| Survivors of the Battle of Saint-Lô, Jean (September 8, 1934 – May 11, 2011) and Max Robin (August 4, 1931 – November 28, 2017) watch as a United States Army 1⁄4‑ton Willys MB Jeep and a Citroën vehicle move through the devastated town. Note American trucks at the top center of the photo. This photo was circulated widely throughout the world in 1944. The children were not identified until 2004. The children are the sons of Maquis resistance fighter Raymond Robin (May 13, 1907 – June 15, 1944). Raymond Robin was part of an active cell in Saint-Lô, and they received 11 containers of weapons and ammunition on May 9, 1944. Raymond Robin drove these weapons to Villebaudon. During the Normandy landings, the Saint-Lô cell attacked German technical installations and regrouped to a farm outside town. On June 14, German Gestapo agents arrived, and a firefight resulted in the deaths of 2 German agents and several Maquis were wounded. Raymond Robin and 10 others were captured. The next morning, at approximately 0500 Hours, the Maquis, including Raymond Robin, were executed. Saint-Lô was destroyed by the United States Air Force on the evening of June 6, 1944; 90 percent of the town was leveled, and 400 residents were killed. Nicknamed the “Capital of Ruins,” Saint-Lô was liberated on July 18, but sniper activity continued to claim French and American lives. Jean and Max Robin were looking for their father amongst the ruins when an American photographer asked them to sit and look out towards the town. In the left background is the Institut Libre d’Agneaux behind Chateau des Commines. The Germans began to dig an expansive, 6-room air-raid shelter in the basement there in 1943. It is now completely flooded and inaccessible. General der Artillerie Erich Marcks (June 6, 1891 – June 12, 1944), commander of the LXXXIV Armeekorps, used it as his headquarters until his death, but it is not known why and when he left Chateau des Commines. The only memory the children received of their father was his bloodstained Maquis armband. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0497.jpg |
| Image Size | 2.51 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 4657 x 5946 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 19, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | |
| Country | France |
| Archive | United States Navy |
| Record Number | USA C-2242 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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