Sur la plage où les Canadiens ont débarqué en juin 1944 aux côtés des autres forces alliées, le Centre Juno Beach présente le rôle joué par le Canada pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, notamment en Normandie.

L’exposition permanente raconte l’histoire des Canadiens qui ont volontairement porté l’uniforme ou qui, au pays, se sont mobilisés pour contribuer à l’effort de guerre. Bien qu’évoquant aussi les combats qui ont conduit les unités canadiennes de Sicile en Italie, de la Normandie aux Pays-Bas, le Centre Juno Beach n’est pas seulement un musée de la guerre : d’abord par la place faite aux témoignages et aux récits de vie, ensuite par la présentation de la société que ces combattants ont léguée à leurs enfants et qui forme le Canada d’aujourd’hui.

Après un court métrage introductif, le visiteur découvre 5 salles d’exposition permanente s’appuyant sur des textes, archives, photos, témoignages audiovisuels et sonores, multimédia, cartes, objets et un film de 12 mn « Dans leur pas », une immersion dans le vécu des Canadiens le Jour J et pendant la Bataille de Normandie.

En plus de son parcours permanent, le Centre Juno Beach propose un parcours jeune public et des animations pour les groupes scolaires et en 2016 l’exposition temporaire « Mamie, c’était comment pendant la guerre ? ».

Depuis la construction du Centre Juno Beach, le littoral à l’ouest de Courseulles-sur-Mer a été revalorisé par la Ville. Il s’agit d’un site exceptionnel par sa situation géographique, sa richesse naturelle et son caractère historique qui porte le nom de « Parc Juno ». Ce site est composé notamment d’un aménagement paysager et d’un circuit d’interprétation qui permettent de découvrir la mémoire des lieux.

Avec un jeune guide canadien, il est possible de suivre une visite commentée du Parc Juno et de ses vestiges du Mur de l’Atlantique, dont les bunkers situés face au musée.

Exposition temporaire : « Mamie, c’était comment pendant guerre ? » >31 décembre 2016

Exposition temporaire : « La Gendarmerie royale du Canada : Une tradition canadienne » >31 décembre 2016

Voir http://www.junobeach.org/fr/evenements/

Offre pédagogique

Animations avec un guide canadien dans le cadre de la visite

« L’histoire au bout des doigts » pour les 7-11 ans

« La course contre la pendule » pour les 11 ans et plus = Animation interactive sur tablettes

Voir http://www.junobeach.org/fr/pour-les-enseignants/

Sources: © Juno Beach Centre

A French fort adapted by the Germans which was part of the first line of defences around Metz (1867-1918)

The Fort de Queuleu was part of the first chain of defensive fortifications around the city of Metz. Its construction, begun by the French under the Second Empire, in 1867, was largely resumed by the Germans following the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). The fort had been occupied by French troops during the siege of the city between August and October 1870. The barracks, powder magazines, artillery positions, adjoining batteries, galleries of countermines and shelters all bear witness to the changes in military architecture and the advances in weaponry between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Meanwhile, the central cavalry barracks constitutes a very fine example of Séré de Rivières architecture in Metz.

However, with the construction of Metz’s second chain of fortifications, beginning in 1899, the Fort de Queuleu lost its strategic importance and only minor alterations were made to it. As a result, the fort remains as it was in the second half of the 19th century.

During the First World War, it may well have been used by the Germans as a camp for French prisoners of war, although there is little information available on the subject. A complex network of trenches preserved outside the fort is evidence of the defences built by the Germans to safeguard Metz between 1914 and 1918.

A Nazi concentration camp in Metz (1943-1944)

During the Second World War, the fort served as a barracks for the soldiers of the Maginot Line. Following the defeat of 1940, it was briefly used as a detention camp for prisoners of war (a Stalag). Between March 1943 and September 1944, it went on to be used as a KZ-Außenkommando, or ‘subcamp’, subordinated to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, in Bas-Rhin, mainly for use by the SS. A hundred prisoners were held here, mostly German common-law criminals and Poles. Some were put to work on building the Metz-Frescaty airbase. It was one of the Reich’s westernmost concentration subcamps.

