Putanges
1939 - 1945
PUTANGES UNDER SWASTIKA
René Darpentigny, article taken from
No. 60 "COUNTRY OF ARGENTAN" of June 1946.
I-THE INVASION
May 7th, 1940...! The entire forehead awakens from the long torpor where eight months of inactivity have buried it. The German army
launched its offensive, like the shadow of the cloud running on the sunny
plain, Teutonic rush swept over Belgium, the Netherlands and soon
France.
Instead of waiting on the precarious borders positions, the French
army commits the imprudence of heroic stand against it. Almost without
aviation, with an outdated mechanical equipment, it is soon obliged to
surrender to the troops of the Grand Reich progressing under the guise of
their armor, while a great fleet disrupts the back and throws the panic in
the gregarious crowd of evacuated civilians...
June 1940 ... ... Despite the optimism of the press and radio control,
Normandy begins to be affected: the Somme, the Seine are alternately
crossed.
On June 9th, Putanges realizes the defeat. A British convoy is going
down from north to south and follows the 809 national highway in the direction of Fromentel. Then moved the first refugees, first those of the
North, who, been repressed too close to the operations areas, are looking
further a safer shelter. They were soon followed by those of the lower
Seine, and as the doctor on the graph follows the temperature curve of his
patient, the population, eyes on the map, measure the inexorable advance
of the invasion.
On the night of June 13th to 14th, the evacuees from Lisieux pass
through, the next day those of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, on the 15th were recorded with amazement the presence of refugees from ... Ronai, remote
town from only 11 km. June 16th is the day of the solemn communion in
Pont-Écrepin and the ceremony takes place in the relative calm under the
roar of machines enemy aircraft. Part of the population earned by the contagion of panic has already evacuated. But the people who stayed, awake
on the 17th in a country under siege.
The French artillery is in position in the heart of the village and
controls the bridge, mined, that must blow up to the first signal.
In the afternoon a skirmish took place at the crossroad of Écouché/
Rabodanges and Putanges /Falaise. A group of Moroccan infantry fought
against eastern German avant-garde , to stop them in their way to Putanges. There are wounded with whom the last inhabitants left behind take
care. There are also deads, who, at the time of this writing, still rest in the
cemetery of Putanges.
The German column continues its westward, crossing the Orne river at the bridge of Sainte Croix and is going to make its junction with the
enemy forces advancing on the Granville-Paris axis, and reach Fromentel
at 6 pm.
Putanges is surrounded, all its evacuees gone for Bagnoles and La
Ferte-Mace are quickly overwhelmed and giving up a now unnecessary
escape, gradually return to their home.
The occupation will begin.
II- OCCUPATION
But it was not until June 21 that appear in Putanges the first
feldgrau, cyclists and riders moving without stopping. On the 23th of June
an anti-tank artillery detachment moved to Pont-Écrepin and keeps for several days the bridge under the control of its arms. On July 12 th, more
troops are passing step Putanges and Pont-Écrepin. The officers are staying
with the locals : this is the first direct contact for the civilians with the winner !
Other elements still stay between July, 14th and August, 13th, by
that time, the first unit has just settled permanently.
Merker company takes possession of our two towns, two Zugs are
confined to Pont Écrepin, two others in Putanges. The men are in vacant
buildings, the officers and noncommissioned officers are billeted.
The unit includes many horses pulling the train and its accompanying engines. The officers are correct, soldiers are disciplined. Night
traffic is prohibited and patrols ensure the implementation of the curfew
and the blackouts. Every day, the company conducts exercises around Putanges, it goes in quick rhythmic, chanting choruses of undeniable musical
value but that quickly become insipid in their melancholy monotony.
One incident comes to disturb this new life at which people start to
get used to.
Apart from the occupation troops, the Luftwaffe established in the
wood of Putanges an observatory where a group of soldiers oversees the
country. A watchtower hidden in the trees is connected to Falaise with a
telephone cable along the D15 and RN809.
One September morning, the cable is cut and the first act of resistance draws on the country the first retaliation.
Night and day, for nearly a month, the line is guarded by men from
18 to 40 years, and everything becomes quiet until Christmas, that the German army celebrates this very year with a special magnificence.
