entrenched in the village of Graigne, were assaulted by 2,000 grenadiers
from the 17th SS Panzer Division.

A first assault was repelled.

The fighting continued all day.

At nightfall, the overwhelmed
Americans broke up the fight and withdrew in a mess.

They left their injured behind and the inhabitants of the village
who did not flee.

Reprisals on the civilian population
who supported their liberators were going to be terrible.

The village was ransacked
and then set on fire.

The Waffen-SS executed the survivors.

32 civilians and at least
50 American soldiers would perish.

The others managed to get away,
but the attitude of the SS said a lot on their state of mind.

They would fight to the end.

Started on the beaches
and in the woods, the battles to liberate France
and Europe had only just begun.

The paratroopers of the 82nd
and the 101st Airborne had not finished fighting.

They participated
in many more battles.

They would be in every fight, in September 1944 in Arnhem, Holland, in December of the same
year in Bastogne, Belgium.

In this month of June 1944,
the Battle of Normandy began.

The Second World War
was far from over.

The angels of victory had just
opened the way.

 

« Prev