A special camp at the centre of Nazi repression in Moselle (1943-1944)

Between October 1943 and August 1944, a Sonderlager, or ‘special camp’, run by the Gestapo was installed in Barracks II. Between 1 500 and 1 800 prisoners (men and women) were interrogated and interned there before being sent to concentration camps (Natzweiler-Struthof, Dachau, etc.), ‘re-education’ camps (Schirmeck) or prisons. Among them were Resistance fighters, saboteurs, smugglers, hostages, those who tried to avoid the compulsory labour camps in Germany, and Russian prisoners. Most were held in overcrowded cells, unable to wash and not allowed to speak or move, under the brutal supervision of SS guards and camp commandant Georg Hempen. Resistance leaders were kept in solitary confinement - dark, dank dungeons to which only the commandant had access. The SS officers ‘industrialised’ interrogation and used torture. The conditions in which the prisoners were held were horrific, and most were cooped up blindfolded with their hands and feet bound. Thirty-six people died in the fort, while four managed to escape, in April 1944.

An important monument from the Battle of Metz (1944)

During the liberation of Metz, the fort had its baptism of fire between 17 and 21 November 1944, in fighting between the US army and German troops aided by the Volkssturm (armed civilians, First World War veterans, members of the Hitler Youth, etc.), who were entrenched here. The fort was severely damaged in the bombardment, before finally surrendering.

One of the biggest ‘guarded residence centres’ (1944-1946)

The fort was used as a centre de séjour surveillé, or ‘guarded residence centre’, by the French government between December 1944 and March 1946. Initially reserved for German civilians and their families, the site went on to serve as a detention centre for administrative internees arrested on charges of collaboration, propaganda, anti-patriotism or informing (up to 4 400 people were interned here). It was one of the largest centres of its kind in France. People of various nationalities were interned here, including French, Germans, Italians, Luxembourgers, Poles, Spaniards and Yugoslavs.

A camp for German prisoners of war (1946-1947)

Between 1946 and 1947, the Fort de Queuleu was a camp de prisonniers (‘prisoner camp’) for German soldiers. Assigned this purpose on 1 June 1946, it was subordinated to Depot 211 for prisoners of war in Metz. Run by Monsieur Massu, the camp was visited by the Red Cross on 13 February 1947. One hundred and forty-five prisoners were being held there at the time, in Barracks II/Pillbox A. The accommodation was heated, the rations were adequate and there was hot water for washing. An infirmary was run by Dr Dietrich Ostler. The prisoners were assigned to unloading goods trucks, clearing a canal and carrying building materials.

A camp for Indochinese workers (1948-1950)

To replace the mobilised workforce, the ‘Mandel Plan’, drawn up in 1938 by the then Minister for the Colonies, Georges Mandel, provided for colonial workers to be brought to France to take the place of those men who had been called up to fight. Around 20 000 workers from French Indochina arrived in France at the beginning of the Second World War. The labour ministry’s indigenous, North African and colonial labour service (MOI) was put in charge of recruiting the necessary colonial workers, shipping them to France and allocating them to the national defence industries. Most were recruited by force from among the poor peasantry of the protectorates of Annam and Tonkin and the colony of Cochinchina. These unskilled workers were used mainly as forestry, agricultural and industrial labour, in particular in the armaments factories and powder magazines. After the French defeat, they were lodged in huge camps in the Free Zone, where they were subjected to military discipline as well as very harsh living conditions. At Liberation, the majority wanted to return home as soon as possible, but their repatriation was delayed due to postwar disorganisation and events affecting French Indochina. As a result, several hundred Indochinese workers occupied the Fort de Queuleu between 1948 and 1950: 537 in October 1948, 438 in December 1948, 323 in March 1949, 296 in April 1949, 188 in May 1949, 163 in August 1949, 176 in September 1949, 213 in October 1949, 156 in December 1949, 191 in January 1950, 35 in April 1950 (repatriations to Vietnam gathered pace in this period) and 79 in May 1950. The suffering of exile gave way to exasperation and anger. Echoing the Vietminh independence movement in Indochina, the Indochinese workers in metropolitan France called for emancipation and equal rights with other workers. Graffiti on the walls of the Fort de Queuleu is a sign of their presence here.

