Polish 1st Armoured Division

With the consent of the British government, the Polish 1st Armoured Division was created on 26 February 1942, on the orders of General Sikorski, head of the Polish government in exile in London. It initially consisted of contingents that had fought in the Polish army in Poland and France, together with Polish volunteers from all over the world.

The division was integrated in the allied military forces that would later serve on the Western Front. Commanded by General Maczek, the division landed in Normandy at the end of July 1944 and was attached to First Canadian Army, II Canadian Corps.

On 8 August 1944, the Polish 1st Armoured Division joined combat when it was deployed to the south of Caen as part of the 2nd phase of  Operation Totalise, which aimed to take the city of Falaise. Since the losses were heavy, and the attacks ineffective, this operation was stopped and replaced by a new operation, codenamed Tractable. The aim of this second operation was to attempt to fully surround the German 7th Army by the combined allied forces in Normandy. From 15 to 18 August, the Polish 1st Armoured Division liberated several towns and villages in Calvados and Orne after heavy fighting.

From 19 to 22 August, the SS divisions tried to destroy the Polish units located on the ridge of Mont Ormel (“Hill 262”), in an attempt to force open an escape corridor from their encirclement. The Polish 1st Armoured Division also had to face the attacks of the 2nd SS Panzer Division, which had managed to escape the encirclement and was now attempting to assist the other German units trapped in the Falaise “pocket”. The Poles had to hold their position at all costs until the arrival of reinforcements. On 21 August, they were finally joined by the Canadian 4th Armoured Division. The “Falaise-Chambois pocket” was finally closed. This victory was won at the cost of bloody battles and heroic resistance.

During the Battle of Normandy, the Polish 1st Armoured Division lost more than 2,000 men, either killed or wounded. The division then took part in the liberation of northern Belgium, southern Netherlands and Germany.

Specific features of the Polish Military Cemetery

By decree dated 19 May 1945, the Prefect of Calvados permitted the Canadian authorities to create a Polish military cemetery on land belonging to the Grainville-Langannerie municipality. Up to 1949, the British Imperial War Graves Commission was responsible for maintaining the cemetery, before handing over to the French State.

The cemetery consists of eight plots containing graves aligned in rows. These plots do not all have the same number of rows, but each row comprises twelve graves. With the exception of two graves, on which three crosses symbolize the tombs of respectively seven and five bodies of pilots killed in the crash of their plane. Their remains could not be separated.

Originally, the crosses were made of metal. In May 1954, as the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Normandy was approaching, the French State decided to replace them with concrete crosses ornamented with plaques bearing the identity of the deceased, on the model of the French national cemeteries. The central monument was inaugurated in August 1954 in the presence of generals Maczek and Anders.

This Polish Military Cemetery is one of the seven foreign military cemeteries in France maintained by the French State.

Today, this national cemetery holds the bodies of 2 053 French soldiers, 2 037 of whom lie in individual graves. A collective grave brings together the remains of 16 soldiers. Alongside them lies one Russian, but also 201 Germans, including 31 in an ossuary. This cemetery comprises three plots: the 1914-1918 French plot, the 1914-1918 French Muslim plot, and the 1939-1945 French plot that contains 917 soldiers and resistance fighters from the Nord region and 14 Spaniards posted to workers' companies. A British military cemetery bringing together 177 bodies adjoins the Zuydcoote cemetery.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is over a century old. For the first time, visitors can take a look behind the scenes at the work that is needed to commemorate the 1.7 million Commonwealth casualties from the First and Second World Wars.

The CWGC Experience is a unique new visitor attraction that shines a light on the work of the remarkable organisation at the heart of remembrance of the war dead.

Our free audio guide will walk you through each aspect of the work we do: from the story of how we still recover and rebury the dead today, to the skilled artisan craftsmen at work maintaining the world’s most impressive and recognisable monuments and memorials, a trip to the battlefields of the Western Front is not complete without a visit to the CWGC Experience.

Sources : ©The CWGC Experience

In an area of just over 500 m², split between three levels and ten rooms, visitors are plunged into those dark years of Saint-Malo’s history. Photos, mannequins, weaponry and reconstructed scenes recreate the atmosphere of the period, based on the following themes:

• The invasion of 1940
• How the port was used
• Building the bunkers
• Cité d’Alet (one of the most fortified sites on the Atlantic Wall)
• The battle for liberation
• The island of Cézembre (one of the most heavily bombed sites of the Second World War)

The bunker itself has been restored to its original state. Tours (guided only) begin at set times and last one hour. Tours are followed at certain times by the screening of an archive film (45 mins), which charts the different stages of the battle for liberation, then shows the reconstruction of the old city, 80% destroyed in the fighting.

