Carentan is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Carentan-les-Marais. The town was a strategic early goal of the World War II landings as capturing the town was necessary to link the lodgements at Utah and Omaha beaches which were divided by the Douve river estuary. The town was also needed as an intermediate staging position for the capture of the cities of Cherbourg and Octeville, with the critically important port facilities in Cherbourg.
Port
Carentan church
French civilians erected this silent tribute to an American soldier who fell in the effort to liberate France from German occupation, June 17, 1944
The Battle of Formigny, fought on 15 April 1450, was a major battle of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. A decisive French victory that destroyed the last significant English field army in Normandy, it paved the way for the capture of their remaining strongholds.
Illumination adorning La Cronicque du temps de Tres Chrestien Roy Charles, septisme de ce nom, roy de France by Jean Chartier, c. 1470–1479
The Battle of Formigny from Les Vigiles de Charles VII by Martial d'Auvergne, 1484
Bataille de Formigny, oil on canvas by Rémy-Eugène Julien
A Memorial marks the Battlefield