A remembrance site (since 1971)

At the entrance to the fort stands a memorial to resistance and deportation, inaugurated on 20 November 1977, which marks the entrance to the remembrance site. The monument, containing the ashes of an unknown deportee, was designed by Metz-born architect Roger Zonca, who was involved in the reconstruction of the area.
 

Since 1971, the protection and promotion of the Fort de Queuleu in Metz has been the task of the Association du Fort de Metz-Queuleu pour la mémoire des internés-déportés et la sauvegarde du site (formerly the Amicale des anciens déportés du fort de Queuleu et de leurs familles), made up of volunteers.

Click on the photo of your choice to expand it 

From left to right: Entrance gate and entrance to the Nazi special camp - Cells
- Area damaged by the bombardments of 1944 - The commandant’s office
- Corridor of the camp - Main access bridge to the Fort de Queuleu.

Membership form

Sources : ©Fort de Metz-Queuleu

Le musée de la Résistance en Argoat s’inscrit dans un lieu porteur de mémoire. C’est au cœur de la forêt voisine de Coatmallouen que se met en place, à partir du début du mois de juillet 1944, le maquis de Plésidy-St Connan-Coatmallouen. Fort de plusieurs centaines d’hommes, il affronte les troupes d’occupation lors des combats du 27 juillet 1944. Il participe ensuite à la libération de Guingamp et de sa région. Certains résistants du maquis partiront se battre sur le front de Lorient jusqu’au printemps 1945 tandis que d’autres prendront la route de l’est pour marcher jusqu’à Berlin.

The Museum of the Resistance in Argoat stands on a site steeped in memory. Deep in the nearby forest of Coatmallouen, the maquis (rural guerrilla group) of Plésidy-Saint Connan-Coatmallouen was set up in early July 1944. Formed of several hundred men, it took part in the fighting of 27 July 1944 against the occupying troops. It went on to participate in the liberation of Guingamp and the surrounding area. Some members of the maquis went off to fight on the Lorient front until spring 1945, while others marched east to Berlin.

The museum gives visitors an insight into the history of the Second World War and the Resistance in the Côtes-d’Armor, by means of five exhibition spaces, each identified by a different floor colour. To round off the visit, Guy Delattre’s film Les patriotes de Coatmallouen is shown continuously in the projection room. The occupation, the Resistance movement, the maquis and their allies, the maquis of Plésidy-Saint Connan, liberation: all these themes are covered by a lively exhibition that allows considerable space for audiovisual displays and first-hand accounts.

Inaugurated on 5 August 1945 by minister René Pleven, in memory of the maquis, the Étang-Neuf stela remembers the fighting which pitted the maquisards against German troops in Coatmallouen on 27 July 1944. It bears the names of the 13 patriots killed in the fighting, as well as those of their comrades who died during the liberation of Guingamp and on the Lorient front.

The centre holds the disability-friendly label Tourisme et Handicap, for mental disability and motor impairment. The entire Étang-Neuf site is accessible to people with reduced mobility. Disabled people pay a concessionary rate for access to the museum, and their carers get in free.

Gift and book shop specialising in the Second World War.

Food/drink and accommodation are available on site at the Auberge de l’Étang-Neuf, adjacent to the Musée de la Résistance en Argoat.

Special offer for groups of eight people or more: guided tour of the museum + lunch at the restaurant for € 20 per person. Booking required.

School parties welcome throughout the year: guided tours with questionnaire, workshops and teaching materials available, meetings with veterans. Learning programme produced in conjunction with a representative of the national education service.

Sources : ©Musée de la Résistance en Argoat

As part of Operation Dynamo, which was supposed to enable the British and French troops, driven back to the sea, to evacuate Dunkirk, battalions of British soldiers were deployed in the sector of La Plaine au Bois with the mission of delaying the German troops’ advance for a few hours. After 9 hours of heroic fighting known as the Battle of Wormhout, most of the British were wounded and out of ammunition and had to surrender to the enemy. Unfortunately for them, their adversaries were the brutal SS from the Führer’s personal guard who, in total disregard for the Geneva Conventions, herded them into a barn and executed them in cold blood by throwing grenades inside.

