Allied siege of La Rochelle

This article is about the World War II operation. For other uses, see Battle of La Rochelle (disambiguation).
Allied siege of La Rochelle (1944–1945)
Part of World War II

French Army armoured car which participated in the liberation of La Rochelle in 1945. Musée d'Orbigny-Bernon.
DateSeptember 1944 – May 1945
Location
La Rochelle
Result German surrender
Belligerents
Nazi Germany Germany France
 United States
 United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Vice-Admiral Ernst Schirlitz Surrendered General Edgard de Larminat
Strength
22,000

The Allied siege of La Rochelle occurred during the Second World War in 1944–45, when Allied troops invaded France.[1][2] La Rochelle was an important German naval base on the Atlantic for surface ships and submarines, from which U-boat campaigns were launched.[3]

La Rochelle and other harbours such as Royan and Saint-Nazaire, became "Atlantic pockets" still occupied by the Germans, which were bypassed by the main thrust of the Allied invasion, as was Dunkirk on the North Sea. The city was liberated only at the very end of the war, nine months after the Liberation of Paris, after the general German capitulation on 8 May 1945.

  1. ^ Dallas, Gregor (January 2005). 1945: The War That Never Ended. Yale University Press. p. 364. ISBN 0300119887.
  2. ^ Avella, Natalie (June 2004). The French Property Buyer's Handbook. Harriman House Limited. p. 362. ISBN 9781897597378.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barbour was invoked but never defined (see the help page).