Saint-Nazaire is situated to the east of the city of Nantes, on the estuary of the Loire, the longest river of France, and flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of about 70,000, it is France’s fourth largest port, and the first on the Atlantic coast.
There is evidence that Neolithic tribes existed in the area. The Tumulus de Dissignac, with two funeral chambers, date from about 5,500 BC. And, in the centre of the town, there is a megalithic dolmen dated from 4,000 BC. In the area a little to the south of the estuary of the Loire, there are also a number of menhirs weighting up to five tonnes.
Ideally situated as a port for Nantes, it originated as a simple village around the beginning of the 19th century. By the middle of that century, and with the construction of a station in 1857, the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer d’Orléans brought the railway to the area, and to Saint-Nazaire. It soon became a port for transatlantic shipping to central and north America. With the development of maritime commerce, it was called “la petite Californie bretonne”. By the 1880s, along the seafront, and behind the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), smart hotels and “maisons bourgeoises” became a prominent residential quarter of Saint-Nazaire. In the 1920s and 1930s, however, the port was enlarged and greatly developed for the construction of such translantic liners as the “Normandie” and “France”. (Such construction continues: and I can see an enormous liner—like a floating skyscraper!—being built.) Such was, and is, Saint-Nazaire.
At the beginning of September 1939, following the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Britain and France declared war on Germany. There then followed, at least in western Europe until June 1940, what was later termed the “phoney war”. The French had constructed along their eastern frontier, what they considered to be their impregnable defence—the “Maginot Line”, against a possible invasion by Germany. But the attack, not surprisingly, came from, and through Holland and Belgium to the north, where thee was no defensive Maginot Line; the same area of France which had suffered such death and destruction in the previous, First World War. Facing the German advance into France was the French army and the British Expeditionary force. The Germans swept all before them; and soon they were in Paris, and rapidly sweeping westward towards the Atlantic coast. They entered Nantes and then saint-Nazaire, to be occupied until towards the end of the war. For Germany, like Brest to the north, Saint-Nazaire was one of the most important prizes of the war, and the occupation of France.
Saint-Nazaire was the most import port, following possibly Brest, from which German U-boat submarines would attack transatlantic convoys bringing food, armaments and, later, the American forces to Britain. But the U-boats, which needed to refuel, were vulnerable to attack. They were not as large as some modern submarines. And they had to be protected in Saint-Nazaire harbour. The Germans, therefore, built what was possibly the most formidable fortifications of the last world war, of concrete, and composing 14 U-boat pens in the harbour, just opposite the left of Avenue de la Vieille Ville, where they can be seen from the windows of the apartment. They are not beautiful—but ugly and indeed quite brutal! It has been said that these pens were the key to the Battle of the Atlantic.
Of course, the British Royal Airforce (RAF) and the United States Army Airforce (USAAF) bombed Saint-Nazaire in general, and the U-boat fortifications in particular, many times. The town was almost totally destroyed, with many people killed and maimed; but the reinforced concrete construction was so strong that, despite more than probably 4,000 tonnes of high explosives, plus many tonnes of incendiaries, being dropped directly on it, there was hardly any real damage. Little damage can be seen even now.
After the war, much of Saint-Nazaire had to be rebuilt. Avenues such as the Rue du Général De Gaulle, and the commercial centres, “Le Paquebot” and “Le Ruban Beau”, are most attractive and functional. There is now a new Hôtel de Ville. The old railway station near the harbour and behind the U-boat pens, has been rebuilt into a modern theâtre. In 1975 a bridge, 3.356 metres in length, and one of the most famous in European, spans the estuary of the Loire between Saint-Nazaire and Saint-Brévin to the south, replacing the ferry boats used previously.
Today, Saint-Nazaire is still very much an industrial town and port, with shipping coming from and going to 400 ports worldwide. There are many large and small capitalist enterprises, including an Airbus factory. Unlike, for example, La Baule to the east and Saint-Brévin, where there are many empty “second homes” for much of the year, the population of Saint-Nazaire is predominately (probably more than 90 per cent) working-class. And, as elsewhere, some of the shops and factories have “gone bust”, and are closed. It cannot escape the slump,.
