9. Exmés to Vimoutiers

Located between Chambois and Vimoutiers, the Memorial of Coudehard - Montormel is situated in the heart of the Falaise pocket. It is on the very site of the memorial that the powerful German war machine deployed in Normandy collapsed between 18 and 22 August 1944. Montgomery was to call this battle "the beginning of the end of the war", and as a testament to the efforts of four Allied nations to defeat a common enemy, the Memorial offers an unforgettable plunge into the hell of the Battle of Normandy. Its discovery is an emotional and educational experience of rare significance.
More information Memorial of Montormel.

12th century church to be visited after the museum of Montormel. The parish of Coudehard, a parish under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Lisieux before the Revolution, was under the governance of the abbot of Saint-Wandrille. The parish church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul is located away from the town, on the side of the hill of Montormel.
The church has a rectangular plan. It is covered with a gable roof, surmounted by an octagonal bell tower on a square base covered with slates. A sacristy flanks the south-east corner of the church. The whole has been beautifully restored. Enjoy the beautiful view from this church.

Hill 262: The name given to this hill refers to the altitude shown on Allied staff maps of the time.
The "Hill 262 North" stele on the commune of Coudehard commemorates the end of the Battle of the Falaise pocket, where the 1st Polish Armoured Division, commanded by General Maczek, and the 4th Canadian Armoured Division were engaged. During this bloody episode, Poland paid a heavy price: 325 soldiers killed, 1,002 wounded and 114 missing.

This tank of the 102nd Heavy Tank Battalion (Panzer Abteilung 102), known as Tiger I type E N°231, took part in the counter-attack behind the Falaise pocket on 19 August 1944 and broke down on the road to Vimoutiers. His team scuttled it by detonating two charges inside. On August 21, 1944 the battle of "la Poche de Falaise" ended with the victory of the Allied armies.

The new church of Vimoutiers, built at the end of the 19th century, is a neo-Gothic building. It replaces the 16th century church, which was already enlarged but became too small due to the town's expansion in the 19th century. It was built between 1888 and 1896, and its dimensions and decoration bear witness to the ambition of its builders.
Its two spires reach for the sky and its construction, made of granite, limestone and ashlar, has resisted the onslaught of time and the bombing of the city on 14 June 1944, which pulverised the stained glass windows. The town of Vimoutiers asked the master glassmaker of Chartres, Gabriel Noire, famous for his stained-glass windows with reinforced cement crimping to replace the traditional lead.
The church's stained glass windows tell the story of Normandy and the Pays d'Auge: the Vikings, the monks of Jumièges, Joan of Arc, the Camembert, etc.
The MH listed organ, the last organ created by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (the twin of this organ, built at the same time, is in Moscow). It is the largest organ in the Orne department (3 manuals, 1800 pipes). Aristide Cavaillé-Coll built 499 organs, including the one in the church of Notre-Dame de Paris.
The organ was restored in 2018.