Dive
Diving most often refers to:
* Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water
* Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes
Diving or Dive may also refer to:
Sports
* Dive (American football), a ...
Orne
Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.department in north-western
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Demographics
Tournai-sur Dives during the Second World War
At the centre of the Falaise Pocket, the small village of TOURNAI- sur- DIVES took a very important part in the outcome of the
Battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
.
Just 23 inhabitants stayed in their village with the priest of the commune (
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
): l'Abbé Launay.
Some German soldiers lived there as well with their officer.
Everybody was exhausted due to the heat of July and the non-stop bombing of the Allies.
Finally, the priest and the German officer decided to both go to the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
and Polish battle line near Trun and ask to surrender. They travelled in a tank bearing the red cross and white flag.
However, German officer became afraid to meet Polish soldiers because of their reputation of not taking prisoners, so they changed their objective and went to the American unit in Chambois.
There, Americans kept the German officer as hostage and the abbey returned to Tournai-sur-Dives where all the Germans gave themselves up.
It was the very first day of the end of the Battle of Normandy; 21 August 1944.