MAY-SUR-ORNE Calvados - 10 km south of Caen
Crocodile flame-thrower vainquished the German resistance
At the end of July 1944 in Normandy, the IInd Canadian Corps under General Simonds attempted to vainquish the German resistance south of Caen. But the commitment of two SS Armoured-Korps made each kilometer of progression extremely costly. Moreover the Germans had built each Norman town in strongpoints the Canadians must conquer. On 7 August, the Operation Totalize began with waves of Lancaster and Halifax heavy bombers. May-sur-Orne vanished in the bombs dust. Tanks and infantry sprang in the morning hours of 8 August. The French Canadians of The Fusiliers Mont Royal under Lieutenant-colonel Gauvreau suffered losses on their departure line. In the vicinity of May-sur-Orne a deluge of artillery and machine-guns fire stopped dead two assaults of the Canadians. The allied attack was renewed with support of Crocodiles flame-thrower tanks; after a fierce resistance, the German grenadiere withdrew, around 6 pm. The Fusiliers Mont Royal entered May-sur-Orne.
   
 
 
Fusiliers Mont Royal plaque
 Plaque dedicated to the Fusiliers Mont Royal of the 6th Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, who liberated May-sur-Orne on 8 August 1944.
 Situation : at the edge of the D41B road, on the War Memorial
ROAD MAP
 
INTERESTING WEB SITES

Association web site about the Canadian soldiers on D-day
http://www.waramps.ca/military/wwii/dday.html
Personal web site about the French Canadians in the Canadian Army
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/m223040/page2du9dec.html
Personal web site about D-day and the Normandy battle
http://www.debarquement-normandie.com/
 
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