Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer

History

Origins

Up until July 1851, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer was part of the commune of Langrune-sur-Mer. Upon its creation in 1851, by the will of Napoleon III , Saint-Aubin had a population of 1,153 and Langrune 1,129. Nicknamed "Queen of Iodine", at low tide its banks of seaside rocks expose, an air of iodine saturates the beaches, thanks to the bladder-fucus and kelp deposited there.

During the second half of the 19th century, the population of Saint-Aubin declined to the point that in 1901, there were only 727 inhabitants. In July 1876, a train station was opened in Saint-Aubin along the Caen à la mer line, permitting the development of a sea resort. The 1920s brought the construction of its Rococo or Art Deco villas, and its 1800 m seawall (dam walk), today the seafront buildings open passages to the narrow alleys, where old fishermen's houses are the watchful guardians of the past. Located in the heart of the Canadian and British D-Day beaches, the waterfront, to a large extent, did not suffer from the misdeeds of the war.

D-Day

At the beginning of the Battle of Normandy, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Rodney Keller, landed 15,000 Canadians and 9,000 British troops on the Calvados coast. Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, one of five Canadian landing sites. was located at the eastern end of Canada's assigned landing sector of Juno Beach. On D-Day, the 8th Canadian Infantry (Assault) Brigade (Group) stormed the beach, landing The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, the 10th Armoured Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse), and the guns of the 19th Canadian (Army) Field Regiment, RCA. The Canadians were met by about 100 defenders who garrisoned the town's fortified 'Resistance Nest'. The Germans were largely unaffected by the preparatory barrage, as such they were able to put up heavy resistance at the beach and in the town, for most of the day, as the Canadians pushed inland.

Widerstandnesten WN27, the "Resistance Nest" at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer was a platoon sized position, incorporating reinforced concrete (Verstärkt Feltmessig: Vf Type 2) gun casemates, with additional observation and fighting positions, located to dominate exits off the beach, into the town. A tight and compact position on the western side of town, the fight to hold WN27 was commanded by Züg Führer (Acting Commander) Lieutenant Gustav Pflochsch - Kompanie 5. / Grenadier-Regiment 736./ Bataillon II. The crew-served weapon shelters were linked by both underground passages and a well-developed system of trenches. WN 27 additionally incorporated a battalion heavy mortar detachment, located directly behind the beach seawall. Several of the villas and houses, in the town, had been strengthened and fortified as additional fighting positions, and to locate site snipers. Approaches into the position were well protected by K.V. Gruppe Courseulles minefields.

The coastline at St Aubin-dur-Mer was low lying, and to its east were low cliffs for a mile and a half, with a sea wall along most of it. Offshore, eastwards were rocky outcrops parts of which were exposed at low tide: les Essarts de Langrune. Having survived a weakened beach bombardment programme, at 07h39, WN 27 began to take indirect fire from 105 mm self-propelled guns on LCT landing craft. Firing on the run in, 19th Canadian (Army) Field Regiment, RCA, forty-eight guns fired for 30 minutes, putting down a very effective concentration, landing its first battery at 09h10. Heavily mortared getting off the narrowed (tide) and congested beach, the first gun was in action at 09h20. Observation and reconnaissance parties reported finding few targets in the early stages, when there was much close fighting, in the town. With no relief, the position was then covered by fire from LCT (Rocket) at H -8 minutes and H -5 minutes and the two flanks enveloped by Hedgerow mortar barrage, from LCA(HR)s at H -3 minutes, intended to cut the wire entanglements and detonate the landmines, securing the approaches onto the crew fighting positions. Disrupting any attempt at recovery, WN 27 began to take direct fire from the DD tanks of C Squadron, 10th Canadian Armoured Regiment, The Fort Garry Horse, arriving by LCT at H-Hour (07h55 BST). ‘C’ Squadron landed and managed to give supporting fire from the beach.

Literary associations

Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer is the setting of Robert Browning's poem Red Cotton Night-Cap Country, where it is renamed Saint-Rambert.

In this picturesque seaside town Émile Zola wrote his novel about the underbelly of Paris society, L'Assommoir. It turned him into a literary star. More here plus pics.

Activities

Every summer in the middle of August, Saint-Aubin hosts a week-long festival called La semaine acadienne, composed of concerts by musical groups from Acadia, a Tintamarre, an open-air ball, exhibitions, documentary film showings, etc. The festival also pays tribute to the Acadian soldiers of the North Shore Regiment of New Brunswick who landed on the beach of Saint-Aubin on June 6, 1944.

International relations

The commune is twinned with:

Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada - many soldiers that died in Saint-Aubin were from there

Emsworth in Hampshire, England