Le Fresne-Camilly
Authie
Memorial
On 7 June 1944, Authie was liberated by the North Nova Scotia Highlander, then taken back by grenadiers of the 12th SS Panzer-Division.
After their counter offensive the SS assassinated 37 Canadian prisoners from the town and some who were captured along the road to Abbaye d'Ardenne. They played with a dead Canadian body; put a cigarette in his mouth and a nazi helmet on his head.
One wounded Canadian soldier was laying on a table in a house dining room, when a SS entered the home and killed him. Also, when the Canadians were in the village they gave cigarettes to civilians, when the SS realized that some of the locals had allied cigarettes, they arrested them and executed 7 men.
A fortunate one had a hole in his trouser pocket and could drop the cigarette that hole saved his life. When the SS moved away from Authie they drove their vehicles over the Canadian prisoners' bodies. The front stabilized with no movement for a month with 160 casualties and 7 Shermans destroyed. Operation Windsor was to capture Carpiquet town and airfield.
Authie Memorial, with the plaque dedicated to the 7 civilians executed by the Hitlerjungend.