D-Day: Upper Normandy (August 25-30, 1944)


Figure 1.--Private G.R. MacDonald of the Toronto Scottish Regiment (M.G.) 2nd Canadian Infantry Division Support Btn., is giving first aid to injured French children in Brionne, Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy). The photograph was taken August 25, 1944. The Vabadians reached Rouen a few days later (August 30). This is a beautifully colorized black and white photograph. We are not sure the colorizer, however, has his colors just right. Actually he did a good job on the checkeboard cap colors. the Toronto Scottish Regimen did have blue checks, although the middle row looks pink here. It should be silver. And we are not sure about the blue and pink smock colors.

Upper Normandy (Haute-Normandie) was located just beyond the Normandy D-Day invasion beaches and subsequent beachhead. It is one of the 27 regions of France. It was created in 1984 from two departments: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Normandy was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. Rouen and Le Havre are the important urban centers. Le Harve because it was a port was heavily defended by the Germans. Rouen is the regional capital, historically important with many beautiful medievel churches. The cathedral has the tallest tower in France. Roun was heavily damaged during World War II. Nearly half of the city was destroyed. During the German invasion the area between the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Seine river burned for 48 hours because the Germans denied the firemen access to the fire (June 1940).During the German occupation, the German Kriegsmarine had its headquarters located in a château near Rouen. The Germans did not want to be on the coast because it was would be vulnerable to British raids. The Dieppe landings were stahed in Upper Normandy just north of La Harve and Rouen (August 1942). Other areas were destroyed during the allied bombing in preparation for D-Day and the subsequent fighting (March and August 1944). A major goal of the bombing was to cut off access to the Atantic Wall. And Rouen was a transportation hub on the Seine. Rouen's cathedral and several important monuments were damaged by Allied bombing. The British focus was in Caen and did not move north into Upper Normandy. As a result, much of France was liberted before Upper Nirmandu despite being so close to the invasion beaches. The break out from Normandy came in the west when the Americans broke out at St. Lo/Avranches and with the with the Dragoon Landings in the South. The The German Fifth Panzer Army did not abandom their defensive positions along the lower Seine until the American 2nd Armored Division advanced from the west after the liberation of Paris and threatened to cut off their retreat to the Reich. The Battle for Normandy esentilly ended on the left bank of the Seine with the destruction of several regiments of the German 7th Army. The Canadians liberated Rouen (August 30). The Germans in La Harve continued to resit for two more weeks.







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Created: 12:15 AM 3/13/2008
Last updated: 5:28 PM 12/5/2008