| Original caption: “Once there was a church.” Le supérieur du Grand Séminaire de Coutances (“The Superior of the Grand Seminary of Coutances”) Canon Mignot, and le directeur du Grand Séminaire (“the Director of the Grand Seminary”) Canon Gazengel, are accompanied by 2 seminary students, 1 wearing a medical armband, as they inspect the southeast corner of Notre Dame Square outside the ruins of the south side portal of the Coutances Cathedral Notre-Dame. 60 percent of Coutances was destroyed in 2 raids on June 6, 1944. In 3 waves, at 1600 Hours, 1615 Hours, and 1630 Hours, 8th Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators attacked Vire, Saint-Lô, Coutances, Falaise, Lisieux, Thury-Harcourt, Pont-l’Eveque, Argentan, and Conde-sur-Noireau; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 11 B-24s and 5 B-17s are damaged; 10 airmen are killed in action. In all, 1,729 United States Army Air Force (USAAF) bombers drop 3,596 tons of bombs during D-Day. At 1159 Hours, The Royal Air Force (RAF) bombed Coutances for 40 minutes. 250 French civilians were killed. Another raid on June 13-14 melted the lead dome of the Coutances Cathedral Notre-Dame lantern tower. The area around the Cathedral was completely destroyed, but the church was relatively intact. The 4th Armored Division liberated Coutances on July 28. Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6, 91. Infanterie-Division, and the elements of the SS Panzer-Division Das Reich charged with defending this sector retreated and abandoned the city to the Americans. This photo, taken the next day, shows the Canons and the seminarians examining the damage to the city. They were accompanied by Canon Lemoil and Sgt. Milton Marder (May 22, 1918 – June 10, 1997) of the 166th Signal Photo Company, among others. Bishop Théophile-Marie Louvard (October 5, 1858 – April l8, 1950) took the Canons’ report and oversaw the rebuilding of the lantern tower and assisted in the planning of rebuilding of Coutances after World War II. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0410.jpg |
| Image Size | 745.37 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2924 x 2219 |
| Photographer | Milton Marder |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 29, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Coutances |
| State or Province | Normandy |
| Country | France |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-65638(222) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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