Municipality of Vierville-sur-Mer
Municipal Information - Bulletin No. 6 - May 2005 - "http://vierville.free.fr"
Editorial
The year 2005 was rich in exceptional commemorations: liberation of concentration camps, end of the Second World War. The celebration, more solemn of these sixtieth anniversaries, is each time an opportunity to denounce the madness of the tyrants who massacre the innocent and plunge Humanity into chaos.
Since then, women and men, refusing the return of barbarism, have managed to unite the enemies of yesterday.
At a time when we are being asked about the future of this solid space of peace, at a time when we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of women's right to vote, how can we not go to the polls to express our point of view, whatever it may be?
For our children, for ourselves, and with respect for the struggle of all those who have fought to establish Peace and Democracy, let use our right to vote and express ourselves!
Jean-Marie Oxéant
The classification project of Omaha Beach "Grand Site du Patrimoine National"
After being investigated in 2004, the file continued its journey in the administration. The departmental site commission gave a favorable opinion, and it was submitted to the National Site Commission, which met in Paris on April 7 and gave a favorable opinion.
Allotment projects, Vierville will grow
For some time, housing or land has been sought in Vierville by people wishing to live with family in the countryside while working in the agglomerations of Bessin or even in Caen.
Land was recently purchased and led to the construction of several main residences. On the other hand, a small private subdivision of 5 plots was recently approved in the city center, near the beginning of Rue du Hamel in Le Prêtre. Finally, the Municipality is studying the service and subdivision of a land of 5000m2 in the Guerberue district, with a view to selling 4 building lots of about 1200m2. This viability could also lead to the private sale of 2 other lots.
All these constructions must of course respect the binding rules of urban planning and the protected areas of Omaha Beach and classified monuments (the bell tower and the Vaumicel).
The population of the municipality has recently increased, so it could continue to grow in the coming years.
Recall that our municipality has more than 110 main residences and more than 160 secondary residences. Its permanent real population is now of the order of 225 inhabitants including about 35 minor children and about 90 people over 60 years of age. The electorate is 261 registered, several dozen of which do not actually reside in the municipality, but have a second home there or keep a home with their parents.
The new Intermunicipal Tourist Office
An Intercommunal Tourist Office has been created, bringing together the Intercom of Trévières and local tourism professionals. This Office replaces the Syndicat d'Initiative de Trévières. Its name must be adapted to the particular nature of the tourist activities of the Community of Commune.
The municipality of Vierville-sur-Mer is represented by one of its municipal councilors on the OTI board of directors. The reopening of a Home / Tourist Information point is planned in Vierville.
The 2004 accounts and the 2005 budget
|
EXPENDITH |
Realized 2004 |
Budget 2005 |
RECIPES |
Realized 2004 |
Budget 2005 |
|
Operating expenses |
51463 |
64757 |
Miscellaneous products |
6643 |
3440 |
|
Personnel expenses |
73481 |
82280 |
Taxes and fees Yc direct contributions (Identical voted rates in 2004 and 2005) Yc household waste |
101469 (60680) (24884) |
113609 (65697) (39882) |
|
Other charges Yc fire department Yc household waste Yc grants to associations |
52975 (7277) (24884) (2660) |
69058 (7408) (39882) (2971) |
Operating Grants and Endowments |
91561 |
87658 |
|
Interest on loans |
3941 |
3135 |
Other products, Yc income from buildings |
15103 |
16500 |
|
Fixed assets (buildings) |
3945 |
11100 |
VAT, TLE |
12095 |
3462 |
|
Amortization of loans |
12167 |
12975 |
Investment grants |
3000 |
|
|
Surplus of the exercise, to be postponed |
41086 |
25450 |
Previous Excess Deferred |
12186 |
41086 |
|
Total expenses |
239058 |
268755 |
Total revenue |
239057 |
268755 |
The memories of a German soldier in Vierville on D-day
The daily life of the German soldier in occupation in Vierville: in front of the Merlin Hotel, a soldier driving the donkey car of the Houyvet farm, requisitioned every Thursday
The 1ère Wegner class, of the 914ème Regiment, had been sent to Vierville on June 4, 1944 with 60 comrades to reinforce the defenses of the WN72, at the bottom of the descent to the sea. He was a machine gun shooter. On the night of June 5 to 6, Wegner was not awake and he was awakened in his shelter by his leader Radl, with big boots "Stand up! Get out! (Outside!), complete combat outfit, the Tommies are coming"
Wegner woke up, coming out of a dream. "Everyone at the combat positions, Schnell!" In the sound of studded boots, the Grenadiers jumped into their posts. Wegner, the shooter at MG, his friend Willi Schuster, the supplier, and Corporal Lang, the head of the room. Their combat post was between the 2 big bunkers. They installed the machine gun ready to shoot, and looked at the sea. In the middle of the night of course, nothing in sight. Maybe another exercise. Lang explained that we would see later and that in the meantime they could rest, would watch over him.
