Raid on St Malo

The Battle of Saint-Malo was fought between Allied and German forces to control the French coastal town of Saint-Malo during World War II. The battle formed part of the Allied breakout across France and took place between 4 August and 2 September 1944. United States Army units, with the support of Free French and British forces, successfully assaulted the town and defeated its German defenders. The German garrison on a nearby island continued to resist until 2 September. Saint-Malo was one of the French towns designated as a fortress under the German Atlantic Wall program, and its prewar defenses were expanded considerably before the Allied landings in Normandy during June 1944. As part of their invasion plans, the Allies intended to capture the town so that its port could be used to land supplies. While there was some debate over the necessity of this in August as the Allied forces broke out of Normandy and entered Brittany, it was decided to capture rather than contain Saint-Malo to secure its port and eliminate the German garrison. After initial attempts to capture the locality failed, the US Army began a siege operation. Infantry units attacked and defeated large numbers of fortified German positions with the support of artillery and aircraft. A fortification on the edge of Saint-Malo was the final German position on the mainland to hold out, and surrendered on 17 August. After extensive air and naval bombardments, the garrison on the nearby island of Cézembre surrendered on 2 September. German demolitions made it impractical to use Saint-Malo as a port. The town was also heavily damaged during the battle and was rebuilt after the war.

The canton of Saint-Malo-Nord is a former canton of France, located in the arrondissement of Saint-Malo, in the Ille-et-Vilaine département, Brittany région. It had 25,703 inhabitants (2012). It was disbanded following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. The canton comprised part of the commune of Saint-Malo.

Saint-Malo (UK: , US: , French: [sɛ̃ malo] ; Gallo: Saent-Malô; Breton: Sant-Maloù) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany. The walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Allies heavily bombed Saint-Malo. The city changed into a popular tourist centre, with a ferry terminal serving the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, as well as the Southern English settlements of Portsmouth, Hampshire and Poole, Dorset. The famous transatlantic single-handed yacht race Route du Rhum, which takes place every four years in November, is between Saint Malo and Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe.

Saint-Malo station (French: Gare de Saint-Malo) is a railway station serving the town Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine department, western France. The station is situated on the Rennes–Saint-Malo railway.

The arrondissement of Saint-Malo is an arrondissement of France in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in the Brittany region. It has 68 communes. Its population is 165,866 (2016), and its area is 1,070.6 km2 (413.4 sq mi).

The canton of Saint-Malo-1 is an administrative division of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, in northwestern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Saint-Malo.It consists of the following communes: Cancale La Gouesnière Saint-Coulomb Saint-Malo (partly) Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes

Saint-Servan (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ sɛʁvɑ̃]; often abbreviated as St. Servan; Breton: Sant-Servan) is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of Saint-Malo. It is renowned for its shops and restaurants.

Fort National is a fort on a tidal island a few hundred metres off the walled city of Saint-Malo. The great military architect Vauban had it built in 1689 to protect Saint-Malo's port. The fort was originally called Fort Royal. In 1789 the fort's name became Fort d'Îlette or Républicain, then Fort Impérial and, after 1870, Fort National.

Saint-Malo Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Vincent-de-Saragosse de Saint-Malo) is a Catholic Cathedral located in Saint-Malo, Brittany, France. The church was founded in dedication to Saint Vincent of Saragossa and is a national monument of France. It was built in a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles during the episcopacy of Jean de Châtillon (1146-1163) on the site of an ancient church founded in the 7th century. The cathedral suffered damage during World War II when the steeple toppled onto the Sacred Heart Chapel. An organ which had been built in 1893 by Louis Debierre was destroyed. On 21 May 1972, after 28 years of work, a ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of the restoration. It is a stop on the Tro Breizh, a Catholic pilgrimage that links the towns of the seven founding saints of Brittany.

The canton of Saint-Malo-2 is an administrative division of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, in northwestern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Saint-Malo.It consists of the following communes: Dinard Le Minihic-sur-Rance Pleurtuit La Richardais Saint-Briac-sur-Mer Saint-Jouan-des-Guérets Saint-Lunaire Saint-Malo (partly)

The former Breton and French Catholic Diocese of Saint-Malo (Latin: Dioecesis Alethensis, then Dioecesis Macloviensis) existed from at least the 7th century until the French Revolution. Its seat was at Aleth up to some point in the 12th century, when it moved to Saint-Malo. Its territory extended over some of the modern departments of Ille-et-Vilaine, Côtes-d'Armor, and Morbihan. Until the 860s, it was often termed the bishopric of Poutrocoet.

Aleth Cathedral (French: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre d'Aleth) was a Roman Catholic church located in Saint-Servan in Saint-Malo, Brittany, France. It was the cathedral of the diocese of Aleth. Aleth was a Gallo-Roman settlement on a peninsula on one side of the Rance estuary. The diocese was established in the 9th century. The cathedral was destroyed by Norman invaders in the 10th century but later rebuilt.The site of Aleth however was not a secure one and the town of Saint-Malo had begun to grow up on a far more defensible site on a rocky islet in the estuary. In 1146 the seat of the bishopric of Aleth was moved to Saint-Malo by the then bishop, Jean de Châtillon, and established in the monastery, founded in 1108. The diocese thus became the Diocese of Saint-Malo and the abbey church Saint-Malo Cathedral, replacing the cathedral in Aleth. Competition with the new town came to a head in 1255, when resentment in Aleth at the tax demands of Saint-Malo resulted in armed conflict. Aleth lost, and the walls, fortress and church were dismantled as punishment. The former cathedral ruins are still to be seen in the commune of Saint-Servan which occupies the area of the former Aleth.