Sainte-Mère-Église is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.
Founded in the twelfth Century, the earliest records show its first name was "Sanctae Mariae Ecclesia", Latin for "Church of St. Mary". The current French is ambiguous with the additional meaning, "Holy Mother Church." The town was significantly involved in the 100 Years War as well as the Wars of Religion.
The town's main claim to fame is that it played...
more
Sainte-Mère-Église is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.
Founded in the twelfth Century, the earliest records show its first name was "Sanctae Mariae Ecclesia", Latin for "Church of St. Mary". The current French is ambiguous with the additional meaning, "Holy Mother Church." The town was significantly involved in the 100 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.
The early landings, at about 0140 directly on the town, resulted in heavy...
less
