearing the strong-point. This as ‘A’ Company, (Major J.A.M.C. Naughton), landing at 08h10 hours, to its right, was to clear the beach-houses fronting the seawall. At H+45 with no beach exits, the reserve North Shore companies landing, snipers targeting the tank commanders, the OC 'C’ Squadron, The Fort Garry Horse (Major W. Bray) decided to advance through 'the' minefield (Beach Mf 56). Three tanks lost, 'C' Squadron now in St. Aubin (with Royal Engineer AVREs), after a hard fight St Aubin, was soon under control. 'A' Company clear of its planned objective by 09h48, except for the strong-point, Saint Aubin was reported as neutralized (secure) - at 11h15. Having taken 48 prisoners, with continuing difficulty at isolated spots, WN 27 was reported as Neutralized (Cleared) – at 18h00. The North Shores landing at NAN Red lost nearly 50 men (dead and wounded) in the fight for WN 27.
German Crew Served Weapons at WN 27 Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer.
Discussing the fire support to the landing at Saint Aubin-sur-Mer (NAN Red), a debate began, in late June 1944, as to who was not entirely effective in supporting the North Shores and the Fort Garry’s, on 6 June.
*‘On the left battalion front (St. Aubin-sur-Mer) neither the RAF heavy bombers, the rockets, nor the self-propelled artillery actually covered the main strong point and the North Shore Regiment engaged it without the assistance of heavier arms until sometime later. A considerable time was therefore spent in reducing it.’ Brigadier K.C. Blackader, MC, ED, Commander 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade:24 June 1944.
*From H-40 to H, the three Fleet ‘V’ Class Destroyers, of Assault Group J2, HMS Vigilant (R93), HMCS Algonquin (R17) and
HMCS Sioux
HMCS ''Sioux'' was a V-class destroyer of the Royal Canadian Navy which fought in the Second World War and the Korean War. She was launched as HMS ''Vixen'' for the British Royal Navy before being transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy. She ...
did not fire, as planned in support of the two 8 CIB landings. Controlled by HMS Kempenfelt (Flag - Captain Assault Group J2), The Beach Drenching Fire Programme, set out to ensure indirect naval gunfire was delivered to the right beach, at the right time, was changed, as the St Aubin and Bernières landings took place.
*When 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade put H Hour back by ten minutes, this apparently caused a delay in the opening of fire of the SP artillery, as six batteries had to adjust their firing tables. However, Brigade HQ reported that Bernières and St Aubin received ‘a terrific pounding’, this before all SP artillery fire switched to St Aubin. At the time, the cause was thought to be the strong current making navigation and station keeping difficult, as SP guns had a limited traverse, the LCT itself had to be aimed, the current caused all craft to point at St Aubin. A later report suggested a technical problem with the control craft observing and controlling fire on Bernières, so control was transferred to the craft off St Aubin and all fire concentrated there. Whatever the cause it was Bernières (Nan White), that did not receive the full (beach) barrage as planned.
Population
Literary associations
* Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer is the setting of
Robert Browning
Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical sett ...
's poem ''
Red Cotton Night-Cap Country
''Red Cotton Night-Cap Country, or Turf and Towers'' (1873) is a poem in blank verse by Robert Browning. It tells a story of sexual intrigue, religious obsession and violent death in contemporary Paris and Normandy, closely based on the true stor ...
'', where it is renamed Saint-Rambert.
* In this picturesque seaside town Émile Zola wrote his novel about the underbelly of Paris society, ''
L'Assommoir
''L'Assommoir'' , published as a serial in 1876, and in book form in 1877, is the seventh novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series '' Les Rougon-Macquart''. Usually considered one of Zola's masterpieces, the novel — a study of alcoholism and p ...
* Every summer in the middle of August, Saint-Aubin hosts a week-long festival called ''La semaine acadienne'', composed of concerts by musical groups from
Acadia
Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and earl ...
, a Tintamarre, an open-air ball, exhibitions, documentary film showings, etc. The festival also pays tribute to the Acadian soldiers of the ''North Shore Regiment'' of
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
who landed on the beach of Saint-Aubin on June 6, 1944.
International relations
The commune is twinned with:
* Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada - many soldiers that died in Saint-Aubin were from there
* Emsworth in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
See also
*
Communes of the Calvados department
The following is a list of the 528 communes of the Calvados department of France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regio ...