Officers and soldiers are fraternizing with common feast in the
town hall, beautifully decorated. The night resounds with the songs of the
victorious army which enjoys substantial supply of Norman land and
short-lived joy as on January, 2nd, 1941 company Merker packs up and
goes under other skies.
It was soon replaced (January,13th) by the company Durst, soldier
aptly named, drunkard and rough, who contrasts with the chivalrous
courtesy of its predecessor.
The troop moved wherever it pleases and does not hesitate to expel
the inhabitant of his home while vacant houses remain unused ( the author's mother of this article, 76 years old, is expelled from her house to
make room for the military troop although there are constructed barracks
unoccupied).
In late March, the company Durst moves again, to leave the place
to the Merker company which had taken its winter quarters on the Channel
coast and finds in Putanges its former cantonments. It will be for a short
time, however, for April 30, it finally leaves our city to the borders of Poland. A month of grace and June 1st, the country sees a parachute unit.
They are not yet the SS but these are shock troops for which discipline widened. The simplicity of the beginning gives way to an immoderate love of Calvados, cafes sound of bacchanalian songs of drunken
boches, and if the officers still keep their correction, men ransack quarters,
massacring backyards and throwing grenades into the course of water.
Their time is divided between the sweet relaxing on the banks of
the Orne, sports competitions where they highlight their academy and purely military exercises with elaborate training : double action maneuvers
around Putanges, sessions rifle shooting and accompanying gear in the
Orne valley, street fighting in the town itself, where the intersections resound of machines gun fire. These are the troops of this army, in an almost
uninterrupted manner, that will occupy Putanges until March 31, 1943.
A highlight marks their passage : during the night from Sunday to
Monday of Pentecost 1942, a group of drunk German soldiers forces the
chapel of Notre Dame De Pitié and throws the statue in the Orne, where
she was found the next day in poor condition. Madonna mutilated resumed
its place in its stone niche but all good souls to devotion are not lacking to
note that just some days after the attack began the Battle of Stalingrad,
which was to establish the fate of the world (From N.D of Pont -Écrepin,
see No. 24 March 1935 Argentan).
It's about at the same time that another event will disturb the peace
of civilians. After a train derailment of troop at Moult-Argences, the German authorities ordered the guard rail. This is ensured by men from 18 to
60 years. Those of Putanges and Pont-Écrepin were assigned to the line
from Paris to Granville for several kilometers on both sector of the station
of Yveteaux-Fromentel. This particularly hard chore at first, because no
shelter was provided for the sentinels, will continue until the landing.
But at least for more than a year, March 31, 1943 to April 28, 1944,
Putanges will forget the troubles of the occupation …
III- RELEASE
April, 28, 1944 Putanges that has lived a great year of hope as it
was successively marked by the African operations, landing in Italy, has
the unpleasant surprise to wake up within the scope of a new occupation.
The armour from the west crosses it and goes up to the sea . A section of auto repair settles and the nervousness of newcomers foreshadows
that the big event expected will not be long. The German counterespionage knows that the Anglo-American landing is near. A great
movement of bypass transports troops from the region of Rennes in the
one of Falaise ; those confined to Putanges come exactly from Hédé a few
kilometers north of Fougeres. The offensive has already begun and the
vehicles on the roads of the coast can see it for themselves. The repair section is working hard and at the same time it disguises in brown-green the
yellow motors that have kept their African dress.
Daily, air activity is more intense. On the night of June 5th to 6th,
attack is triggered on the front of Caen to Cherbourg. The barrage means
admirably in silence, while the lower parts of large marine punctuates with
thumps the din of the battle.
The northern horizon is aflame with the flashes of artillery. All cantonment wakes up with a start. The liaison officers are whizzing past in
their backfiring motorcycles, while planting are busy all over the town.
The aide-de-camp were quick to fasten canteens of the distraught officers,
while the more talkatives express in concise terms the new situation,
"Tommies invasion!"
Putanges emptied in a wink and repair section went to seek refuge
in a more discreet and safer place, in the shade of beautiful forests of
Crève-Coeur. One of the first results of the landing and the large overhead
activity that ensued , was the cut of railways. Custody thereof becomes
useless, and was abruptly interrupted.
