Hermanville-sur-Mer () is a commune in the Calvados 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 France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Population

Sights

* 13th century church * Commonwealth war cemetery * Old village centre * Villa la Bluette, an 1899 villa by architect

Hector Guimard Hector Guimard (, 10 March 1867 – 20 May 1942) was a French architect and designer, and a prominent figure of the Art Nouveau style. He achieved early fame with his design for the Castel Beranger, the first Art Nouveau apartment building ...

* Villa La Houle * Manoir de Prébois

Normandy landings

The beach of Hermanville, part of the area codenamed

Sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

, was one of the targets of

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

on 6 June 1944. The Cod German stronghold was located on the coast. A Norwegian destroyer, the HNoMS ''Svenner'', sank in front of Hermanville. The sector at Hermanville was known as Queen Beach where elements of the British 3rd Division landed. The South Lancashire Regiment landed on Queen White and East Yorkshire Regiment on Queen Red; by 10:00 the village had been cleared. Offshore from Hermanville a

Gooseberry Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of '' Ribes'' (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance. The berries of those in the gen ...

was established, this consisted of a breakwater formed with ships sunk into position, including the French battleship Courbet.

Twin towns

Hermanville is twinned with: *

Tangmere Tangmere is a village, civil parish, and electoral ward in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Located three miles (5 km) north east of Chichester, it is twinned with Hermanville-sur-Mer in Lower Normandy, France. The parish h ...

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 ...

Nominingue Nominingue is a small village and municipality located north of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Mountains. It was formerly called Lac-Nominingue, but changed name on September 16, 2000. Nominingue is located along Route 117, be ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, since 2002

Personalities

Hermanville-sur-Mer was the birthplace of: *

Jean François Sarrazin Jean François Sarrazin (c. 1611 – 5 December 1654), or Sarasin, was a French writer. Biography Sarrazin was born at Hermanville, near Caen, the son of Roger Sarasin, treasurer-general at Caen. He was educated at Caen, and later settled in ...

(1611?–1654), author *

Alain Touraine Alain Touraine (; born 3 August 1925) is a French sociologist. He is research director at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, where he founded the ''Centre d'étude des mouvements sociaux''. Touraine was an important figure in ...

(born 1925), sociologist

References

External links

Tourism office webpage
Communes of Calvados (department) Calvados communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Populated coastal places in France {{Calvados-geo-stub