{"id":16134,"date":"2024-07-16T23:12:48","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T03:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/?page_id=16134"},"modified":"2025-09-25T20:32:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T00:32:51","slug":"liberation-of-neufchatel-en-bray-france","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/rch-history\/ww2-liberation-stories\/liberation-of-neufchatel-en-bray-france\/","title":{"rendered":"The liberation of Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray, France, 31 August 1944"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: center; font-family: Arial;\"><strong>Celebration and commemoration<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\">Every year on 31 August, the residents of the town of Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray, France celebrate the anniversary of the liberation of their town in 1944 and commemorate the deaths of three Canadian soldiers from the 7<sup>th <\/sup>Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment who died in the process. This page, which was created in 2024, eighty years after the event, documents the respective stories of the soldiers and the town residents. It includes the following documents or sub-directories:<\/h4>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-16074\" src=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/7-IMG_0347-173x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"345\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/7-IMG_0347-173x300.jpg 173w, https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/7-IMG_0347.jpg 369w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 345px) 100vw, 345px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc1\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/20240824-Role-of-7th-Recce-and-profiles-of-the-deceased_A.pdf\">Overview of the role of the 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Duke of York\u2019s Royal Canadian Hussars) in the liberation of Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray, France on 31 August 1944, and profiles of the three members of the unit that lost their lives in the process from the point of view of the Regiment.<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc2\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2-parcours-de-17-DYRCH-44-45_b.pdf\">Slide presentation of the 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Duke of York\u2019s Royal Canadian Hussars) and its role in the Liberation prepared by Bernard Auriel, Pr\u00e9sident du comit\u00e9 du Souvenir Fran\u00e7ais de Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray, 2024.<\/a><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\">See the following page for details of the 2024 <a id=\"doc3\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/news\/16916\/\">French Souvenir Exhibition<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc4\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/3-20240622_1946_article-de-Journal-de-Neufchatel_A_JR_JC.pdf\">Extracts of newspaper articles and pictures from ceremonies aimed at celebrating the anniversary of the 1944 liberation of Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray, France and commemorating the lives of the Canadian Hussars who lost their lives in the process: Events of 1945\/6. Reprinted with permission of the newspaper: <em>Le R\u00e9veil, \u00e9dition PAYS DE BRAY.<\/em><\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc5\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/4-20240622_1987_article-de-Journal-de-Neufchatel_A_JR_JC-1.pdf\">Extracts of newspaper articles and pictures from ceremonies aimed at celebrating the anniversary of the 1944 liberation of Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray, France and commemorating the lives of the Canadian Hussars who lost their lives in the process: Events of 1987\/8. Reprinted with permission of the newspaper: <em>Le R\u00e9veil, \u00e9dition PAYS DE BRAY.<\/em><\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc6\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/bataille-chef-ffi.pdf\">After action report from Mr. A. Bataille to the leader of the F.F.I. (French Resistance) &#8211; 1944. Courtesy of the Mathon Museum in Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc7\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/ResistantsNeufchatel.pdf\">The Resistance in the Region of Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray (Montage: Bernard Auriel)<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc7a\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/Temoin_du_19440931.pdf\">Document found in an attic in Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray, from a person who was present on August 31 and who accompanied a Canadian officer to see where the German strongpoints were located (Courtesy of Mr. Gerard Bellet and Mr. Bernard Auriel).<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc7b\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/Commemoration-31-aout-2024.pdf\">Commemoration ceremonies on the 80th anniversary of the liberation 2024-08-31 (montage Bernard Auriel)<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc7c\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/Expo-.pdf\">Exposition prepared by Souvenir Fran\u00e7ais on the 80th anniversary of the liberation 2024-08-31 (montage Bernard Auriel)<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc7d\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/CimetiereCanadienDeLeubringhen.pdf\">Visits to the graves of Trooper Andrews, Trooper Pettibone, and Adjudant-maitre White at the Calais Canadian Military Cemetery in Leubringhen, Pas de Calais, France (Bernard Auriel, 2024).<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a id=\"doc7e\" href=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/douglas-ELLIS.pdf\">Visit to the grave of Trooper Douglas Ellis at the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian Military Cemetery France (Bernard Auriel, 2024)<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a href=\"#gallery_16157\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Photo album showing pictures taken in 1944 by different local photographers.<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a href=\"#gallery_16196\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Photo albums of various visits of Royal Canadian Hussars Association members to Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray to attend the ceremonies \u2013 1988 Karl Kramell.<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\"><a href=\"#gallery_16228\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Photo albums of various visits of Royal Canadian Hussars Association members to Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray to attend the ceremonies \u2013 2018 Gordon Weekes.<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 style=\"font-family: Arial;\">We thank all those who contributed to this page in memory of the liberation and those who died in the process. We thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice. We will remember them; may they rest in peace.<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-16119\" src=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/7-DSC_7623-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/7-DSC_7623-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/7-DSC_7623-600x398.jpg 600w, https:\/\/rch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/7-DSC_7623.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Celebration and commemoration Every year on 31 August, the residents of the town of Neufch\u00e2tel-en-Bray, France celebrate the anniversary of the liberation of their town in 1944 and commemorate the deaths of three Canadian soldiers from the 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment who died in the process. This page, which was created in 2024, eighty years [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001003,"featured_media":0,"parent":11901,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16134","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001003"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16134"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18508,"href":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16134\/revisions\/18508"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rch.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}