Saint-Pierre-du-Mont () is a commune in the

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

department in the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in northwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

History

World War II

During World War II, the area was heavily bombarded on several occasions during May and early June 1944 by Allied bombers, attacking German coastal fortifications of the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall () was an extensive system of coastal defence and fortification, coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defense (military), d ...

just north of the commune along the coast. Saint-Pierre-du-Mont was liberated by American Ranger forces on 7 June 1944 after moving inland from

Pointe du Hoc La Pointe du Hoc () is a promontory with a cliff overlooking the English Channel on the northwestern coast of Normandy in the Calvados '' department'', France. In World War II, Pointe du Hoc was the location of a series of German bunkers and ma ...

. The area north of the commune was used by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

as a combat airfield, known as Advanced Landing Ground "A-1" ( Saint-Pierre-du-Mont). The airfield was used between early June and September 1944. It was abandoned after the Americans moved east into Central France with the advancing Allied Armies.Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.

Population

References

Communes of Calvados (department) Calvados communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{Bayeux-geo-stub

History

World War II

Population

See also

References