Radl came to explain to the low track that paratroopers had jumped on the side of Isigny. We could therefore expect to see the enemy land at dawn, so a long time to watch the sea at night. But after that, they could expect the landing, and that worries Wegner. Finally he still fell asleep on the butt of the machine gun.
Willi shook him, woke him up abruptly, showing him the sea. Boats everywhere, coming out of the dawn mist. Fear took him back violently. An unforgettable show from which he could not detach himself. Lang who had gone to the latrines came back, observed with the binoculars, and called the sailors of the Navy bunker idiots (the neighboring villa Mary, on the cliffside, which was occupied by radio sailors in charge of communications with German ships) who turned on recognition signals, we could see that they were not friends! We heard planes and with the bombing that followed, everyone flattened.
Then calm returned, Willi Schuster, then Lang and Wegner got up. They looked through the opening, watching the show without saying anything. Hundreds of landing boats approaching, straight towards them, shaken by the waves. And further the ships, bigger and bigger. Lang shouted not to shoot before his order. He called. Wegner was sweating, paralyzed by fear, seeing the barges approaching. Wegner aimed his machine gun at a piece of beach, and he closed his eyes, ready to shoot on order. A moment of horror for the young soldier who has never really seen the war.
The fortifications of Vierville around June 8. We distinguish from left to right:
the anti-tank wall, the 2 bunkers and above, the ruins of the Casino and the Cusinberche and Mary villas.
And Lang shouted "Fire, Wegner, fire!" But Wegner was paralyzed to see all these men wading in the water, defenseless. Lang gave a good butt shot on Wegner's helmet, who then pulled the trigger. The bullets plowed the sand and the men fell. The war for real, he had just killed, nothing to do or think about, only survive.
The automatisms of training have taken over, shoot short gusts, not too much so that the cannon does not heat up too quickly, aim above the sand, when the machine gun stuffs, clean quietly but quickly, the seconds count when death approaches. Willi made sure that the ammunition strips were clean, ready to load.
Immediately after the battle, the interior of the main bunker and its 88 mm barrel, hit by the shots of the tanks landed on the beach. We only see a few empty sockets, a sign that the cannon may not have been able to shoot for long.
Lang screamed goals, but Wegner did not listen to him, did not know what or who to shoot, did not realize the situation around him. Always fear, but don't show it.
After a while, he stopped and looked at the beach. Men lying everywhere, boats retreating, sometimes on fire, sometimes exploding with splinters everywhere in the water. It was better to be here than there. But the bunker was also targeted, small ships had approached and seemed to shoot at them. He didn't notice the tanks shooting at the big bunkers. A splinter passed through the doorway, hit Lang in the face. Lang was thrown to the ground, with blood on his face. Willi bandaged him as he could, while Wegner continued to shoot alone. Lang returned to his post with the binoculars, announcing a next wave of barges.
While the German leaders, in Formigny, Trévières and Molay-Littry were trying to get clear ideas, Wegner and his comrades were in the front row. And little by little the impression was that the Atlantic Wall was cracking. Lang was still looking at the beach, disfigured by a poorly made bandage, looking like a patient who goes to the dentist with a toothache. Enough to laugh about in other circumstances.
