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Ouistreham
Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la Mer. Etymology The name Ouistreham derives from Saxon , meaning 'village'. There is no clear explanation for the first part of the name. A popular etymology is based on Middle French (Old French ), meaning 'oyster">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ), meaning 'oyster'. Most linguists agree on a Saxon origin, meaning Western or West (though some other linguists have claimed that it derives from the Saxon word meaning Eastern), because of the presence of Saxon-speaking settlers from England in Viking Normandy. Following this theory, 'Ouistreham' is a calque of 'Westerham' in Kent. History Ouistreham ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sword Beach
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord. The Allied invasion of German-occupied France commenced on 6 June 1944. Stretching from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Calvados, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, the beach proved to be the easternmost landing site of the invasion after the abortion of an attack on a sixth beach, code-named Band. Taking Sword was to be the responsibility of the British Army with sea transport, mine sweeping and a naval List of ships in Sword Bombardment Group, bombardment force provided by the British Royal Navy as well as elements from the Polish Navy, Polish, Royal Norwegian Navy, Norwegian and other Allied navies. Among the five beaches of the operation, Sword is the nearest to Caen, about from the goal of the 3rd Infantry Division. The landings were achieved with low Allied casualties but the advance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its Functional area (France), functional urban area has 470,000,Comparateur de territoire , INSEE, retrieved 20 June 2022. making Caen the second largest urban area in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the 19th largest in France. It is also the third largest commune in all of Normandy after Le Havre and Rouen. It is located northwest of Paris, connected to the South of England by the Caen (Ouistreham) to Portsmouth ferry route through the English Channel. Situated a few miles from the coast, the landing beaches, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Longest Day (film)
''The Longest Day'' is a 1962 American Epic film, epic war film based on Cornelius Ryan's 1959 The Longest Day (book), non-fiction book of the same name about the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox, and is directed by Ken Annakin (British and French exteriors), Andrew Marton (American exteriors), and Bernhard Wicki (German scenes). The screenplay was written by Ryan, with additional material written by Romain Gary, James Jones (author), James Jones, David Pursall and Jack Seddon. The film features a large international ensemble cast that includes John Wayne, Kenneth More, Richard Todd, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Steve Forrest (actor), Steve Forrest, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, Eddie Albert, Jeffrey Hunter, Stuart Whitman, Tom Tryon, Rod Steiger, Leo Genn, Gert Fröbe, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curd Jürgens, George Segal, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka and Arletty. Many of these ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canal De Caen à La Mer
Canal de Caen à la Mer (; , also called the "Caen Canal") is a short canal in the department (préfecture) of Calvados, France, connecting the Port of Caen, in the city of Caen, downstream to the town of Ouistreham and the English Channel. Running from north north-east to south south-west, the canal runs parallel to the Orne River which feeds it, it is long, and comprises two locks. Digging began in 1837, and when it was opened on August 23, 1857 it was only deep. It was deepened in 1920. The canal began with the dock at St. Peter's Basin (Bassin Saint-Pierre), in the downtown area of Caen. The canal is made up of a group of quays and docks. The current depth is , and the width can reach in the dock of Calix). The quay at Blainville-sur-Orne measures more than . It acts as the fourth commercial French port for the importation of exotic wood, generally coming from the Gulf of Guinea. It also loads and unloads iron, fertilizer, coal, and construction material. The port ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Communauté Urbaine Caen La Mer
The communauté urbaine Caen la Mer is the ''communauté urbaine'', an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, city of Caen. It is located in the Calvados (department), Calvados departments of France, department, in the Normandy regions of France, region, northwestern France. It was created in January 2017, replacing the previous ''Communauté d'agglomération Caen la Mer'' and two Communauté de communes, communautés de communes.Arrêté préfectoral 28 July 2016 Its area is 362.9 km2. Its population was 268,470 in 2018, of which 105,512 in Caen proper. History The communauté urbaine had its origins in the creation in 1990 of a ''District of Greater Caen'' (DGC) which consisted of 1 ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calvados (department)
