World War II for Écouché culminated with several days of street fighting by Free French forces under General Philippe Leclerc. This engagement was part of the encirclement of the remaining German army in the final engagement of the Battle of Normandy. This final carnage of the German army was later called the Falaise Pocket,Écouché the Argentan-Falaise Pocket or Couloir de la Mort (Corridor of Death) as the local French named it.
During World War II Écouché’s buildings and homes suffered 15% heavy damage from aerial bombing and street fighting during the liberation. Most of the destruction followed the heavy bombing of the targeted railroad tracks, although the targets were never hit during two attempts.
Local residents think of the war years as divided into three phases:
The Phony war () –1 September 1939 to June 1940
General mobilisation
The "Phony war" The exodus or "Exode"
German occupation – June 1940 to August 1944
Military control, requisitions, restrictions
Local and national upheaval
Problems of supply shortages
Liberation – summer 1944
Aerial bombing and the Allied Landing on D-day, 6 June 1944
Battles for Liberation – 13–15 August 1944
The Phony war
According to the census of 1936 there were 1179 residents (Ecubéens) in Ecouché. By June 1940 this figure had been considerably reduced. There were so many young men missing. Five soldiers from Ecouché were killed in action, adding to the 100,000 French soldiers who perished in three weeks of fighting during the disastrous spring of 1940.
Another thirty were taken prisoner, but were expected to return after the armistice with Germany. Marshal Philippe Pétain, the "hero who dedicated himself to France", had inspired confidence that all would be well. Disillusionment came all too soon. The French soldiers were prisoners of war in German camps. The women who sent parcels to their husbands were considered fortunate. At least they knew their men were alive.
The citizens were resigned to a life of survival; the economy had collapsed, there were frequent requisitions, and shortages of virtually everything, especially in town.
Ecouché is surrounded by farmland, thus farm produce was distributed, either exchanged in complex negotiations, or given freely through networks of families and friends.
German military occupation
Generally the various groups of soldiers were divided up amongst the hotels and the bigger houses. For example:The large house at no. 5 place Lefevre Lemercier, known at the time as the ‘place du Fourneau’, housed about 20 soldiers. An officer would conduct a drill every morning in the square out front.
The officers were quartered in private houses and met up at the Kommandantur, an office which changed premises several times eventually remaining at number 3 Grande Rue.
Écouché housed a cavalry unit; stables and horses had also been requisitioned from the locals. It consisted of about 100 men aged between 18 and 45 years. The German Army depended enormously on horse drawn transportation.
Officially there was no interaction between residents of Ecouché and the occupiers. Citizens kept their doors and shutters closed when soldiers marched by in goose-step. Nevertheless, at the hotel, relationships developed.
Apart from patrol duties, the soldiers spent a lot of time making music, even giving concerts from time to time.
"There was not a single shot fired, ever."
Daily life
From sunset to dawn a curfew was enforced. No lights were supposed to be visible. Windows which couldn’t be obscured with thick double curtains or full shutters, had to be blacked out.
During the daytime, certain vehicles, such as doctors’ cars were allowed on the roads, but fuel was scarce. Some shop-keepers used vans running on gasogene to transport supplies, but the engines were weak. Even horses for wagons and carriages were difficult to find, as many had been requisitioned for use by the German Army.
There were steam trains in limited circulation. People walked or used bicycles with solid tyres, since it was impossible to find any inner tubes. Therefore, there was, very little traffic on the roads.
Even walking posed problems, as shoes were rationed. However, anyone could get hold of shoes with wooden soles without using a ration ticket. These were uncomfortable, fragile and certainly not waterproof.