Siege of Saint-Nazaire

The city of Saint-Nazaire ( region of Pays de la Loire ) before the Second World War was one of the largest ports on the Atlantic coast of France . In June 1940, the city was occupied by German troops. From September 1940, the port of Saint-Nazaire began to be used by the Kriegsmarine as a base for submarines. In February 1941, Todt's organization began the construction of concrete bunkers for submarines, which were supposed to protect them from the Allied bombing ^[2] .

The construction of the base was completed in 1942. On March 28, 1942, British commandos raided the port of Saint-Nazaire , as a result of which the dry dock of Louis Joubert Lock was destroyed , which was the only dry dock on the Atlantic coast, capable of receiving the most powerful ship in the Kriegsmarine - the battleship Tirpitz ^[3] . In 1942-1943 the year, the Allies subjected Saint-Nazaire to heavy bombing, during which most of the city was destroyed. The city survived more than 50 air raids, during which 479 civilians died ^[4] . However, the bombing could not cause significant damage to the base of submarines. Not a single German submarine was damaged during these raids ^[5] .

In late July - early August 1944, during the Cobra operation , American troops broke through the German defenses in Normandy and liberated the Brittany Peninsula and reached the Loire River ^[6] . As a result of the rapid advance of American troops in the western and southern directions, part of the German troops was blocked in the ports of Brest , La Rochelle , Lorient and Saint-Nazaire. Hitler declared these cities “fortresses” on January 19, 1944 and ordered them to be defended until the last soldier ( German: Festung ) ^[1] .

Faced with fierce enemy resistance during the storming of Brest , the Allied High Command decided not to attempt to storm Saint-Nazaire, in which the Germans managed to build a powerful defense along the Vilen River and the Nantes-Brest Canal. The isolation of German troops was entrusted to the units of the French Resistance . Support was provided by units of the 94th US Infantry Division , divided between the "pockets" in Lorient and Saint-Nazaire. At the end of December 1944, the 94th Division was replaced by the 66th Infantry Division ^[1] . German troops in Saint-Nazaire had a significant amount of artillery, including heavy 240 mm caliber guns. At the same time, the French Resistance units were armed mainly with small arms and captured weapons of 75 mm and 105 mm caliber. Therefore, the French made no serious attempt to storm Saint-Nazaire. In addition, they were warned by the German command that in case of an assault the Germans would destroy all port facilities, similar to how it was done in Brest. Thus, during the 9 months of the existence of the "pocket" in Saint-Nazaire, there were no serious military operations. The parties were limited to mutual shelling and local operations. On this basis, the fighting in the “pockets” of the Bay of Biscay is sometimes called the “Forgotten Allied Front”.

After the signing of the Act of German surrender in Reims on May 7, 1945, the German command begins negotiations with the French to surrender the city. The surrender of the German garrison was signed on May 8, 1945 at 5 pm. The fighting was supposed to cease from 00-01 May 9, 1945. However, the German command refused to surrender the city to French troops. In the southern sector of the "pocket" the fighting continued until the morning of May 11, 1945. The ceremony of surrender of German troops took place at noon on May 11, 1945 at the racetrack of the city of Beauvron. During this ceremony, General Junk handed over his weapons to the American General Kramer in the presence of General Chomel and the French authorities ^[7] . The German command did not order the destruction of port facilities and the flooding of ships remaining in the harbor of Saint-Nazaire.

In December 1944, after the liberation of Alsace and Lorraine , the territory of France was largely cleared of German troops. However, about 1% of the country's territory ("pockets" on the shore of the Bay of Biscay, as well as Dunkirk ) remained under German control until the end of the war ^[8] . For 9 months, beginning in the fall of 1944, the German command was able to maintain control of naval bases on the Atlantic coast of France. At the same time, the number of German troops blocked in the ports of Saint-Nazaire, Lorient and La Rochelle totaled about 70,000 people ^[5] . However, the full functioning of these bases was impossible due to the lack of fuel for submarines.

The allies' refusal of active hostilities against the German troops isolated in Saint-Nazaire led to the fact that the Americans were unable to use the ports of Nantes and Saint-Nazaire to supply their troops in France. At the same time, refusing to storm Saint-Nazaire was a strategically correct decision. American troops were able to block a powerful enemy group, using for these purposes the poorly armed units of the French Resistance. In this case, the most combat-ready American units were used against the main forces of the Wehrmacht during the offensive on Germany.

The occupation of Saint-Nazaire lasted for 59 months. Residents of Saint-Nazaire and surrounding settlements were liberated from German occupation later than other Europeans ^[8] . According to some French authors, the war in Europe ended on May 11, 1945 with the liberation of Saint-Nazaire ^[7] .

• Michel A. Gautier. Poche de Saint-Nazaire - Neuf mois d'une guerre oubliée. - 2015. - Vol. 424. - ISBN 978-2-36746-302-5 , LUP1626.

• Photos of Saint-Nazaire from the Second World War (fr.)
• Saint-Nazaire Fortress Commandant Lieutenant General Hans Junk surrenders to American forces