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SAINT NAZAIRE : THE BOMBS FALL

During the XIXth century, Saint-Nazaire had beome a commercial port as well as one of the leading shipbuilding centres in Europe. During the Second World War, it became a naval port.

The consequences were tragic. The battleship Le Jean-Bart, still being completed in the Loire shipyards, was a choice target for the Germans, who were heading straight for the Loire estuary.

On June 18th 1940, with no compass, no lights, and under attack from the air, the battleship managed to escape. The Germans marched into Saint-Nazaire on June 21st. They decided to make the most of the town's strategic position and built a fortified submarine base in the old inner harbour.

It was home to the terrifying U-boat "pack" of the Battle of the Atlantic. The town and its base became a prime target of allied bombs. The anti-aircraft batteries installed in the base did not stop massive bombing raids nor the British commando attack on the port on March 29th, 1942.

An incendiary bombing raid on February 28th, 1942 destroyed more than 60% of the town. In March, the whole population was evacuated and its 40,000 inhabitants became exiles. They were not to return until after the surrender of the "Saint-Nazaire Pocket" on May 11th, 1945, nine months after the liberation.