Stèle Percée D'AVRANCHES

This Monument was erected on Place PATTON in memory of General PATTON's III Army . The Breakthrough of AVRANCHES was the last lock before Brittany.
Panel text:

Patton Square was built in 1954 by Avranchinese firm Prevosto in 56 days and 56 nights  due to the deadlines imposed for the inauguration to honor the memory of the troops of General Patton's III Army who carried out, at the head of his armored divisions, one of the most daring military operations of all time: the Percée d'Avranches.  The granite pyramid is 24 meters high and has 5 irregular, curved faces. 50 bags of soil taken from the 50 states making up the United States of America are deposited on it. The floor features a 6-pointed star. Three personalities participated:in its inauguration on July 31, 1954: Léon Jozeau Marigné, Mayor of Avranches, General Ganeval, representing the, President of the Republic René Coty and head of the latter's military household, Douglas Dillon, US Ambassador to France who would later become Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. 

LA PERCÉE D'AVRANCHES To get American units out of the'hell of the hedgerows where they were being decimated, General Bradley decided to break the front south of Saint-Lô. Code name for the operation: Cobra. On July 25, 1944, a 12. km² area in the  Chapelle-en-Juger sector was to undergo the largest carpet bombing of the World War II. 2,000 bombers dropped 60,000 tons of bombs, supported by over 1,000 artillery pieces that would indiscriminately kill 111 Gi's including General Mc Nair, the highest ranking officer to die on a battlefield during the conflict. General Collins's 7th Corps rushes into the breach opened to the South. A war of attrition and harassment gave way to a war of movement, and Avranches became the last lock to be broken in order to reach the Pontaubault bridge. Crossing it on July 31 will enable Patton's tanks to penetrate into Brittany and move eastwards, locking in the "German units at Mortain and Falaise. 
Contribution and photo credit Jacques Grasset

This Monument was erected on Place PATTON in memory of General PATTON's III Army . The Breakthrough of AVRANCHES was the last lock before Brittany. Panel text: Patton Square was built in 1954 by Avranchinese firm Prevosto in 56 days and 56 nights due to the deadlines imposed for the inauguration to honor the memory of the troops of General Patton's III Army who carried out, at the head of his armored divisions, one of the most daring military operations of all time: the Percée d'Avranches. The granite pyramid is 24 meters high and has 5 irregular, curved faces. 50 bags of soil taken from the 50 states making up the United States of America are deposited on it. The floor features a 6-pointed star. Three personalities participated:in its inauguration on July 31, 1954: Léon Jozeau Marigné, Mayor of Avranches, General Ganeval, representing the, President of the Republic René Coty and head of the latter's military household, Douglas Dillon, US Ambassador to France who would later become Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. LA PERCÉE D'AVRANCHES To get American units out of the'hell of the hedgerows where they were being decimated, General Bradley decided to break the front south of Saint-Lô. Code name for the operation: Cobra. On July 25, 1944, a 12. km² area in the Chapelle-en-Juger sector was to undergo the largest carpet bombing of the World War II. 2,000 bombers dropped 60,000 tons of bombs, supported by over 1,000 artillery pieces that would indiscriminately kill 111 Gi's including General Mc Nair, the highest ranking officer to die on a battlefield during the conflict. General Collins's 7th Corps rushes into the breach opened to the South. A war of attrition and harassment gave way to a war of movement, and Avranches became the last lock to be broken in order to reach the Pontaubault bridge. Crossing it on July 31 will enable Patton's tanks to penetrate into Brittany and move eastwards, locking in the German units at Mortain and Falaise. Contribution and photo credit Jacques Grasset