by Fyodor Dmitrenko
All photos credited to the author.
On the 12th of September, I attended a ceremony at the Place du Monument aux Morts, the largest of a series of celebrations, film screenings and exhibitions hosted by the local administration over the course of the previous weeks to commemorate the 80-year anniversary of Le Havre’s liberation from the Nazi occupation. It was not really what I expected. Certainly there was the usual fanfare with marching bands on rue de Paris, speeches by Le Havre’s mayor Edouard Philippe and President Macron, and little French flags waving in the wind – however the usual jubilations felt strangely subdued.
But this is not surprising upon consideration of the city’s history .
The city of Le Havre did not fare well at all in WWII. After France’s shameful surrender in May 1940, the city was forced under the Nazi jackboot and turned into a festung – a fortress city – due to its strategic importance as the largest port on the Channel coast.
This led to the construction of numerous blockhouses, casemates, and other fortifications to combat potential allied landings including the Dollemard battery at Sainte-Adresse, and the incorporation of a German garrison that at its greatest extent reached 21,000 soldiers.
Life for civilians under the occupation was also transformed drastically with the introduction of rationing and virulently antisemitic policies. This transformation began with the removal of Jews from public office, including the town’s then mayor Léon Meyer, and culminated in the arrests of an estimated 900 Jews and deportation of 740 to their deaths. The Nazis also perpetrated violent reprisals against Le Havre’s civilian population in reaction to resistance activities. For example, after the assassination of 2 German sailors on Place d’Arsenal, 1 100 PCF (Parti Communiste Français) and CGT (Confédération Générale du Travail) members were rounded up and deported.
Nor did the arrival of the Allies in June 1944 bring respite. The importance of the port made seizing it a top priority for allied commanders in order to supply the allied armies driving to Paris and beyond.
According to historians Corinne Bouillot and John Barzman, while an attempt was made to compel the German garrison to surrender peacefully after the D-Day landings, garrison commander Hermann Eberhard Wildermuth rejected the offer citing the order given to him by Adolf Hitler to fight to the last man. As an alternative resolution, Wildermuth reportedly countered the Allies with an offer to evacuate the remaining civilians. The offer was not taken up, with Lieutenant-General John Crocker who led the assault arguing that it would take too long, thereby allowing the Germans time to prepare and execute a counterattack which would halt the allied offensive in its tracks.
Under the purview of ‘Operation Astonia’ the city and its defences were bombarded from the sea by battleships HMS Erebus and HMS Warspite with more than 4,100 t of shells over the course of several days starting on September 5th to 12th with a further 10,000 tons of bombs being dropped on the city by the RAF.
The bombardment was considered a success as it silenced German batteries and allowed the Allies to advance into the city relatively unimpeded due to the German garrison being too shell-shocked to fight back, however its gains came at a horrible cost.
Of the city’s 41,000 buildings, 13,500 were completely destroyed, including key buildings like the Hotel de Ville and the Natural History Museum. Only charred, smoking husks remained. Around half of Le Havre’s population (approximately 80,000 people) was left homeless. Nor was the destruction limited to the residential quarters, with bombings targeting the submarine and torpedo boat pens in the port which gave Le Havre its name, destroying about 85% of its 1939 facilities.
80 years on, the memories of victory are still tainted for many of the citizens of Le Havre. Many are able to celebrate the city’s momentous regaining of its freedom, however some will always wonder whether the price it had to pay was too high.
Le Dragon Déchaîné 