Operation Wellhit from 17 to 22 September 1944, was an operation of the Second World War by the 3rd Canadian Division of the First Canadian Army to take the fortified port of Boulogne in northern France. The 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade had hoped to take Boulogne off the march as it advanced up the coast but it was stopped by the German fortifications 5 mi (8.0 km) from the city.
German prisoners marching through Boulogne shortly after its capture, September 22, 1944
A Churchill tank leads a troop of Sherman flail tanks of the specialist 79th Armoured Division during the assault on Boulogne, September 1944
Boulogne-sur-Mer, often called just Boulogne, is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the Côte d'Opale, a touristic stretch of French coast on the English Channel between Calais and Normandy, and the most visited location in the region after the Lille conurbation. Boulogne is its department's second-largest city after Calais, and the 183rd-largest in France. It is also the country's largest fishing port, specialising in herring.
A general view from the Brecquerecque Quarter: The modern lighthouse, the medieval bell tower and the English Channel
The Tour d'Ordre, a Roman lighthouse, in 1550. It fell into the sea in 1644, having stood for over 1600 years.
The Column of the Grande Armée commemorates Napoleon's gathering of 200,000 soldiers near Boulogne for a proposed invasion of the United Kingdom. His statue is at the top.
A "special pass" issued for travel within Boulogne by the British Red Cross in May 1917, during World War I