Sherman Massaoua

Memorial M4A2 Sherman "Massaoua", of the 501st RCC (2nd armored division), destroyed on August 15, 1944
In August 1944, the town was heavily marked by the fighting of the Liberation. The crossing of the Sarthe at Alençon was a key point in Patton's offensive, where he launched the 2nd DB to reach the Orne. A fierce battle pitted the Spanish soldiers of the Nueve against the German forces, which liberated the town and enabled the encirclement of strong Wehrmacht units. The company was one of the units that subsequently defended the ground against German counter-attacks, from August 14 to 184. The Spanish Republicans, who had seen the parish priest raise the bodies in the midst of the fighting, before lavishing them with mortuary cleansing, banded together to donate a new statue of the Virgin to the destroyed church.

Source Wikipedia
Credit photo Christophe Roullier