Sainte-Mère-Église: Difference between revisions

Sainte-Mère-Église
Sainte-Mère-Église
	Church with Parachute Memorial
	Coat of arms
	Location of Sainte-Mère-Église
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Manche
Arrondissement	Cherbourg
Canton	Sainte-Mère-Église
Intercommunality	Sainte-Mère-Église
Government
• Mayor (2001–2008)	Jean-Paul Bouet
Area 1	17.68 km2 (6.83 sq mi)
Population (1999)	1,585
• Density	90/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	50523 /50480
Elevation	1–41 m (3.3–134.5 ft) ; (avg. 34 m or 112 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

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Sainte-Mère-Église is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in northwestern France.

Geography

Sainte-Mère-Église lies in a flat area of the Cotentin peninsula known locally as le Plain (as opposed to the standard French term la plaine).^[1] The Plain is bounded on the west by the Merderet River and by the English channel to the east, and by the communes of Valognes and Carentan to the north and south, respectively. Besides Sainte-Mère-Église, the Plain's other major town is Montebourg, and its coast includes Utah Beach.

Although most of the Cotentin Peninsula belongs to the Armorican Massif, the Plain is part of the Paris Basin.^[2] Argillaceous limestone from the Sinemurian^[3] contributes to the region's dairy product appellation (AOC) Isigny-Sainte-Mère, which it shares with Bessin. Horse breeding has long been practiced in the Plain, which is regarded as the cradle of the Anglo-Norman horse breed, the product of English stallions and mares from the Cotentin Peninsula.^[4]

History

Founded in the eleventh century, the earliest records (1080–1082) include the name Sancte Marie Ecclesia, Latin for "Church of St. Mary", while a later document written in Norman-French (1317) mentions Saincte Mariglise. The current French form of the name is ambiguous, with the additional meaning, "Holy Mother Church". The town was significantly involved in the Hundred Years' War as well as the Wars of Religion.

The town's main claim to fame is that it played a significant part in the World War II Normandy landings because this village stood right in the middle of route N13, which the Germans would have most likely used on any significant counterattack on the troops landing on Utah and Omaha Beaches. In the early morning of 6 June 1944 mixed units of the U.S. 82nd Airborne and U.S. 101st Airborne Divisions occupied the town in Operation Boston, giving it the claim to be one of the first towns liberated in the invasion.

D-Day battle

The early landings, at about 0140 directly on the town, resulted in heavy casualties for the paratroopers. Some buildings in town were on fire that night, and they illuminated the sky, making easy targets of the descending men. Some were sucked into the fire. Many hanging from trees and utility poles were shot before they could cut loose.

A well-known incident involved paratrooper John Steele of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), whose parachute caught on the spire of the town church, and could only observe the fighting going on below. He hung there limply for two hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later escaped from the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd Battalion, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment attacked the village, capturing thirty Germans and killing another eleven. The incident was portrayed in the movie The Longest Day by actor Red Buttons.

Later that morning, about 0500, a force led by Lt. Colonel Edward C. Krause of the 505th PIR took the town with little resistance. Apparently the German garrison was confused and had retired for the rest of the night. However, heavy German counterattacks began later in the day and into the next. The lightly armed troops held the town until reinforced by tanks from nearby Utah Beach in the afternoon of 7 June.

Krause and Lt. Colonel Benjamin H. Vandervoort both received the Distinguished Service Cross for their actions in the capture of the town. Sgt. George Bowler Tullidge III received the Bronze Star, while a collection of Bible verses and of his letters home, A Paratrooper's Faith was distributed throughout the 82nd Airborne by his parents from after his death until the 1990s.

Henry Langrehr was also involved in the capture of Sainte-Mère-Église. He crashed through a greenhouse] roof, as retold in the The Longest Day. On 6 November 2007, along with five other men he received the Legion of Honor medal from the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Heraldry

blazon1	The arms of Sainte-Mère-Église are blazoned: Azure, a church Argent roofed Or charged with the capital letters A and M Sable, issuant from a base Gules charged with a leopard Or; in chief 2 mullets Argent hanging from parachutes Argent. (On a blue background; a white church, roofed with yellow, marked with the capital letters A and M in black. The red base contains a yellow leopard. At the top; two white stars hang from white parachutes.)

Sights

Tourism in Sainte-Mère-Église today centers on its role in the D-Day invasion. There are many small museums (such as the Airborne Museum) and World War II-related giftshops and eating places. A dummy paratrooper hangs from the church spire, commemorating the story of John Steele.

