Battle of Normandy Sites close to Eco-Gites of Lénault

June 6th 1944 is a date etched firmly in the minds of anyone who has an interest in modern history. By the end of that day, D-Day, the Beaches had been secured but the battle to liberate Normandy would rage until August 25th.  In these 10 weeks, many soldiers, Resistance fighters and locals lost their lives but they are far from forgotten. All across Normandy there are memorials, museums and cemeteries remembering them.  Perhaps you have already visited the D-day Beaches so why not now head inland and discover some of the Battle of Normandy sites close to the gite: 

Commonwealth War Cemetery at St Charles-de-Percy 

This cemetery is the most southerly of all the WWII cemeteries in Normandy and is the final resting place of 809 British soldiers. They all died in late July or early August 1944 as the Allies pushed towards the strategic town of Vire thus driving a wedge through the German 7th Army and Panzer Group West.

Today it is beautifully maintained site and a place of calm. Neat rows of immaculate graves stand in the closely mown grass, flowers marking each grave. 

The cemetery is 16 kms to the west of Eco-Gites of Lénault. 

Memorial at Montchamp to the Resistance Fighters

This part of Normandy had a very active resistance movement which was of vital importance to the ultimate success of D-Day but sadly many of its members were caught and died before the end of the war.  The memorial to their dead was unveiled in 1953 by General de Gaulle and includes a large stone monument, stone plaques naming those who were killed and a small grave in which is interred bones from the furnaces at the Dachau concentration camp, where many of the resistance fighters had been taken. 

Montchamp is 14 kms west of Eco-Gites of Lénault and the monument is opposite the church.

13th/18th Hussars Memorial on Mont Pinçon

Mont Pinçon is the highest point in Calvados located on a ridge which separates mostly flat plains to the north and more rolling hills to the south.  It proved to be an immensely difficult location to secure from the Germans and fighting here was some of the most intense seen in Normandy.  As well as army casualties, many civilians in the surrounding villages were also killed and this memorial was erected by the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) in memory of those villagers who died. 

Mt Pinçon is 7 kms north of the gite, just look for the large telecommunications mast. The memorial is at the end of the track opposite the small car park by the mast.

Polish War Memorial at Le Plessis-Grimoult

Two years after we arrived in Lénault a new WWII memorial appeared on the roadside between Le Plessis-Grimoult and Roucamps.  It honours Warrant Officer Aleksander Chudek, a Polish airman who flew in the RAF in No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron and died in battle on June 23rd 1944, just 17 days after the D-Day Landings.   It was initially believed his plane was lost at sea but in 2009 it was found near to the site where the monument now stands.

The memorial is 8 kms north of Eco-Gites of Lénault and was unveiled on June 23rd 2009, 65 years to the day after he crashed.

Memorial Plaque in Lénault

Almost every village and town in Normandy has a plaque to commemorate their liberation after D-Day.  The plaque in Lénault shows that freedom came on August 10th 1944 through the advancement of the 7th Battalion the Somerset Light Infantry part of the 43rd Wessex Division. 

You will find the plaque on the wall of The Mairie (Mayor's Office/parish hall).

The US Memorial in Périgny

This memorial remembers the crew of the bomber B-17 Fortress of the 100th Bomb Group, 349th Bomb Squadron, 8th US Air Force which was shot shot down on August 8th, 1944.  Eight of the crew were killed and one, a 19 year old machine-gunner was taken prisoner, just a few days before the village was liberated. 

The memorial is on the village green in Périgny, 4 kms east of Eco-Gites of Lénault.

These are the closest memorials to the gite, ensuring those who lost their lives to ensure we are free will never be forgotten.

Do you have any connections with the soldiers who fought in this part of Normandy?  

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