Ferme des commandos

It was on the heights of Amfreville that the British commandos carried out their last mission on June 6, 1944. They had been ordered to hold this lock east of the D-Day beaches, repelling any German counter-attack.

Around the central square, dominated by the church and surrounded by farms, the commandos set up defensive positions against the German lines a few hundred meters away in Bavent, Bréville and, further north, Sallenelles.

They prepared for a war of position in trenches dug for their first night in France, to the east of the church, opposite Bavent and then at the edge of a grove opposite Bréville.
Arriving in? Amfreville in the late afternoon of June 6, 1944, the officers of no. 6 Commando chose a large building closing one of the corners of the Place du Plein to house their men and HQ. Owned by the Saulnier family, the farm had extensive outbuildings and a large courtyard capable of housing everything the commandos would need during the battle: an infirmary, a kitchen, dormitories and a morgue. The "commando farm" served as billeting for several hundred men, and as HQ for the 1st brigade until the end of July 1944. Today, a monument in front of the farmhouse and a plaque to the right of the entrance porch commemorate this singular episode in the Battle of Normandy.
Since June 6, 2014, a bust of Lord Lovat, commander of the First Brigade of Commandos, has dominated the square in front of the farmhouse, which was completely reconfigured for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.