First place allies liberated on the continent of Europe
June 5, 1944
First building liberated in France
The night before the D-Day invasion British troops in gliders landed next to the Pegasus Bridge and took control of it from the Germans. Crossing the river Orne would be necessary for the allies go gather a foothold in France. The next day the bridge was under assault from the Germans but the British held.
At foot of the bridge was a restaurant where german officers met at night and discussed their military operations. Not realizing the owner of the restaurant spoke German she gathered intelligence on the area from the officers during their dinner and later transcribe it for her husband to take by bicycle to the next village to resistance fighters and they would send the information by wireless to London.
The night of the June 5th the family who owned the restaurant and lived in this building were huddled in the basement. They were freed by the British and the toddler daughter of the owner was on site when I visited in 2017. She did not allow pictures but said hello, in french of course.
