80 years ago, on June 14, 1944, 360 bombs are dropped on Ambrières-les-Vallées in North Mayenne, which was then called Ambrières-le-Grand. The Americans had landed in Normandy eight days earlier and wanted to prevent the Nazis from heading towards the Normandy beaches. Planes therefore bomb the Mayenne commune to destroy roads and lines of communication, such as bridges. This day remains traumatic for the residents.
Collection of Jacques Pelé
“The bomb threw us against the embankment”
American planes dropped leaflets in the afternoon. Residents are warned when Ambrières is going to be bombed and that their houses must be evacuated. “The leaflet fell at my feet, I held it in my hand. It was written: leave your homes, you will be bombed.” says Jeannine Leroy, who was 11 years old on June 14, 1944.
The first bombs rang out in the town around 7:30 p.m.. “A wave of planes, American bombers arrive from Goron and cross the city. They are divided into three waves of six and each one drops ten bombs, that is to say that on each pass, there were 180 bombs of dropped. The surface area covered by these bombs covers the entire surface of the city. In Ambrières, no neighborhood could really be spared. It’s really lucky that some people missed it, but the carpet of bombs. could cover the whole city”, describes Fernand Gallienne, secretary of the local section of the National Union of Combatants (UNC) in Ambrières. According to him, a second wave of bombs came ten minutes later. “While people are still shocked by what they have just received on the head, a second wave, again three times six planes each drop so-called bombs again, i.e. 180. So in total, there are more than 350 bombs which fell on Ambrières”, says this resident of Cigné, a neighboring town.
Gisèle Themelin was nine years old at the time and she remembers it like it was yesterday. “The bomb threw us against the embankment. My mom held me, but she was covered in earth up to her chest and I was completely buried… on the embankment, but buried“, remembers Gisèle Themelin. She’s not hurt, but she’s still there.”very shocked” by what happened to him. “We can’t forget, we can’t. Includes only those who heard the planes and were blown up by a bomb. I didn’t realize I had fallen to the ground and I had nothing“, describes this resident of Ambrières-les-Vallées who is now 89 years old.
For Thérèse Léon, it is also impossible to forget her bombings. “We saw the bombs falling. I remember, we had gone to hide in our kitchen: the dishes were tumbling, the noise was shocking. These are things that will stay with me all my life.” she says.
Collection of Jacques Pelé
Three quarters of Ambrières are destroyed, according to Fernand Gallienne, a Mayen resident who has been working on the subject for many years. A rain of bombs fell on the town: “We saw them coming down, we counted them with mom. We were hiding outside. The church burned and we were at the foot of the church. We didn’t have bombs, there were them all around the house, except at our house, then all the small houses nearby, we don’t know why“, explains Jeannine Leroy, 91 years old.
Thirteen residents were killed in these bombings of June 14, 1944 and around ten people injured.