Calvados (, , ) is a department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the Normandy coast. In 2019, it had a population of 694,905.Populations légales 2019: 14 Calvados , INSEE History Calvados is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, in application of the law of 22 December 1789. It had been part of the former province of . The name "Orne-Infér ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philippe Kieffer
Philippe Kieffer (24 October 1899 – 20 November 1962), '' capitaine de frégate'' in the French Navy, was a French officer and political personality, and a hero of the Free French Forces. Life and career Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to an Alsatian paternal family and an English mother, Philippe Kieffer obtained a diploma at the La Salle Extension University in Chicago. World War II On 2 September 1939, aged 40, he volunteered for military service. He joined the French Navy, in which he was a reserve officer, a week later. He served on the battleship '' Courbet'', and at the headquarters of the Northern Fleet during the Battle of Dunkirk. He left for London on 19 June 1940 and joined the Free French Naval Forces (''Forces Navales Françaises Libres'') on 1 July 1940, the day they were founded. Speaking fluent English, he was asked to serve as a translator and cipher officer. Impressed by the techniques of the new British Commandos, formed in 1940, Kieffer requeste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bénouville, Calvados
Bénouville () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. It is located on the Canal de Caen à la Mer close to Caen and Ouistreham. Sights * Château de Bénouville completed in 1777 by Claude Nicolas Ledoux * Pegasus Bridge * Memorial Pegasus D-Day and Pegasus Bridge Bénouville was the scene of the first – and possibly most vital – battle of the Allied invasion of Europe on D-Day, 6 June 1944 and the night before. From 12.15 am (British Double Summertime = 5 June at 23:15 hrs. German/Middle-European time), a reinforced company of glider-borne troops from the 2nd Batt. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, led by Major Reginald John Howard, landed around the bridge over the Caen Canal at Bénouville in three Horsa gliders and captured it from the Germans in a swift and dramatic attack. Contr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busiest Sea lane, shipping area in the world. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to at its narrowest in the Strait of Dover."English Channel". ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 2004. It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some . The Channel aided the United Kingdom in becoming a naval superpower, serving as a natural defence against invasions, such as in the Napoleonic Wars and in the World War II, Second World War. The northern, English coast of the Channel is more populous than the southern, French coast. The major languages spoken in this region are English language, English and French language, French. Names Roman historiography, Roman sources as (or , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pegasus Bridge
Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the centrepiece of the Memorial Pegasus museum at nearby Ranville. It was replaced in 1994 by a modern design which, like the old one, is a bascule bridge. On 6 June 1944, during the Second World War, the bridge was, along with the nearby Ranville Bridge over the Orne River (another road crossing, later renamed Horsa Bridge), the objective of members of D Company, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, a glider-borne force who were part of the 6th Airlanding Brigade of the 6th Airborne Division during Operation Tonga in the opening minutes of the Allied invasion of Normandy. Under the command of Major John Howard, D Company was to land close by the bridges in six Airspeed Horsa gliders and, in a '' co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Port-en-Bessin
Port-en-Bessin-Huppain () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. The commune contains the two towns of Port-en-Bessin and Huppain. Population History The name ''Huppain'' stems from Norse/ Norwegian ''Oppheim'', reflecting the general Viking history of Normandy. The town was captured by Royal Marines of No. 47 (Royal Marine) Commando in Operation Aubery during the Normandy landings and used as the terminal for PLUTO (Pipe-Lines Under The Ocean). Media Port-en-Bessin was used to represent nearby Ouistreham in the 1962 film '' The Longest Day''. Sister cities * Saint-Pierre, Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France), since 1976. See also *Communes of the Calvados department The following is a list of the 526 Communes of France, communes of the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department of France. The communes cooperate in the following Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunalities ... ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
