Étréham () is a
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in the
Calvados
Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples or pears, or from apples with pears.
History In France
Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Nor ...
department in the
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
in northwestern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
Toponymy
''Oesterham'' in 1350.
Probably Old Saxon ''*wester'' or Old English ''westre'' related to "west" (Old High German ''westar'', west-; see
Westerham
Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey.
It is recorded as early ...
, Kent) and ''hām'' "home, hamlet"
[ René Lepelley, ''Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de communes de Normandie'', Presses Universitaires de Caen 1993.] or, less probably, Old Saxon ''ōstar'' related to "east" (see
Ouistreham
Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France.
Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the ...
). This place name corresponds to Saxon settlements in
Bayeux and in the surrounding
Bessin Region (the so-called ''Otlinga Saxonia'') in the 5 - 6th century or to Anglo-Scandinavian settlements later in the 10th.
History
World War II
The village was bombed on 8 June 1944, two days after the
D-Day landings
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 ...
, by the
Big Red One
The 1st Infantry Division is a combined arms division of the United States Army, and is the oldest continuously serving division in the Regular Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917 during World War I. It was off ...
(U.S. First Division). It was liberated one day later, and about 600 German soldiers were taken prisoner. After the liberation, the Allies used the place called ''Mont Cauvin'' in the same commune to store their oil until the conquest of
Cherbourg.
Population
See also
*
Communes of the Calvados department
References
Communes of Calvados (department)
Calvados communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
{{Calvados-geo-stub