In World War II, both the Allied and Axis forces deployed massive numbers of troops. The intense battles that followed left considerable debris, much of which can still be seen even decades later. While smaller items like hand grenades and land mines are frequently found, there are also occasional discoveries of larger, historically significant artifacts from that period.
Chartres is no stranger to war
Chartres is no stranger to conflict, having experienced it for decades, and this was no different during World War II. It was one of many European cities to suffer heavy bombings during the early years of the conflict, and it was also the site of intense fighting in August 1944, just over two months after the D-Day landings at Normandy.
Saving the Chartres cathedral
The Americans spearheaded the advance into the city, tasked with pushing out the Germans and demolishing the grand cathedral, which authorities worried might be used as a vantage point. On August 16, Col. Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr., a liaison officer with the XX Corps, questioned if this was necessary and proposed a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines to confirm if the church’s bell tower was occupied by enemy forces. Once it was confirmed that the bell tower was unoccupied, the order to destroy the cathedral was rescinded.
Fighting to liberate Chartres
Although the cathedral was free from German troops, the rest of Chartres was still under occupation. Reconnaissance missions by the 3rd Cavalry Group and the 1139 Engineer Combat Group led to clashes, with the Americans receiving support from the Free French and the French Resistance.
On August 18, the 5th Infantry and 7th Armored Divisions, units within Gen. George Patton‘s US Third Army, liberated Chartres. This victory was among the many Allied-German clashes that paved the way for the eventual liberation of Paris.
Workers thought they were conducting normal road maintenance…
In 2008, during their routine maintenance work near Chartres, a team of road workers made a surprising discovery. While digging close to the famous cathedral, they accidentally unearthed what appeared to be a large machine right in the area where they were working.
An amazing discovery beneath the streets of Chartres
Confounded by the strange object, the workers tried loading it onto their truck but encountered difficulties, leading them to enlist the help of a mechanical digger to lift the massive metal relic from the ground. Although they managed to extract it, they still needed specialists to identify precisely what they had unearthed.
As they delved deeper, it became apparent that this find was linked to the liberation of Chartres in World War II.
A long-lost M5 Stuart
According to experts, the unidentified vehicle was identified as an American tank that played a role in the liberation of France in 1944. Remarkably, they were able to locate witnesses who remembered seeing the vehicle during the liberation efforts, operated by US troops.
Serving with the 31st Tank Battalion
The M5 Stuart light tank, as they identified it, had served with Maj. Leslie Lohse of the 31st Tank Battalion, 7th Armored Division, who’d helped with the liberation of Chartres. The tank was the first to enter the city during the Allied liberation efforts, but it was abandoned while on a reconnaissance mission, with witnesses stating it had either slipped off of its tracks or ran out of fuel.
When World War II was over, the M5 was pushed into a bomb crater and buried, as a means of clearing the road. For the next eight decades, it remained beneath the ground, with few aware of its existence.
The M5 Stuart was a variant of the M3
The M5 Stuart was developed by the Americans in 1942 as an improved version of the M3. As a result of the increased demand for radial aero-engines, which were in short supply, the US military wanted to develop a tank that could operate with another engine. One designed by Cadillac, the V8, was chosen to power the new armored vehicle, which also featured a redesigned hull.
By the end of the Second World War, 2,074 M5s had been produced. While a good tank, it was rather small, compared to others.
No match for larger enemy tanks
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It’s not unusual that the discovery made in Chartres was an M5, given it was readily used by the Americans during their push into France. However, it was a poor match for enemy vehicles, as it was only equipped with a 37 mm cannon, compared to the 88 mm ones many German tanks were equipped with.