June 13th 1944 : Forty children, orphans
from Epron having fled Caen, arrive at Vimoutiers. They have just spent 6 days and nights in the
trenches. They take refuge in the Halle ...
June 14th
1944 : It is said that this morning, in Vimoutiers, the
weather was lovely ... :
... 7h50 :
"36 raiders B26 bombers drop on Vimoutiers 29
tons of H.P bombs with excellent results - A.O.S. report
" ...
A bombardment "ordered by mistake" : "Within a few
minutes, the historical town is levelled. Dismayed, Vimonasteriens
raise their 220 dead,
attend the injured, and look at their houses burning
..." all the shops totally destroyed, stocks are
annihilated ... the statue of Marie Harel is beheaded,
on the market place,
the Church stands lonely.
◄The
hospital is destroyed, aid is organized and the
►château
de Vimer is the makeshift hospital for severely wounded
persons.
One cannot live any
more in the town. The population takes refuge in farms, cattle
sheds, caves ... for the whole summer
...
The "historic"
summer which follows is lived in constant fear :
bombardments, gunning, air raids, processions of refugees, convoys ... It is that the front line
is approaching and the ultimate battle, the "cauldron", from August 18
to August 22, will take place in Mont Ormel, some 12 kms from
Vimoutiers occupied, of which the road is the only from now on
possible one for the withdrawal of troops. The pocket battle, the
last battle of Normandy :
In the morning of
August 22, silence … roads and
paths strewn with carcasses of vehicles,
materials, bodies, insupportable odors
… collapsed walls, torn off hedges,
uprooted apple trees…: From these few km2,
many succeeded in escaping, but
more than 11.000 men found death, as well
as 6.000 horses.
August 22, 1944, 10 o'clock: The first
American jeeps enter Vimoutiers by the
rue d'Argentan. They are led by the
Canadians of the Regiment de la
Chaudiere (3rd Canadian
Infantry Division, 9th regiment) ... and It is told that first friendships
were sealed around a jug.
It is that the Allies have discovered the cider and this hard drink which is …