The second was to throw back on the roads long lines of refugees
down the coast to the south. Putanges soon becomes a center where our
guests will find cover and food, sometimes even transportation. Requisition cars are daily shuttle between Putanges and Faverolles, next step towards the southwest, to which evacuees are directed. Missions are also not
always without danger because these large masses moving on the roads are
sometimes misinterpreted and taken part by the Allied aircraft. It is the
same for the herds of cattle being in emigration, the bombs of our liberators attack them as junk food reserves for the occupation troops. The fear
of paratroopers and airborne units made our ennemies imagined a new
chore for the civilian population. Every day Putanges and neighboring
towns provide groups of workers involved in planting stakes trimmed in
all fields of possible landings. These are the famous "Rommel's asparagus".
Other chores are also working to dig trenches elements on the roadside to offer a precarious security to the vehicle drivers surprised by air
attacks. These are now endless and our sky constantly vibrates with the
buzzing of squadrons of patrol or marauders hunting.
June 6th, Putanges experienced its first serious alert and received the
baptism of fire. Two sticks of bombs straddle it at six o'clock. One falls
near the hamlet of Chaînetière where it causes serious damage, the other
on the western outskirts of the village, a few hundred meters down the
road of Condé. It was later learned that it was a plane that was in trouble
and simply jettisoned his bombs before landing.
July 8th marks a tragic date in the calendar War of Putanges-PontÉcrepin since it is the day when our first civilian victim falls.
At about two o'clock in the afternoon, Marcel Ancerne aged 40, day labourer in Pont-Écrepin, was busy with two friends to browse rabbits in the
meadow of Longchamps. He was dressed in a khaki suit and seen by SS
coming down the road towards Putanges, he was probably taken as an enemy because of the color of his clothes and suffered several bursts of machine guns. Shot three times in the stomach, he is transported to the hospital of Giel where he died the next day.
Relative calm until July 18th, when a large combat aircraft enters
the sky of Putanges. Eight planes both German and American fall in
flames in the vicinity. The pilot of one of them, Captain Beaman picked
up at La Fresnaye au Sauvage is received in Pont-Écrepin and thanks to
his friendly hands joins the Allied lines in the Mayenne region.
July 30th brings good news of peace in the minds : Putanges is
transformed into health center. Large red crosses painted on the roof indicate the houses meant for the ambulances. The side streets are closed to
traffic and closed by gates. Only roads D.15 and N.809 are left at the
traffic military convoys, that continue to pass without interruption but are
not allowed to park.
A second hospital established at the orphanage Giel is strictly for
SS. On August 10th, the first bombing runs on tanks crossing Putanges. A
bomb falls in Friche, another on carpentry Vandeville. Mrs Kubler who
lives in a neighboring house is seriously injured.
The same evening the Red Cross withdraws from Trun and Putanges losts the relative immunity it could hope from the symbol of Geneva.
On August 12th, after long hovered over the village, a group of
planes attack the bridge of Putanges. Two bombs fall in the hamlet of
L'Etre aux Jumelines that is almost destroyed. A third explodes at the foot
of the Blais's house that collapses on its inhabitants. Miraculously protected, Mrs Blais, Mr. and Mrs. Blondel and son get out unscathed from
beneath the rubble. Other bombs fell in the Orne bridge without hitting.
Following this hot alert, a large part of the population abandons Putanges
seeking refuge in neighboring farms.
Every day the German troops passing through and confined in the
country subject it to a systematic looting.
August 15th : new aerial bombing and machine gun. Barges of Lecherpy's bakery burned by tracer bullets blaze like torches and threaten
neighboring houses.
Two civilians are killed : Mr Abelard Callu Felix, aged 70, killed in
road Fromentel by shrapnel, Mrs Céline-Louise-Aldestine Duval, Durget
widow, aged 71, hit by a machine gun bullet at the named-place Courtils.
On August 16th, Paul-Léon-Maurice Bannier, aged 49, roofer in
Pont-Écrepin, is surprised by Germans when he was stealing in a car,
abandoned for a while, a leather briefcase containing important documents. He was driven by his tormentors to the career, a place called Butte
Jean Lebrun, where they executed him without further ado. His body was
found beyond recognition by the brutality he had suffered.
This is also the same day that the first shells fall on Putanges. In
the night a truck of ammunition stopped near the hotel Lion Verd catches
fire and the fire has spread to the old inn which disappeared forever.