Behind the church is a spring, believed by pilgrims to have healing powers, dedicated to Saint Mewan (Saint Méen).

Gallery

Parachute Memorial in Sainte-Mère-Église
John Steele 1912-1969
Monument to John Steele who was caught on the church spire during D-Day
Sainte-Mère-Église Church.
Church bell tower with dummy parachutist.
Stained glass window in village chapel depicting the landing of the paratroopers.

Stained glass window in village chapel depicting the landing of the paratroopers.
Stained glass window in village chapel depicting Saint Michael and the insignia of various Allied military units that fought in or near the village.

Stained glass window in village chapel depicting Saint Michael and the insignia of various Allied military units that fought in or near the village.

References

INSEE commune file

^ Plain Wikimanche.
^ Guide géologique Normandie Maine. Editions DUNOD. 2ème édition. Page75. ISBN 2-10-050695-1.
^ Guide géologique Normandie Maine. Editions DUNOD. 2ème édition. Page75. ISBN 2-10-050695-1.
^ Rémy Villand, « Au pays des herbages et des marais », La Manche au passé et au présent, éd. Manche-Tourisme, 1984, p. 49.

External links

[1] Plain Wikimanche.

[2] Guide géologique Normandie Maine. Editions DUNOD. 2ème édition. Page75. ISBN 2-10-050695-1.

[3] Guide géologique Normandie Maine. Editions DUNOD. 2ème édition. Page75. ISBN 2-10-050695-1.

[4] Rémy Villand, « Au pays des herbages et des marais », La Manche au passé et au présent, éd. Manche-Tourisme, 1984, p. 49.

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 The early landings, at about 0140 directly on the town, resulted in heavy casualties for the [[paratrooper]]s. Some buildings in town were on fire that night, and they illuminated the sky, making easy targets of the descending men. Some were sucked into the fire. Many hanging from trees and utility poles were shot before they could cut loose.
-A well-known incident involved paratrooper [[John Steele (paratrooper)|John Steele]] of the 505th PIR, whose [[parachute]] caught on the spire of the town church, and could only observe the fighting going on below. He hung there limply for two hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later escaped from the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd Battalion, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment attacked the village, capturing thirty Germans and killing another eleven. The incident was portrayed in the movie ''[[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]]'' by actor [[Red Buttons]].
+A well-known incident involved paratrooper [[John Steele (paratrooper)|John Steele]] of the [[505th Infantry Regiment (United States)|505th Parachute Infantry Regiment]] (PIR), whose parachute caught on the spire of the town church, and could only observe the fighting going on below. He hung there limply for two hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later escaped from the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd Battalion, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment attacked the village, capturing thirty Germans and killing another eleven. The incident was portrayed in the movie ''[[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]]'' by actor [[Red Buttons]].
-Later that morning, about 0500, a force led by Lt. Colonel Edward C. Krause of the 505th PIR took the town with little resistance. Apparently the German garrison was confused and had retired for the rest of the night. However, heavy German counterattacks began later in the day and into the next.  The lightly armed troops held the town until reinforced by tanks from nearby Utah Beach in the afternoon of 7 June.
+Later that morning, about 0500, a force led by Lt. Colonel Edward C. Krause of the 505th PIR took the town with little resistance. Apparently the German garrison was confused and had retired for the rest of the night. However, heavy German counterattacks began later in the day and into the next.  The lightly armed troops held the town until reinforced by tanks from nearby Utah Beach in the afternoon of 7{{nbsp}}June.
 Krause and Lt. Colonel [[Benjamin H. Vandervoort]] both received the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] for their actions in the capture of the town. Sgt. George Bowler Tullidge III received the [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]], while a collection of Bible verses and of his letters home, ''A Paratrooper's Faith'' was distributed throughout the 82nd Airborne by his parents from after his death until the 1990s.
-Henry Langrehr was also involved in the capture of Sainte-Mère-Église. He crashed through a [[greenhouse]] roof, as retold in the movie ''[[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]]''. On 6 November 2007 he received, along with five other men, the [[Legion of Honour|Legion of Honor]] medal from the [[President of France]], [[Nicolas Sarkozy]].
+Henry Langrehr was also involved in the capture of Sainte-Mère-Église. He crashed through a greenhouse] roof, as retold in the ''The Longest Day''. On 6{{nbsp}}November 2007, along with five other men he received the [[Legion of Honour|Legion of Honor]] medal from the [[President of France]], [[Nicolas Sarkozy]].
 ===Heraldry===