Saumur
by Eric Tressler
Title
Saumur
Artist
Eric Tressler
Medium
Photograph
Description
Prior to the French Revolution Saumur was the capital of the Sénéchaussée de Saumur, a bailiwick, that existed until 1793. Saumur was then the location of the Battle of Saumur during the Revolt in the Vendée.
The Saumur City Hall
The Cessart bridge
During the Battle of France, in World War II, Saumur was the site of the Battle of Saumur (1940) where the town and south bank of the Loire was defended with great honour by the teenage cadets of the cavalry school.[citation needed]
In 1944 it was the target of several Tallboy and Azon bombing targets from Allied planes. The first raid, on 8/9 June 1944, was against a railway tunnel near Saumur, seeing the first use of the 12,000 lb Tallboy "earthquake" bombs. The hastily organized night raid was to stop a planned German Panzer Division, travelling to engage the newly landed allied forces in Normandy. The panzers were expected to use the tunnel. No. 83 Squadron RAF illuminated the area with flares by four Avro Lancasters and marked the target at low level by three de Havilland Mosquitos. 25 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF then dropped their Tallboys with great accuracy. They hit the bridge, blocked the railway cutting and one pierced the roof of the tunnel, bringing down a huge quantity of rock and soil which blocked the tunnel, badly delaying the German reinforcements.
Uploaded
October 3rd, 2013
Embed
Share
Tags