From June to September, themed tours are offered:

- “History” tour: Almost entirely in the bunker. Evokes the period 1940-44 in Saint-Malo. With film screening.

- “Discovery of the fortifications” tour: 75% outside, 25% in the bunker. Evokes the construction of the 18th-century and Second World War fortifications found on the site. Evokes the everyday lives of soldiers in those fortifications. No film screening.

The two tours are complementary.

Heavy machine-gun position in its original bunker.
Only reconstruction of its kind in France - A loophole in the corridors of the bunker.
- The radio and telephone transmission room.
- US transmission post. Credit: © Mémorial 39-45

Sources : ©MÉMORIAL 39-45

In the light of the theme of displaced peoples and the values of welcome and hospitality, find out how the Camp de Judes, which opened in 1939 to provide shelter for Spanish refugees of the retirada (the mass exodus of Spanish republicans after Franco came to power), has made Septfonds an important Second World War remembrance site. La Mounière also offers an insight into how the development of the hatmaking industry in the 19th century influenced the village’s architecture.

Discover local personalities, some of them famous - like the aviator Dieudonné Costes, one of the pioneers of aviation and transatlantic flights - and how each contributed to the history and heritage of Septfonds.

La Mounière is an interactive museum, whose themes are discovered using multimedia resources. The visit can be extended with two outdoor trails, one around the remembrance sites in the commune, connected to the camp, the other around the theme of hatmaking and its architectural impact.

The museum has a particular focus on appealing to young people.

All content is translated into Spanish and English.

Sources: © La Mounière – Maison des Mémoires de Septfonds

La Mounière | Maison des Mémoires de Septfonds

www.septfonds-la-mouniere.com

15 Rue des Déportés - 82240 Septfonds - Email: mairie@septfonds.fr

Tel.: +33 (0)5 63 64 90 27 - Mob.: +33 (0)6 70 36 86 90

The part of the blockhouse that you can see is only 10% of its surface area. Almost entirely underground, the command post of the Graf Spee battery is one of the largest bunkers in the region. 

Set over five floors and with 500 sqm of exhibitions, the one-way circuit begins beneath the reception, in the quarters of the 25 soldiers who defended the position.  In rooms restored to exactly how they were then, discover what everyday life was like on the Atlantic Wall, through captivatingly realistic decors.

The subsequent levels immerse you in the atmosphere of the war years in Brittany: blitzkrieg, Stalags, occupation, Free France, collaboration, Resistance, fighting for Brest, liberation, and so on. Numerous anecdotes make this a moving encounter with the men and women who experienced the war, right here.

Return to the daylight on the level of the observation stations and panoramic viewpoint, offering unique views of the entrance to Brest harbour, from the Presqu’île de Crozon to Ouessant.

The tour ends with a walk around the site, where visitors can see the other short-range defence blockhouses, together with a variety of impressive equipment.

Sources: ©Musée Mémoires 39-45

Tourist office: Boulevard de la Mer, Plougonvelin - Tel.: +33 (0)2 98 48 25 94

The new visitor circuit presents the important strategic issues for the department of the Ain in the Second World War, situating them within the regional, national and European context.

Interspersed with personal accounts, the exhibition also reflects on the engagement of local men and women, charting their struggle against the German occupiers and Vichy regime to restore the Republic and freedom. It also sheds new light on the repression and persecution of civilians, Resistance members and Jews in the Ain.

Imbued with the spirits of its Resistance and deportee founders, the museum questions the construction of remembrance post-1945 and its contemporary uses. Through the history of the Ain, it is the France of the years 1939-45 that is revealed.

Sources : ©Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l’Ain - ©Agathe GAUBERT

Office de Tourisme Haut-Bugey, Nantua - Tel.: +33 (0)4 74 12 11 57

 Founded in 1992 by former members of the Resistance, eager to pass on the memory of all those who fought for liberation and for victory over Nazi barbarity, the museum takes visitors on a journey through the history of the Second World War in the department. Drawing on rich archives, the exhibition sheds light on specific features of the Ardèche Resistance: underground presses, pamphlet distribution, parachute drops and acts of sabotage. The museum’s founding organisation defines its purpose as follows: “Our museum is not dedicated to any unit, movement or leader in particular, but to the Resistance, which was a collective effort.”

