Manche

Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named landing beaches in Normandy, Utah is on the Cotentin Peninsula, west of the mouths of the Douve and Vire rivers. Amphibious landings at Utah were undertaken by United States Army troops, with sea transport, mine sweeping, and a naval bombardment force provide…

Chausey (French: [ʃo.zɛ]) is a group of small islands, islets and rocks off the coast of Normandy, in the English Channel. It lies from Granville and forms a quartier of the Granville commune in the Manche département. Chausey forms part of the Channel Islands from a geographical point of view, but, because it is under French jurisdiction, it is almost never mentioned in the context of the other Channel Islands. There are no scheduled transport links between Chausey and the other Channel Island…

La Hague (French: [la ag]) is a commune in the department of Manche, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of Beaumont-Hague (the seat), Acqueville, Auderville, Biville, Branville-Hague, Digulleville, Éculleville, Flottemanville-Hague, Gréville-Hague, Herqueville, Jobourg, Omonville-la-Petite, Omonville-la-Rogue, Sainte-Croix-Hague, Saint-Germain-des-Vaux, Tonneville, Urville-Nacqueville, Vasteville and Vauville.

The Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey is an abbey located within the city and island of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, in the department of Manche. The abbey is an essential part of the structural composition of the town the feudal society constructed. On top, God, the abbey, and monastery; below this, the Great halls, then stores and housing, and at the bottom (outside the walls), fishermen's and farmers' housing. The abbey has been protected as a French monument historique since 1862. Since 1979, the s…

The Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial is located in Saint-James, Normandy, France, near the northeastern edge of Brittany. It contains the remains of 4,410 of World War II American soldiers, most of whom died in the Normandy and Brittany campaigns of 1944. Along the retaining wall of the memorial terrace are inscribed the names of 498 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of soldiers whose remains have been identified. History The Brittany American Cemetery, in extent, lies among the he…

Cherbourg Harbour (French: rade de Cherbourg; literally, the "roadstead of Cherbourg") is a harbour situated at the northern end of the Cotentin Peninsula, on the English Channel coastline, in Normandy, northwestern France. With a surface area of 1,500 hectares, it is the second largest artificial harbour in the world, after the 4,500 hectare Ras Laffan Harbour in Qatar. As well as Cherbourg Naval Base, it has been used for mercantile shipping. It was begun in 1783, with its central harbour brea…

The château de Gratot is a ruined medieval castle in the commune of Gratot, in the Manche ''département'' of Normandy, France. It has been classified by the French Government as a Monument historique. It is located only a few kilometers from the English Channel. History The first Château de Gratot was built during the 14th century, but underwent many transformations until the 18th century. It was constructed by the family of Argouges, barons of Gratot: they sold the castle in 1771. The castle is…

The Château de Regnéville is a ruined 14th century castle in the commune of Regnéville-sur-Mer in the Manche département of France. Built at the edge of the Sienne river estuary, it was intended to protect the important dry harbour of Regnéville-sur-Mer, one of the most active of the Cotentin Peninsula from the Middle Ages until the 17th century. Partly dismantled at the end of the Hundred Years' War, it was much altered during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today it is the property of the départe…

The Cotentin Peninsula (English: /ˌktˈt/, French: [kɔtɑ̃tɛ̃]; ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its west lie the Gulf of Saint-Malo and the Channel Islands, and to the southwest lies the peninsula of Brittany. The peninsula lies wholly within the department of Manche, in the region of Normandy. Geography The Cotentin peninsula is par…

Îles Saint-Marcouf comprise two small uninhabited islands off the coast of Normandy, France. They lie in the Baie de la Seine region of the English Channel and are east of the coast of the Cotentin peninsula at Ravenoville and from the island of Tatihou and the harbour at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. In addition to the fortifications described below, on the larger island there is a lighthouse that dates to 1948. The larger island, île du Large, is east of the smaller île de Terre. They have a total…

The Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant is located at Flamanville, Manche, France on the Cotentin Peninsula. The power plant houses two pressurized water reactors (PWRs) that produce 1.3 GW each and came into service in 1986 and 1987, respectively. It produced 18.9 TWh in 2005, which amounted to 4% of the electricity production in France. In 2006 this figure was about 3.3%. At the time, there were 671 workers regularly working at the plant. A third reactor at the site, an EPR unit, began constructio…

The Brécourt Manor Assault (6 June 1944) during the U.S. parachute assault of the Normandy Invasion of World War II is often cited as a classic example of small-unit tactics and leadership in overcoming a larger enemy force. Objective Command of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division had temporarily fallen to its executive officer, First Lieutenant Richard Winters. After linking up with his parent unit at the hamlet of Le Grand Chemin on the mo…

Cherbourg – Maupertus Airport or Aéroport de Cherbourg - Maupertus is an airport located 11 km east of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, between Maupertus-sur-Mer and Gonneville. These are all communes of the Manche département in the Normandy région of France. The airport is managed by SNC-Lavalin Airports (subsidiary of the large Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin) since 1 October 2009. It has one runway, Runway 10/28. It is 2440 metres long and is covered in asphalt. There are six bays, numbered N1 …

A farmhouse is a building that serves as the primary quarters in a rural or agricultural setting. Historically, farmhouses were often combined with space for animals called a housebarn. Other farmhouses may be connected to one or more barns, built to form a courtyard, or with each farm building separate from each other. Europe Types of farmhouses in Europe include the following: France A Bresse house (French: Ferme bressane) is a type of farmhouse found in the Bresse region and characterized by …

Ship caption=A 1961 painting of CSS Alabama }} CSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built in 1862 for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead on the River Mersey opposite Liverpool, England by John Laird Sons and Company. Alabama served as a successful commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career, during which she never docked at a Southern port. She was sunk in June 1864 by at the Battle of Cherbourg outside the port of Cherbourg, France. H…

The Musée des beaux-arts Thomas Henry is a museum at Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Manche) with around 300 artworks, mainly paintings from the 15th to 19th centuries. It has been rated as the third most important collection in Normandy. History It was formed after a series of anonymous donations to the city between 1831 and 1835, totalling 163 paintings and later revealed to have been made by Thomas Henry, town councillor and art critic — having lost his two sons, he wanted to allow the city's young pe…