Gaël ( Gallo: ''Gaèu'',

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

: ''Gwazel'') is a commune in the

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Ill-e-Vilaenn'', ) is a departments of France, department of France, located in the regions of France, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named a ...

department in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in northwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It lies southwest of

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

between Saint-Méen-le-Grand and Mauron. In the 18th century, a fair was held twice a year in August and October.

Toponymy

Old versions of the place-name include ''Guadel'' in 799, ''Wadel'' in 816, ''Vadel'' in 851, ''Wael'' in 1096, ''Gael'' as soon as 1112. Its Breton name is ''Gwazel'', that comes directly from ''Wadel > Gwadel > Gwazel'', in Breton intervocalic becomes like in ''mezo'' ″drunk″, Welsh ''meddw'' ″drunk″. In French intervocalic disappears totally : ''Wadel > Wael'' (Latin ''cadena'' > French ''chaine'' > English ''chain'') and initial Germanic ''w-'' became ''gu-'' ʷ(+ ''-a'') before becoming simply : ''Guadel > Gael'' (cf. Old French ''guarder'' > French ''garder'', English ''guard''). The symbol ''ë'' means in Modern French that the preceding ''a'' has to be pronounced : ''Ga-el'' aɛl(not ɛʲl Nevertherless the place-name is not from Breton but from Gallo-Romance ''Wadellu(m)'', derived of

Old Low Franconian In linguistics, Old Dutch ( Modern Dutch: ') or Old Low Franconian (Modern Dutch: ') is the set of dialects that evolved from Frankish spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages, from around the 6th Page 55: "''Uit de zesde eeuw ...

''*wad'' ″ford″ > French ''gué'' ″ford″ (Old Norman ''wei'' > Norman ''vey'', Picard, Walloon ''wez''). There were always Gallo-Romance speaking communities east of Saint-Brieuc and the Breton languages disappears totally around ''Gaël'' in the Middle Ages to be replaced by Gallo. A main ford allowed to cross the Meu stream.

History

It is best known to English historians as being the ancestral seat of

Ralph de Guader Ralph de Gaël (otherwise Ralph de Guader, Ralph Wader or Radulf Waders or Ralf Waiet or Rodulfo de Waiet; before 1042 – 1100) was the Earl of East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk) and Lord of Gaël and Montfort (''Seigneur de Gaël et Montfort ...

the first earl of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

and

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

in post-Conquest England circa 1070 A.D. This is an ancient Breton parish to the west of

, whose boundaries formerly stretched to include the territories of Bran, Muel, Saint-Onen, Crouais, Saint-Méen-le-Grand, Concoret and Loscouët-sur-Meu. The parish of Gaël (Guadel) was a dependency of the Archbishopric of Saint-Malo. In the 6th and 7th centuries, Gaël was a major town in the kingdom of Domnonia. The name is alleged to derive from the word for a ford, river-crossing or river (see Guad- and Guadal-). In local myths there was a 6th-century king Hoël (possible link to King Coel) known as the forest king or "Rex Arboretanus". It is a fact that the town is situated amidst the vast forests of Poutrecouët. A royal castle from this era was sited at Meu, not far from Gaël. This later became the seat of the De Montfort family. The emplacement was captured and dismantled by De Guesclin in 1372. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

occupied an airfield near Gaël in 1941. The Allied Air Forces based in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

attacked the airfield on several occasions in 1943 and 1944 before it was seized by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in June 1944. Known as Advanced Landing Ground " A-31", the

354th Fighter Group The 354th Fighter Group was an element of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Ninth Air Force during World War II. The unit was known as the Pioneer Mustang Group and was the first to fly the P-51B Mustang in combat. The group served as bom ...

based

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

fighters at the airfield from 13 August through 17 September 1944 before moving east to Orconte in the Marne

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

along with the advancing Allied armies. After the war, the airfield was dismantled and the land returned to agricultural use.Air Force History Index retrieval of USAFHRA documents relating to Gael, France (1940-1945)
/ref>

Geography

The village lies on the left bank of the Meu, which flows southeastward through the commune.

Population

Inhabitants of Gaël are called ''Gaëlites''.

References

External links