Bazenville Explained

Bazenville
Commune Status:Commune
Image Coat Of Arms:Blason de la ville de Bazenville (Calvados).svg
Arrondissement:Bayeux
Canton:Courseulles-sur-Mer
Insee:14049
Postal Code:14480
Mayor:Marcel Dubois[1]
Term:2020 - 2026
Intercommunality:Seulles Terre et Mer
Coordinates:49.3036°N -0.585°W
Elevation M:30
Elevation Min M:53
Elevation Max M:67
Area Km2:4.07

Bazenville (in French pronounced as /bazɑ̃vil/) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France.[2]

Bazenville Airfield was a former World War II Advanced Landing Ground, mostly located outside the commune of Bazenville 1.8 km to the north-east.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Bazenvillais or Bazenvillaises.[3]

Geography

Bazenville is located some 6 km east by north-east of Bayeux and 4 km south by south-east of Arromanches-les-Bains. Access to the commune is by the D87 road from Ryes in the north-west which passes through the commune south of the village and continues south-east to Villiers-le-Sec. The D112 from Sommervieu to Crépon forms the north-western border of the commune. Apart from the village there is the hamlet of Les Noyaux. There is a British Military Cemetery in the west of the commune on the D87. The commune is entirely farmland.[4]

Toponymy

Bazonille is mentioned as Basonni villa in 875.

Bazenville appears as Bazanville on the 1750 Cassini Map and as Bazan ville on the 1790 version.

History

Bazenville was liberated on the same day as the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. An interim Canadian aerodrome (referred to as Bazenville Airfield, Advanced Landing Ground B-2 Bazenville, or B-2 Crépon) was built commencing the following night near the commune in a large part of the triangle formed by the Bazenville, Crépon, and Villiers-le-Sec villages.[5]

It was on this aerodrome that the French ace Pierre Clostermann flew, on 11 June 1944, for the first time in France after his entry into the war in 1942: "All my life I will remember the people of Bazenville the first French to whom I spoke".[6]

Administration

List of Successive Mayors[7]

From To Name Party Position
2001 2005 Pierre Vallerend Farmer
2005 2026 Marcel Dubois Retired

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 137 inhabitants.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has many buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:

Religious heritage

The commune has several religious buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:

Heritage Picture Gallery

Notable people linked to the commune

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Répertoire national des élus: les maires. data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 2 December 2020. fr.
  2. https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/cog/commune/COM14049-bazenville INSEE commune file
  3. http://www.habitants.fr/calvados-14 Inhabitants of Calvados
  4. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bazenville,+France/@49.3036,-0.585,14z Bazenville on Google Maps
  5. http://www.ronaldv.nl/abandoned/airfields/FR/lowernormandy/calvados.html#bazenville Abandoned Airfields in Lower Normandy
  6. Claude Quétel (under the direction of), Dictionary of the Landings, éditions Ouest-France, Rennes, 2011, 725 pages, p. 174 "Clostermann (Pierre)",
  7. http://www.francegenweb.org/mairesgenweb/resultcommune.php?id=18606 List of Mayors of France
  8. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  9. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  10. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  11. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  12. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  13. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  14. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  15. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  16. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  17. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  18. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  19. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  20. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  21. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
  22. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée