Visions of the Past

We have many French postcards dating from the early 1900’s for sale at the Cottage. Of special interest were these of some of the beautiful structures and places in Saint-Nazaire. It is very likely these areas were destroyed during WWII as I could find nothing about them in my research indicating they still exist.

The Casino

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The beach and       boulevard

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Marceau Place

 

 

 

 

 

I did find some history that explains the loss of these lovely places, in 1943, General Patton had fliers dropped by night to warn civilians to evacuate, later the US air force dropped incendiary bombs which burned most of the city to the ground. By then most of the French population had left, so casualties were few. Later, U-boat docking pens at St. Nazaire were targeted continuously until they were evacuated following D-Day. The city remained largely un-populated for the remainder of the war, occupied only by the Nazis as it was never liberated by Allied troops who instead pressed on toward Berlin. The French rebuilt Saint-Nazaire after the war.

 

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