Bombings at the Desmarais Frères factory in Le Havre

By André Vallée Engineer at D.F. Book Desmarais Frères (1861-1961)

In June 1940, the German invasion forced the headquarters of Desmarais Frères to withdraw to Blaye. At the end of June, the first Wermarcht soldiers arrived. The requisitions began ... On August 15, at one o'clock in the morning, [...] flying within 200 meters, a dozen English planes have just launched their rockets which light up the river, the reservoirs and an oil refinery of the Havre estuary. A few moments later, the first wave pours a rain of explosive and incendiary bombs through the Desmarais Frères factory ...