Than's mansion during the 1943–1944 war

Than's mansion during the war

Than's mansion remained occupied until September 1943 by its owners, the Poivre family, who lived in Paris, but still came to Vierville for the holidays. Only the beach was forbidden to civilians since the summer of 43.

In September 1943, the Germans requisitioned the entire mansion to make it the Kommandantur of Vierville and the PC of the 11th Company of the Grenadiers Regiment 726 (of the 716th German Infantry Division).

They had many shelters dug there, by chores of required French people.

Michel Hardelay tells how he also dug:

"As required for a chore, I had worked on the excavation (Of a concrete casemate) With seven other men, including the two interns at Master François (F. of Bellaigue), with very French names (It seems that they were fugitives, hidden by the De Bellaigue), the innkeeper and his clerk, and two cartmen who transported the extracted land. The feldwebel who commanded us told us to dig to the water table; we had to find it two meters twenty-five away, but I had the opportunity to return during a leave in the spring of 1945 (MH had joined the army for the end of the war), I noticed that the water covered the second step of the descent staircase. While waiting for the return of the feldwebel to see that the lowest level had been reached, I had, with yellow clay from the hole made Hitler's head, quite similar. I kept it as a souvenir."

"The Germans had dug into the wall closing the park of the Manoir de Than four killers allowing them to shoot both in the direction of the crossroads of the post office and the bends and the cemetery"

The Germans also installed a large platform at the top of the very large and very old cypress of the property. This platform served as an observation post and was equipped with an anti-aircraft machine gun.

We don't have a story of what happened on June 6 and 7 at the mansion. It is likely that the domain had remained in the custody of some unsent Germans to take a combat post on the coast. The Americans could easily neglect it in the confusion of D-day where they were dispersed in small groups without directives, apart from the general order of origin to have to regroup on the Louvières side (for the 116th Regiment), or to go to the Pointe du Hoc (for the Rangers).

It is certain, however, that fighting occurred there, especially on June 7, and that the mansion was not destroyed by artillery but was set on fire. Americans often used this method to drive Germans out of a house.

Here is the story of Sergeant Dube (of the 121st Battalion of the Combat Engineer of the 29th Division). Dube had landed on June 6 on the beach, a little before St. Lawrence, had participated in the destruction of the Vierville anti-tank wall, then had bivouaced in a field near Vierville in the southwest. After many adventures during the day of June 7, he continues:

"Before the end of the day (June 7), we hooked up with some Germans I had seen installing a machine gun on the corner of a small field behind a farm. A few moments later 2 Americans passed, one of them with a cal.30 machine gun. I stopped them at the corner of the field, opposite the Germans and they put themselves in battery to engage them.

I don't remember who shot first, but in the meantime 3 young French girls with their little stools had entered the field and started milking the cows. When the machine guns started, you would have thought they would have run to the house, no, they just kept milking the cows as if the machine guns weren't there.

Thinking about it, that's probably what saved them, because it seems that the machine guns on both sides were very careful not to touch young girls or cows, while watering their balls all around. I've never seen this anywhere else in my life. Now maybe if they had gotten up to run to the house, they could have been hit and killed by the bullets that swept everywhere.

We arrived in this wide alley with large trees forming a vault. The alley led to this castle (Than's mansion, maybe it wasn't yet set on fire at that time??) which, I knew later, served as a PC for the Germans in Vierville (it was the PC of the company 11/726, and also the Kommandantur). On the right side of this alley, there was a shelter against bombing, I thought, given its size, that it must have been made for the whole community. I understood when I came back last June for the 45th anniversary, that the shelter was only for the Germans who lived in the castle.

The blonde I was always told was a woman who lived with them. While I was in the alley with some French people trying to get information about the Germans, I was shot by a sniper in the trees above the alley. The blow crashed on the floor at my feet. A neighboring American heard the blow, looked in the air and saw the sniper. He shot and the sniper fell, but clung to the branches.

Soon after, the woman I was talking to told me to look behind, that the blonde girl was approaching. I waited for her to arrive and had her taken by American soldiers to the beach as a prisoner, after talking to her."

Michel Hardelaywent, the next day, June 8, in the morning, to the mansion of Than, sent by Mayor Mr. Leterrier, to accompany Captain Gardiner (of Civil Affairs).

Here is his story:

"... but no trace of fighting was detected on the road. We advanced to the entrance of the park (The one that overlooks the main road to the east of the mansion); one of the entrance grilles was on the floor and was folded, we could see the traces of a caterpillar machine but it had turned around after about ten meters. (Maybe an American tank) At the foot of the second tree bordering the alley, on the left, stood a soldier (American) In the position of the shooter on his knees, but his rifle had fallen next to him; he had received a deadly bullet while he was probably looking for a shooter hidden in the tree (The very large cypress of the park) Where a machine gun was nested (Placed at the top, the view overlooked Vierville and the sea). Captain Gardiner picked up the rifle and detached the cartridge case.

The burnt remains of the mansion soon stood in front of us. No smoke came out of it; had it burned the 6th or the 7th, who had set it on fire? An armed bazooka, the trigger held by a piece of white cardboard was placed at the left corner of the walls, on a kind of terminal we took a look at the two concrete casemates, contiguous to the guards' house. (these casemates that Michel Hardelay had helped to dig)

We continued towards the commons: in an open shed to the left of the rear entrance, the feldwebel's body had been placed on a door supported by two trestles; his iron cross had been placed clearly visible on his chest. We advanced to the entrance overlooking the road serving the "Morocco" district. Two Germans were lying in the back of the wall, on the right. One was very young, the other had gray hair. They held their rifles in hand pointed to the North, the captain picked up the two Mauser and the cartridge cases. I offered him to carry a part of it; he replied that a civilian should not carry weapons however, a little later, having recovered them, he agreed to give me the cartridge cases. We redid the reverse route and returned to Formigny we walked along the property of the Y family. (Ygouf, the castle of the Isles), burned the day before, passed in front of the entrance of the Ormel without entering it and arrived at the Vaumicel road. "

After the fighting, the Americans, who needed materials to stone new roads, quickly knocked down the walls to crush the rubble. There is nothing left except the foundations and some low walls.

It has not been rebuilt. The farm buildings were then redeveloped, forming a beautiful main residence.