Source : Commune of Esquelbecq

Eighty British soldiers and one French soldier were thus slaughtered on 28 May 1940 at 5.30 pm.

Thirteen British soldiers survived and were rescued by the farmers who lived around the site until medical help arrived.

Source : Commune of Esquelbecq

This massacre had remained unknown for a long time until some of the survivors of this tragic episode, who were among the British veterans who had come to commemorate the anniversary of Operation Dynamo, went to look for this site of the massacre and told of what they had lived through. Based on these harrowing stories, a local amateur historian Guy Rommelaere, wrote his book titled "The Forgotten Massacre" (*).

Source : Commune of Esquelbecq

In 2000, after consolidation of the farmland, the pasture where the massacre occurred was nearly turned into ploughland. This was without reckoning with the desires of the elected officials in the three communes of Esquelbecq, Ledringhem and Wormhout, where the events of 28 May 1940 took place. A Franco-British association was set up with the goal of preserving, restoring and maintaining this site fraught with history. The association acquired the pasture and has since built a barn identical to the original, as well as a lookout with an orientation table to be able to locate the various elements of that tragic day and, more recently, a stele of peace and friendship among peoples was inaugurated for the 70th anniversary of Operation Dynamo.

Source : Commune of Esquelbecq

(*)All income from the sale of this book is donated to the association. It is available at the tourism offices of Esquelbecq and Wormhout for 20 euros.

Situated at the foot of the Croix de Lorraine in Colombey-les-deux-Eglises, the Charles de Gaulle memorial completes a walk of remembrance consisting of the family residence, La Boisserie and the de Gaulle family tomb, a place for contemplation, steeped in austerity.

La Boisserie. Source : Charles de Gaulle memorial

The village of Colombey-les-deux-Eglises is famous for having been chosen by General de Gaulle as the site of his family home, La Boisserie, on 9th June 1934. The main place of contemplation and writing of the man who made the call of 18th June, La Boisserie immerses the visitor in its family atmosphere, stamped with simplicity. Open to the public, visitors can tour the dining room and lounge, admire the view from the office and immerse themselves in the private life of Charles de Gaulle and his family.

Office of Charles de Gaulle in la Boisserie. Source : photo Philippe Lemoine

Charles de Gaulle memorial, life-size history

However, the one thing was lacking to help visitors understand the man; the Memorial fulfils this role.

Guided tour of the permanent exhibition

The memorial - permanent exhibition. Source : photo Philippe Lemoine

The Educational Department

Kits

Educational kits are provided to teachers. These tools assist students through the exhibition. They also allow them to familiarise themselves with and to summarise the content of the exhibitions. In relation with the official history-geography and civic instruction curricula of the National Education department, they are adjusted to the students' level: primary, secondary, college or sixth form and vocational college.

Educational walks

The walks are led by a Memorial teacher, who can provided a general or more detailed approach of the exhibitions.

Educational workshops

The Memorial also offers:

Practical information

Mémorial Charles de Gaulle
52330 Colombey-les-deux-églises

Educational Centre Team

Céline Anché

Courriel : celine.anche@memorial-charlesdegaulle.fr

Port-Puce

The first fort built at Gâvres, in 1695, was Port-Puce (or Porh Punz in Breton), by decision of the Marquis de Lavardin, to protect Port-Louis. Very quickly it was equipped with 10 cannons and 2 mortars. At the end of the 18th century, it was equipped with a guardhouse housing 60 men. It underwent major changes a few years later with the addition of land and the construction of an ammunition magazine.

World War II

At the start of World War II, Gavres Peninsula had two batteries along with the fort. The Germans, notably Organisation Todt, added 4 casemates, a fire stand and personnel shelters, making the peninsula a powerful weapon against Allied aircraft and ships, both night and day.

The 4 casemates on the municipal campground can still be visited today. The fort is not open to the public, but it is an impressive sight when the sea is rough.

