World War II in Pictures- American soldiers who took part in the offensive in Saint-Lô, in Normandy, watch an open-air performance, north of the town, presented by a group of women refugees on 17 June 1944.

The German army occupied the town on 17 June 1940. Being a strategic crossroads, Saint-Lô was almost totally destroyed (95% according to common estimates) during the Battle of Normandy; it was even questioned whether to rebuild it or to leave the ruins intact as a testimony to the bombing.