The Douve () or Ouve is a river, in length, which rises in the commune of Tollevast, near Cherbourg in the department of
Manche
Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.Tollevast, the river proceeds through the hills of the
Cotentin peninsula
The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...
Néhou
Néhou () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.
See also
*Communes of the Manche department
The following is a list of the 446 Communes of France, communes of the Manche Departments of France, department o ...
and crosses
Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte
Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. It is situated in the Cotentin Peninsula near Valognes. Its population was 2,099 in 2018.
History
The Château de Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, a ...
. Once it reaches Bauptois, it alters its direction towards the Bay of the Seine in the south-eastern
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
, passing through
Carentan
Carentan () is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was mer ...
. The Douve is a navigable river owing to its flat bottom and adequate depth of flow.
In 1944 German troops, preparing Rommel's Fortress Europa, flooded the valley to prevent landing paratroops or gliders. On D-Day, the river was the boundary between the left flank of Allied landing forces on
Utah Beach
Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...
(on its left bank and so to the west nearest Rouen) and the bloody defensive battle that occurred at Omaha Beach. The
Utah beach
Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...
landings were part of contingency planning only scheduled after ample landing craft became available and designed to give the allies a leg up on taking a port city, in this case, Cherbourg, to bolster Allied logistical capacity. Had the landing craft been lacking, the river would have protected the exposed right flank of the allied invasion
lodgement
A lodgement is an enclave, taken and defended by force of arms against determined opposition, made by increasing the size of a bridgehead, beachhead, or airhead into a substantial defended area, at least the rear parts of which are out of direc ...
. With Utah in the plan, it was used to originate an offensive aimed squarely at the early domination of the peninsula and capture of Cherbourg and Caen (and eventually Rouen) at the opposite end of the lodgement. These cities were well protected by their German defenders.
Among those landing at the Douve was the unit known as the
Filthy Thirteen
The Filthy Thirteen was the name given to the 1st Demolition Section of the Regimental Headquarters Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, of the United States Army, which fought in the European campaign in W ...
The Dirty Dozen
''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy ...
''.
Hydrology
The
Merderet
The Merderet is a river in Normandy, France, which is tributary to the river Douve. It runs roughly north-south down the middle of the Cotentin peninsula from Valognes to the junction with the Douve at Beuzeville la Bastille.
Hydrology
The riv ...
is a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...