Le musée de la Libération s’est installé au fort du Roule construit au sommet de la montagne du même nom qui domine la ville. Le fort, culminant à 117 mètres, a été reconstruit sous Napoléon III entre 1853 et 1857. Sa position stratégique, dominant la rade et formant un éperon central entre les deux seules voies de pénétration de l’intérieur des terres vers la ville (les vallées de la Divette et du Trottebecq), en faisait la clé de la défense de Cherbourg, d’où l’expression «qui tient le Roule, tient Cherbourg».

En juin 1940, il fut l’un des lieux phares de la Résistance française devant l’invasion allemande. Pris par les Allemands, le fort est transformé en véritable camp retranché et des souterrains sont creusés dans le roc. Cherbourg devient une forteresse. Le 26 juin 1944, après d’âpres combats, le fort est repris par les Américains, faisant de Cherbourg le premier port libéré de France. Pendant quelques mois, Cherbourg sera le plus important port du monde, avec 25 000 tonnes de matériel débarquées chaque jour !

En 1949, un historien local, M. Lemaresquier, lance l’idée de perpétuer sur ce  lieu les souvenirs du Débarquement et de la Libération de l’Europe. En 1954, avec l’appui de l’Ambassade des Etats-Unis, le musée de la Libération voit le jour avec un parcours retraçant l’histoire du port de Cherbourg depuis le Moyen-Âge et comprenant les salles militaires, plus spécifiquement dédiées à la commémoration de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

En 1994, à l’occasion du 50e anniversaire du Débarquement, le musée est entièrement rénové et sa muséographie revue. Aujourd’hui, les collections, riches d’environ 500 objets et documents, s’étendent sur 780 m² répartis sur deux niveaux.
Baigné dans la pénombre, le sous-sol évoque l’Occupation, entre 1940 et 1944. Six salles racontent l’exode et la Résistance, la propagande, le quotidien des civils et les préparatifs du Débarquement. L’étage retrace, en pleine lumière, le Débarquement et la Libération. Il permet de découvrir le rôle joué par Cherbourg, premier port libéré, dans l’avancée des troupes alliées. En effet, la prise de Cherbourg, seul port en eau profonde de la région, constitue un objectif stratégique vital pour les troupes américaines débarquées à Utah Beach. La ville est libérée le 26 juin 1944. Elle devient alors le centre d’un impressionnant effort logistique : le port permet le ravitaillement du front par la route, le rail et le Pipe Line Under the Ocean (PLUTO) qui alimente les troupes en pétrole. Cartes, photographies, enregistrements sonores, maquettes, objets et multimédia évoquent l’histoire de la ville.

• Service éducatif : Visites en classe

Vous êtes enseignant et souhaitez venir visiter les musées avec votre classe ? Le service éducatif se tient à votre disposition pour préparer votre visite (maternelle, primaire, collège, lycée). Un nouveau parcours pédagogique pour le musée de la Libération est disponible en couleur.

Contact : Yann Lautridou

02 33 23 39 54

yann.lautridou@ville-cherbourg.fr

Sources : ©Musée de la Libération de Cherbourg - Fort du Roule

When the fighting in Normandy was over, the bodies of six soldiers who were killed in the Écouves Forest were buried were they fell on private land in a place known as "Les Gateys", in the village of Saint-Nicolas-des-Bois. In 1964, the 2nd DB veterans' association "la Maison des Anciens de la 2e DB" bought this plot of land, where major commemoration ceremonies have frequently been held. They redeveloped the site and transformed it into a small private cemetery.

In 1987, the Orne General Council wanted to bring together the dispersed graves of the men from the 2nd DB killed during the battles to liberate the Orne. The "Maison des Anciens de la 2e DB" donated the land at Les Gateys so that these graves could be transferred here. The bodies of 11 soldiers were reburied here.

This military cemetery, which is now a National Cemetery, contains 17 graves. Two of these each contains the bodies of two soldiers whose mortal remains could not be separated.

Latin crosses cohabit here with stele bearing the Crescent of Islam or the Star of David, reflecting the spirit of unity and fraternity of the 2nd DB.