St Marie du Mont is a village south east of St Mere Eglies where the American Airborne was involved in a lot of fighting. Around the square are placards with stories of incidents that happened at that particular place. One tells of a resident watching an American and German soldier hiding behind the First World War Memorial statue and a house with white shutters before they shot each other. The scene comes to life as you can see exactly where this incident took place.
Just outside the village is the Merderet River. It was absolutely vital that the bridge was held here so that the Germans could not cross over into the invasion areas. A small group of the 507th Airborne under Major Gavin held this bridge for 48 hours until they were relieved. Not one German crossed over here. There is a large statue erected here to “Iron Mike”, named after St Michael the patron saint of the American Airborne.
No comments:
Post a Comment