And then seeing something, he headed towards the exit of the bunker, armed with his gun. Wegner and Willi were afraid that enemies had infiltrated behind them. They continued to shoot while watching Lang behind. And they heard in German "Don't shoot, I'm German!". Then Lang brings in a young soldier, named Helmuth, wounded in the leg, his face swollen and full of blood. Willi gave him a drink. Lang cleaned and bandaged the wounds and asked for explanations. He came from a neighboring shelter where the soldiers were mainly "Volksdeutsche", i.e. Poles, Czechs, territories annexed by Germany, and forcibly enlisted. Everything had gone normally until the Americans shot directly at their shelter. Most had then wanted to surrender, but the leader, a German corporal, refused, threatening to execute the recalcitrants. They then disarmed him, nailed him to the ground and beat him. Helmuth then got scared and took advantage of a resumption of American shooting to run out alone. He then crawled to Lang's bunker, being reached in passing by a splinter on his face. Lang was angry, he was explained where the mutiners' shelter was, 100m to the left. The position was silent. He tried in vain to call, phone cut off. He picked up grenades and the others understood. Willi tried to say something but Lang cut him off immediately and ordered "Cover me with fire". Lang prepared near the exit, Wegner shot, Lang jumped out, progressing towards the other bunker. In the midst of bullets and splinters, he got there. Wegner saw him throw the grenades into the mutiny's shelter and press himself to the ground. After the explosions, Lang came running back, but this time he was cut in half by shots. Wegner was horrified, he had never seen anyone known get killed before his eyes. But it won't be the last time.
The morale of the 3 soldiers was at its lowest. They were shot. Smoke was coming out of some German bunkers, others were silent, no more telephones, no more orders, they were isolated. They continued to shoot, but only if we came towards them. No need to shoot the dead and the injured. Willi then remarked that it was up to Wegner, a 1st class soldier, to command. Order what? 3 young soldiers scared, in a bunker, in the middle of a battle. Now Wegner was responsible for 2 lives, and not at all prepared for that. What would Lang have done? He then gave his first orders.
Helmuth would take Willi's gun to guard the entrance, in case... Then they would continue to fight in the bunker. If necessary, they would go out to rally the company. In fact they were more afraid to go out than to stay, because there was the famous "Führer Befehl". Hitler's imperative order to never leave, under penalty of death, a position. And the execution for escape, by the FeldGendarme (those who wore a crescent-shaped metal plate, suspended from a chain on their chest), this had been told many times by the veterans of the Eastern Front. And Wegner didn't want to check if these stories were true.
After the battle, the 88 cannon in the middle of the debris of the anti-tank wall exploded by the American Engineers
And then, there was something new. Willi loaded a new strip, but Wegner immediately noticed that it only contained 50 cartridges instead of 200 as normal and that it would not last long. And Willi replied that there were no more! Wegner looked at the pile of empty boxes, strips and cartridges drawn. Nothing more of the 15,000 shots of the initial reserve. The 3 soldiers looked at each other wondering what to do. Wegner knew what to say to them. There were battle noises everywhere, including behind in the village. Wegner saw Lang's body and remembered his stories of Russia, the "OstFront", his experiences there.
You had to use the firepower of the MG42 to get out of this hole. First reconstitute a band of machine guns by emptying your pockets, keep only one 5 cartridge magazine for the rifles. During this work, continue to shoot a few small gusts. The reconstituted tape made 64 cartridges. There were also 2 grenades with a handle. They could try. A grenade on the left, one on the right, Wegner would go out with the MG and go to the nearest trench, from where he would cover the exit of the other 2 with MG shots. Willi could run but not Helmuth injured in the leg. So Helmuth would have Wegner's gun and Willi would carry the 2 rifles.
When Wegner came out, immediately after the grenade explosions, bullets whistled everywhere, but the small trench was a few meters away. The other 2 did not wait and followed immediately, jumping on Wegner in the trench, they were not injured. While Wegner covered the rear with the MG, Willi and Helmuth ran to the ditch that went up to the top of the cliff. Wegner followed a while later, but by joining them, a volley of bullets chased them, Willi's helmet flew, with a hole in the back skirt, Willi had nothing, except headache.
