Start: Office de Tourisme - Place Saint Sauveur - 14220 Thury-Harcourt
Explore a captivating route linked to the heritage trail of the same name.
Throughout this experience, discover 7 numbered stopping points that will immerse you in the daily lives of civilians during World War II.
Enjoy the option to listen to the audio tracks online and download them for offline listening. Don't forget to bring your headphones for an optimal immersion.
We wish you a most enjoyable visit!
And if we talked about yesterday, Thury Harcourt? This approximately 1-hour circuit has 7 stops that will be indicated by the sound of bells marking the beginning of each commentary.
My name is Florence, and in 1943, I was 18 years old. In Thury, the occupiers had opened their office, the Kommandantur, where soldiers and interpreters were stationed permanently. The majority of the troops were housed with locals, and the officers stayed at the castle. When it came to troops with horses, they settled in farms where they took forage, and later in hay and oat reserves. Here is the church; the heart had completely burned. The first wedding after the liberation was that of Jean Marette; we decorated the place with fir trees; it was in December, and it was freezing. Leave the church on your right and go down the main street to Harcourt Castle.
My name is Martine. We left the castle standing in all its splendor; it seemed huge to us as kids. I regret never having visited it. The duchess wasn't here in winter; she returned to Paris at the end of the season after spending the summer here with her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. I still see the horse-drawn carriage in the courtyard; the entrance was through the grand alley that leads to the turn. The castle was, for me, the opportunity to attend a grand celebration, the Duke's wedding in July 1928. The table was set under the dome, and in the evening, there was a ball with fireworks, and the castle was all lit up. Now, go down Castle Street to the bridge facing Harcourt Quay.
My name is Pierre. Passive defense obliged us to guard railway tracks and telephone lines. I can't remember the exact circumstances, but three guards were killed along the rails. We did not participate in the resistance because we did not have networks or groups in the village. We welcomed people from Caen who stayed with us for a few days and then left for nowhere because they were not allowed to take refuge. Regarding the D-Day landing, we did not have leaflets or specific information, but rumors circulated from mouth to ear that they might land soon. We were all happy, but a bit scared of what was going to happen. At that moment, I immediately knew it was the landing. Everyone hoped it would be the end of the war. There were no more Germans in the village, but the bombings resumed, and we were very scared. The houses were practically demolished, and we quickly decided to leave.
Now, head back in the direction of Rue de Caen and go up until you reach Place du Champ de Foire on your left, towards Falaise.
My name is Jeanne. In Thury, we didn't suffer much from the supply shortage; it's the countryside all around. We even planted potatoes in the fields, and many people had their gardens, raising chickens, rabbits. On the fairground, instead of a beautiful playground like today, it was grass, and I saw this meadow plowed to plant potatoes; we had to feed the population. In the gardens, it was the same because carrots, turnips replaced flowers, and there was no question of leaving it as a lawn. In town, it wasn't uncommon to see a chicken in the toilets fed with kitchen waste. Now, leave the fairground on your left, go back to the street towards Condé, then turn right into Parc Street.
My name is Jean. We arrived in July 1948 in Thury Harcourt. We used to live in a cabin without electricity and water inside. So, you can imagine the joy when the social housing placed us here; it was unexpected. It was big, there was water, electricity, heating. Impressed by the size of the house and the brightness of the rooms, I got a little lost. There were doors everywhere, it smelled of paint, cleanliness. In the main room, there was a wood and coal stove that heated the entire house with radiators, what a luxury. Now, head back towards the town of Thury Harcourt, leaving the Swedish-style houses behind and passing in front of the Notre-Dame school.
My name is George. During the occupation, I was 8 years old. To eat, we had ration cards with vouchers that we would collect from the town hall. The meals weren't very varied, but we ate enough. We kept all the leftovers and saved everything. The curfew was at 9 or 10 o'clock, and the lights had to be turned off. Sometimes there were alerts, and we would go to the cellars or the trenches dug at the edge of the forest. One day, we heard several planes coming towards us, in panic, the whole village sought shelter, but the bombs started to fall, and some houses were completely destroyed. We hope you enjoyed this journey through the different eras that have shaped our town into what it is today. And we remind you that the collection 'And if we talked about...' includes 7 routes with different themes about the towns and villages of Bretteville-sur-Laize, Saint-Rémy sur Orne, Clécy, Thury Harcourt, and La Pommeraye with its iconic site of Château Ganne.