PETER E. NEWELL,
Saint-Nazaire, January 2013
There is evidence that Neolithic tribes existed in the area. The Tumulus de Dissignac, with two funeral chambers, date from about 5,500 BC. And, in the centre of the town, there is a megalithic dolmen dated from 4,000 BC. In the area a little to the south of the estuary of the Loire, there are also a number of menhirs weighting up to five tonnes.
Ideally situated as a port for Nantes, it originated as a simple village around the beginning of the 19th century. By the middle of that century, and with the construction of a station in 1857, the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer d’Orléans brought the railway to the area, and to Saint-Nazaire. It soon became a port for transatlantic shipping to central and north America. With the development of maritime commerce, it was called “la petite Californie bretonne”. By the 1880s, along the seafront, and behind the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), smart hotels and “maisons bourgeoises” became a prominent residential quarter of Saint-Nazaire. In the 1920s and 1930s, however, the port was enlarged and greatly developed for the construction of such translantic liners as the “Normandie” and “France”. (Such construction continues: and I can see an enormous liner—like a floating skyscraper!—being built.) Such was, and is, Saint-Nazaire.
At the beginning of September 1939, following the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Britain and France declared war on Germany. There then followed, at least in western Europe until June 1940, what was later termed the “phoney war”. The French had constructed along their eastern frontier, what they considered to be their impregnable defence—the “Maginot Line”, against a possible invasion by Germany. But the attack, not surprisingly, came from, and through Holland and Belgium to the north, where thee was no defensive Maginot Line; the same area of France which had suffered such death and destruction in the previous, First World War. Facing the German advance into France was the French army and the British Expeditionary force. The Germans swept all before them; and soon they were in Paris, and rapidly sweeping westward towards the Atlantic coast. They entered Nantes and then saint-Nazaire, to be occupied until towards the end of the war. For Germany, like Brest to the north, Saint-Nazaire was one of the most important prizes of the war, and the occupation of France.
Saint-Nazaire was the most import port, following possibly Brest, from which German U-boat submarines would attack transatlantic convoys bringing food, armaments and, later, the American forces to Britain. But the U-boats, which needed to refuel, were vulnerable to attack. They were not as large as some modern submarines. And they had to be protected in Saint-Nazaire harbour. The Germans, therefore, built what was possibly the most formidable fortifications of the last world war, of concrete, and composing 14 U-boat pens in the harbour, just opposite the left of Avenue de la Vieille Ville, where they can be seen from the windows of the apartment. They are not beautiful—but ugly and indeed quite brutal! It has been said that these pens were the key to the Battle of the Atlantic.
Of course, the British Royal Airforce (RAF) and the United States Army Airforce (USAAF) bombed Saint-Nazaire in general, and the U-boat fortifications in particular, many times. The town was almost totally destroyed, with many people killed and maimed; but the reinforced concrete construction was so strong that, despite more than probably 4,000 tonnes of high explosives, plus many tonnes of incendiaries, being dropped directly on it, there was hardly any real damage. Little damage can be seen even now.
After the war, much of Saint-Nazaire had to be rebuilt. Avenues such as the Rue du Général De Gaulle, and the commercial centres, “Le Paquebot” and “Le Ruban Beau”, are most attractive and functional. There is now a new Hôtel de Ville. The old railway station near the harbour and behind the U-boat pens, has been rebuilt into a modern theâtre. In 1975 a bridge, 3.356 metres in length, and one of the most famous in European, spans the estuary of the Loire between Saint-Nazaire and Saint-Brévin to the south, replacing the ferry boats used previously.
Today, Saint-Nazaire is still very much an industrial town and port, with shipping coming from and going to 400 ports worldwide. There are many large and small capitalist enterprises, including an Airbus factory. Unlike, for example, La Baule to the east and Saint-Brévin, where there are many empty “second homes” for much of the year, the population of Saint-Nazaire is predominately (probably more than 90 per cent) working-class. And, as elsewhere, some of the shops and factories have “gone bust”, and are closed. It cannot escape the slump,.
PETER E. NEWELL,
Saint-Nazaire, January 2013
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