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The people of
Normandy paid a very heavy price for France’s Liberation. 20,000
civilians lost their lives (14,000 in Lower Normandy alone)
considerably more than the number of British and Canadian soldiers
killed in battle (16,000) and equivalent to American losses (21,000). |
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Falaise |
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Most
were killed during Allied aerial bombardments intended to destroy road
junctions and delay the arrival of German reinforcements. The most
deadly raids took place in the evening of June 6th and during
the night of June 6th-7th, destroying the towns of
Lisieux, Pont-L’Evêque,
Caen, Argentan,
Flers, Condé-sur-Noireau,
Vire,
Saint-Lô and
Coutances. More than 3,000 people were killed. The leaflets
dropped hours before, urging residents to flee, had little effect. In
the days that followed, bombs devastated L’Aigle, Avranches,
Valognes,
Vimoutiers, Falaise and Alençon. |
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Bodies being retrieved from the ruins of Caen
following its liberation |
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Attacks from
the air tailed off after that, though smaller towns and villages such as
Aunay-sur-Odon and
Evrecy continued to suffer brutal bombardments.
Artillery fire
was the second cause of death among trapped civilian populations as the
battle raged all around them. Then came the strafing of roads taken by
thousands of people driven south by the fighting.
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Temporary
cemetery in the gardens of the Bon Sauveur hospital in Caen |
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Nor should we
forget the Normans who met their deaths in summary executions carried
out by the Germans either for acts of resistance or simply because they
had refused to obey orders (650 for Lower Normandy). Among their number
were between seventy-five and eighty patriots detained in Caen Prison
who were butchered by the Nazis on D-Day itself.
Lastly,
a not inconsiderable number of people – farmers, sailors and often
children – were still falling victim to mines or explosives many months
after the Liberation.
| Number
of civilians killed per department: |
| Calvados |
8 100 |
| Manche |
3 700 |
| Orne |
2 100 |
| Eure |
900 |
| Seine-Maritime |
4 850 |
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Many
people fleeing the fighting were
killed when the roads were strafed |
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