La Meauffe

La Meauffe (French pronunciation: [la mof]) is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.

La Meauffe
Commune
The church, destroyed in July 1944 and rebuilt after the war
Coat of arms
Location of La Meauffe
La Meauffe Show map of France La Meauffe Show map of Normandy
Coordinates: 49°10′37″N 1°06′34″W
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Manche
Arrondissement	Saint-Lô
Canton	Pont-Hébert
Intercommunality	Saint-Lô Agglo
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Pascal Langlois[1]
Area 1	10.22 km2 (3.95 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	998
• Density	97.7/km2 (253/sq mi)
Demonym	Meauffois
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	50297 /50880
Elevation	4–87 m (13–285 ft)
Website	la-meauffe.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

Church and manor prior the fighting in 1944.

On the 11 and 12 July 1944, the village was attacked by the 35th Infantry Division (United States) while defended by the German 352 ID and units of the 266 ID. The fighting, violent, started the 11th and ended the 12th, cost the lives of 19 US soldiers, wounding 170, with 25 missing. The road D54, leading to La Meauffe was renamed the Death Valley Road by the US soldiers.^[3]

• 
  Funeral chapel, with bullet and shrapnel holes.
• 
  Stone memorial for the 35th ID.
• 
  Shrapnel holes on a headstone.
• 
  Stone of the Calvary cross, marked by the fighting.

Heraldry

Arms of La Meauffe

The arms of La Meauffe are blazoned : Vert, a fess wavy argent between 2 fleurs de lys Or, and a salmon argent.

See also

• Communes of the Manche department