On the place du marché near the Chapel Notre Dame des Portes Plaque An information plaque on a granite pedestal, in English and French with pictures, describing the liberation of the town by the 6th Armored Division.

The Liberation of Chateauneuf de Faou

On Sunday, July 30th 1944, the Royal Air Force bombed the "Château de Trévarez", used as a rest center for German and Japanese submarine crews based at the harbors of Brest and Lorient.  The following week, the French resistance undertook several actions against the Germans who then retaliated by killing numberous civilians in the course of their retreat.  Finally, on 5 August, the 86th Reconnaissance Squadron of the 6th US Armored Division entered Chateauneuf du Faou by the Pont du Roy.  There was in immediate outbreak of joy in the streets of the town as the people showed their immense gratitude to their liberators.  Unfortunately, this joy was short-lived.  After the departure of the American squadron,  four German soldiers on motorcycles made their way through the crowd and went to the Pont du Roy.  They had observed the comings and goings of an American dispatch driver who was behind the armored division.  From the bridge, they fired on the American and hurt him seriously, thus depriving our liberators of their liaison officer.  Meanwhile, the US division had left the town and was fighting against the Germans three kilometers north, on the road to Châteaulin.  They then decided to come back to Chateauneuf du Faou, not knowing that the enemy was lying in ambush below the Chapel Notre Dame des Portes, which offers a magnificent vantage point.  From this high position, the Germans attacked the last of the American vehicles with grenades and machineguns, easily succeeding, on the sharp bend, in isolating them from the rest of the division.  The Americans who had crossed the bridge were powerless to stop the slaughter of their comrades.  Twelve American soldiers lost  their lives in this fight for the liberation of Chateauneuf du Faou.

On the occaision of the 50th anniversary of its liberation, August 6th 1944, the town of Chateauneuf du Faou, which holds the "Croix du Guerre" for its resistance during the war, erected this memorial in honor of those Americans who died on its soil.  A group of American veterans, some of who had fought in the battle for Chateauneuf du Foau in 1944, were present for the unveiling ceremony.