page_title: Saumur
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Saumur / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: La mairie de Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France. English: The Saumur City Hall, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France.
context_page_description: Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.
  The historic town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc. which produce some of France's finest wines.
context_section_description: During the Battle of France, in World War II, Saumur was the site of the Battle of Saumur (1940) where the town and south bank of the Loire was defended by the teenage cadets of the cavalry school, to their great credit and for the Honour of France.
  In 1944 it was the target of the first Tallboy and the fourth Azon bombing raids by Allied planes. 
  The first ever Tallboy raid, on 8/9 June 1944, was against a railway tunnel near Saumur, seeing the first use of the 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) Tallboy "earthquake" bombs. The hastily organized night raid was to stop a planned German Panzer Division, travelling to engage the newly landed allied forces in Normandy. The panzers were expected to use the railway to cross the Loire. No. 83 Squadron RAF illuminated the area with flares from four Avro Lancasters and marked the target at low level by three de Havilland Mosquitos. 25 Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF, the "Dambusters"  then dropped their Tallboys from 18,000 ft (5,500 m) with great accuracy. They hit the approaches to the bridge, blocked the railway cutting and one pierced the roof of the tunnel, bringing down a huge quantity of rock and soil which blocked the tunnel, badly delaying the German reinforcements moving towards Normandy, especially 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich. The damaged tunnel was quickly dug out to make a deeper cutting, resulting in the need for a second attack.
  On 22 June, nine Consolidated B-24 Liberators of the United States Army Air Forces used the new Azon 1,000 lb (450 kg) glide bombs against the Saumur rail bridge;  escorted by 43 North American P-51 Mustangs. They failed to destroy the bridge. During the morning of 24 June, 38 American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses with conventional bombs attacked the bridge; escort was provided by 121 of 135 P-51s. The bridge was damaged.
  The town of Saumur was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm for its resistance and display of French patriotism during the war.
caption: The Saumur City Hall
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