Battle of Saint-Malo 1944
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 6 August 1944 – 17 August 1944 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1944 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Liberation of France | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 48.6372, -2.0292 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Saint-Malo was fought between Allied and German forces for control of the French coastal town of Saint-Malo in Brittany during World War II. The battle was part of the Allied breakout across France and took place between 4 August and 2 September 1944. United States Army units, with the support of Free French and British forces, successfully assaulted the town and defeated its German defenders. The German garrison on a nearby island continued to resist until 2 September.
Saint-Malo was one of the French towns designated as a fortress under the German Atlantic Wall program, and its prewar defenses had been expanded considerably before the Allied landings in Normandy during June 1944. As part of their invasion plans, the Allies intended to capture the town so that its port could be used to land supplies. While there was some debate over the necessity of this in August as the Allied forces broke out of Normandy and entered Brittany, it was decided to capture rather than contain Saint-Malo to secure its port and eliminate the German garrison.
After initial attempts to capture the locality failed, the Allies began a siege operation. Infantry units attacked and secured large numbers of fortified German positions with the support of artillery and aircraft.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Saint-Malo (revision 1370273383), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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Other battles of the Liberation of France
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War II era battles