Around 12:30 p.m. on June 6, 1944, photo taken of the battleship "Texas" who bombed the Vierville defenses with its heavy 356 mm guns. This bombing led to the surrender of the last surviving Germans in the bunkers of Vierville. The Americans were then able to undertake the destruction of the anti-tank wall, which allowed their tanks to go up to Vierville at the end of the day.
We distinguish from right to left, the Auvray and Houyvet farms, the castle buildings, the large cypress of the Than mansion and the bell tower that was only destroyed around 2:30 p.m.
They went up the ditch, found themselves on the plateau, uncovered, to a path, where they could take shelter. Not good, we also had to watch the sky because of the hunter-bombers. They crossed the road and hid in a ditch. Wegner said we had to join Vierville. And then Willi, who was advancing in front of the ditch, saw several German soldiers dead, and then others alive, wounded, dirty, tired. A Feldwebel (adjutant) showed up, had the story told, and told them to be part of his group now.
Following the feldwebel and his men, they returned to the Company PC in Gruchy, where there was also a rescue station. Other isolated soldiers joined them. They arrived in the woods of the castle of Gruchy. They were hungry, nothing eaten since the day before, Wegner shared a piece of bread from his bag with his friend Willi.
Practical information
Town hall: Opening hours:
Monday and Friday 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Tel.: 02.31.22.42.66 Fax: 02.31.21.38.57
La Poste: In Vierville: Monday and Friday from 9am to 12pm; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm;
Mail up from Monday to Friday at 4:15 p.m.,
And on Saturday at 11:30 am.
Worship: mass in Vierville in principle on Sunday at 10:00 a.m., and in Trévières on Sunday at 11:15 a.m.
Firefighters: Tel. 18 Gendarmerie: Tel. 17 or 0231225103
SAMU: Tel. 15
Diste disposal: (summer hours)
The Port en Bessin waste disposal facility is open on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., closed on Thursday and Sunday. Other waste disposal facilities are available in the West of Bessin.
The access conditions have recently been modified.
Information in City Hall which issues the essential access card.
D.Day Omaha Museum open from 1er April to November 11 and at the request of groups, off-season
Contact: M. Brissard - Tel.: 02.31.21.71.80 -
Fax: 02.31.21.71.80
A Militaria Exchange will be held on Saturday, June 4, 2005, in the courtyard of the old school.
OMAHA-BEACH BEDFORD Association (VA)
Subject: duty of Memory and reception of Americans visiting our sites.
President: Bertrand LE JEMTEL, tel: 02 31 10 03 59
"www.omahabeach-bedford.com"
Tennis Club Viervillais: 1 outdoor court
Opening: all year round from 8am to 10pm. A permanence is held every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. for the sale of tennis tickets, in the room located under the town hall.
Household Waste:From September 15 to June 14, removal early on Tuesday morning. From June 15 to September 14, the service is also provided on Friday mornings.
Waste sorting and recycling
Containers are at your disposal, rue de la Chasse aux Prix, for glasses, paper and plastic and metallic packaging. Take care to respect the sorting.
In addition, make sure not to deposit household waste on the space reserved for containers.
LibraryMonday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., at City Hall.
The Friends of the Beach
President: Dominique GUERNIER tel. 02 31 22 60 41
Treasurer: Noëlle COLIBOEUF tel 02 31 22 42 30
For 2005, it is planned:
Petanque competition: Saturdays, July 23, August 20, and September 10
Saturday, June 18: Feux de la Saint Jean
Wednesday, July 13 in the evening: Fireworks
Sunday, August 7: Fair to everything, and street parade in the morning, in view of a show given in the evening in Louvières "A bottle at sea"
Saturday, October 29: Halloween
Saturday, December 31: St. Sylvester
Vierville Educational Leisure
Contact: Georgette RACINE, tel. 02.31.22.40.83
From September to June, manual activities every Tuesday from 2pm to 5pm.
Veterans
Contact: Henri Guédon, tel. 02.31.22.49.83
Vierville-St-Laurent Hunting Society
Contact: René LENOURICHEL 02.31.22.40.27