 Located in the commune of Le Teil, the museum tells the story of the Resistance across the department. It is therefore not a local history museum, although the local Resistance is mentioned. Similarly, although references are made to links with other departments, the museum is devoted above all to the particularities of the Ardèche Resistance, and its role in the liberation of the department.

The archive put together by the museum’s founding organisation was registered with the departmental archives, then, in 1996, donated to the department. Catalogued under number 70J, it can be consulted by anyone wishing to research the history of the Second World War in the Ardèche. The archive continues to grow as a result of regular donations and collections.   

The museum has been run since 2010 by the Rhône-Helvie community of communes which, in 2017, became the Ardèche Rhône Coiron community of communes. It is maintained by the Ardèche departmental authority and the commune of Le Teil. It offers a varied cultural programme and a learning programme for schools.

2017 programmation

- Learning programme: workshops, self-guided tours with a specially designed questionnaire, help with preparing for the Concours national de la Résistance et de la Déportation (a competition for middle- and high-school students) and the loan of touring exhibitions. All activities for school students are free (regardless of age group or the geographical location of the educational establishment concerned).

Sources : © Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation en Ardèche

Office de tourisme - Place Pierre Semard, 07400 Le Teil - Tél.: 04 75 49 10 46

The museum charts the history of the French volunteers who, thanks to Kieffer’s tenacity, were able to join the British commandos and take part in a number of operations alongside them. It focuses in particular on their training at the Achnacarry camp in Scotland and how they landed on the beach of Colleville-sur-Orne (present-day Colleville-Montgomery) with No 4 Commando, captured Ouistreham casino and liberated the town, joined up with British paratroopers at Pegasus Bridge, Bénouville, then installed themselves in Amfreville, all in the same day, 6 June 1944. They went on to fight in the Battle of Normandy until late August 1944, then in Belgium and the Netherlands.

All the pieces displayed in the museum are authentic, and most of the equipment and uniforms were donated by the families of the British and French commandos.

A scale model measuring 3.60 m x 1.10 m helps visitors to picture the landing at Colleville-sur-Orne and the capture of Ouistreham casino.

A 26-minute film (with English subtitles), comprised of documents and footage from the time, shows in particular the troops training at Achnacarry.

Exhibited in large display cases are many uniforms and weapons used in the conflict, including some very rare pieces.

Most of the objects and photographs are labelled in French, English and German.

This museum was founded in order to:

• explain what the commandos were and what they accomplished; and

• make sure their memory and example live on.

This poem says it all:

Tribute to the Kieffer Commando
(to the 177 commandos and their comrades-in-arms)
Commandos, an emblem of hope
flapping in the wind toward the sky of France,
You begin a hymn of deliverance
that echoes through the villages of France.
(...)

Claude Blin

The complete poem by Claude Blin is available at the No 4 Commando Museum

Sources : ©Musée N° 4 Commando

In a cinematographic setting inspired by poetic realism, a collection of more than 10 000 objects and documents evokes the daily lives of French people under the Occupation, while first-hand accounts from members of the Resistance in Vaucluse shed light on the profound motivations behind their actions, situated in the national context. Finally, a third section, “Freedom of the Spirit”, offers an in-depth look at “wartime intelligence” and Resistance ideals, what they meant and how they were taught. It comprises a series of underground editions, subject to censorship or sent from abroad, of militant magazines, manuscripts by René Char, Georges Rouault, André Breton, etc., and original works by Henri Matisse and Joan Miró, among others.

The museum also has: 

• a research and documentation centre (open to all by appointment), where information and archives in all media can be consulted and documents borrowed and copied.
• a bookshop selling a range of books on the period 1939-45 (general, thematic, new releases)
• an auditorium and a projection room, which can be booked for symposiums, seminars and exhibitions.

You can visit the museum unguided, and group bookings (minimum 10 people) are taken throughout the year.

Audioguides in English, French and German are available to visitors free of charge.

Guided tours, scripted booklets and educational workshops (art, writing, philosophy, etc.) mean school visits can be tailored to different age groups. Original trails around the museum’s collections or on the theme of this year’s “Concours National de la Résistance et de la Déportation” schools competition can be arranged with the museum’s education service.

Sources : ©Musée d’Histoire Jean Garcin : 39-45 L’Appel de la Liberté