15-096 Garand Picture of the Day

[Mark in Rochester]

U.S. Army Cpl. Charles Timm of Yonkers, New York, plays with a kitten owned by French refugees in front of a bilingual German and French sign for a public air raid shelter where they have made a temporary home following the liberation of Saint-Lô by Allied forces during the Battle of Normandy. As a strategic crossroads, Saint-Lô was almost totally destroyed (95% according to common estimates) during the battle for the town and in the thick, almost impenetrable surrounding hedgerows. It would be liberated by the U.S. Army’s 29th Infantry Division on 18 July 1944. Following the war, the question arose as to whether the town should be rebuilt or left with its ruins intact as a testimony to the bombing and war damage. The town would eventually rebuild and preserve many of the battle-scarred ruins for historic posterity. Near Saint-Lô, Manche, Lower Normandy, France. 25 July 1944.

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