The plight of the German army is revealed by a military document
found in the ruins of Putanges and here is the translation:
Generalkommando LXXXIV. A. K. Korps. Gef. Stand. I was 16-8-44
Den Abt
1) The general command AK 84 is responsible for traffic control
and maintenance of the bridge of Putanges.
On the bridge the west-east traffic has priority. Orne Bridge St. at
Saint-Croix is again bridge fueling with the priority for traffic east-west
direction.
2) Major Mügge with his staff is assigned to the execution of this
order.
Major Mügge will have at his disposal ; :
Kor. Pl Btl. 184 with a fraction of the 184th Pioneer Battalion.
Lieutenant Czipanski with a fraction of Feld Gendarmerie
A group of wireless operators of K. N. A. 460 for connection to
the corps.
An online campaign of two circuits.
On arrival any group at his disposal will be directed to the church
of Putanges.
3) It is of the utmost importance that the traffic on the bridge has
no traffic jam.
It is also important that the supply is routed from the front without
delay.
The convoys down will be left behind.
For communication to
Major Mügge
General commanding
the / STOP I t
he chief of the General Staff
Abt. Qu.
K. N. A. 460
84J. D.
Signed:
D. L. Nijen.
On August 17th begins the "Battle of Putanges", the artillery fires
ridges, ransacks ravines, bombards the woods.
At three o'clock in the morning, Pierre-Georges-Eugène Rousse
aged 23, was killed in Vienne. Around the same time, ten refugees of
Feuguerolles-Sur-Orne are killed in Pont-Écrepin in a trench they dug in
the locality Le Champ du Mariage which is reached twice by shells. They
are: Madeleine Marie Rolande Tinard, aged 37 and her husband Emile
Hervieu, aged 36, their daughter Christiane, 8 years old and their son Daniel 10 years old, her mother Charlotte Aline Marie Gaillard 64 years old
and her father Constant-Gaston Tinard 66 years old. Henri-EugeneOctave Ruel, aged 50 and his wife Germaine-Victorian Josephine Patry,
aged 53. Simone Lucienne Raymonde Tranchefort, aged 27, and her son
Claude-Louis-Gaston Gabriel Tranchefort, 2 years old.
In a paper written in German, Nachrichten für die Truppen No.
123 of August 17th and dropped to the propaganda, the Allies, ahead of
the events, even announce the fall of Putanges:
« Tinchebray und Putanges, sind in allierten händen ».
But it is certain that the closure of the pocket is imminent and that
the final elements surrounded hurry to get out of the single track remained possible : Putanges-Ronai-Trun.
So the night of 17 to 18 is marked by a terrible bombardment on
all routes of retreat.
On August 18th, the bombardment continues. In the morning Geneviève Couillaux and Mrs. Etienne Couillaux, born Martha Martel, are
injured at Buisson and the last was to succumb to her injuries. Mr. Adrien
Laporte has his arm fractured by a German bullet at the place “Les Coudrays” and Denis Châtel is wounded at his foot from shrapnel at “Le
champ-du-Pont”.
The Germans have a moment the project to mark a pause in the
Orne and their staffs roam the ridges on the right bank in search of artillery positions. But the simultaneous arrival of two Allied columns are already in Putanges and at 11 o'clock, despite the heroic intervention of an
English officer who was going up to the bridge to cut the locks set on
fire, the construction blows up and causes in its ruin all the buildings
built in its vicinity. The brave officer and the Alsatian who accompanied
him were killed.
However, a detachment of British tanks goes down the road of
Fromentel, it is attacked by a German tank that was under cover at the
entrance of the road of the sawmill but soon spotted, it is neutralized by a
few shells.
A second detachment of American tanks approaches Putanges by
the road of Condé and the 18th in the evening, the city is in the hands of
the Allies.
Some German elements still stand on the right bank. Infantry pa-
trols are in contact and the silence of the night is punctuated by machine
gun fire.
During the night the English elements take up on the right bank.
Light tanks ford the Orne at the farm “ les Naudières” and carry forward
the D 15.
August 19th, Pont- Écrepin experiences in its turn the joy of liberation. The bells ring, the ruins put out the flags, the allies in a few hours
install a Bailey Bridge on the pillars of our old collapsed bridge and the
steady stream of tanks and convoys resumed its march eastward ... to victory ... !
Crédit photos : Collection Trubert
Imprimé par nos soins - OTSI du Pays de Putanges - 25/02/2014