Bridge of Liberation Pruniers

On July 31, 1944, after General Patton's breakthrough in Avranches, he sets Rennes and then Angers as the goal for the 5th Infantry Division. Angers is an important strategic point, close to the Loire and the western headquarters of the German military.

The first troops of the 5th Division enter Anjou in the night of August 4 to 5. On August 7, a vanguard sets up camp in Saint-Jean-de-Lignières.
On the 6th, Lieutenant Colonel Eynaud de la Faÿ, the commander of the armed resistance in the Angers region, presents an attack plan for the cooperating resistance fighters and American troops.

Several young residents of Angers play a decisive role by informing the Allies about the German positions in Angers and around the city. Among them is Louis Bordier, who led the Americans to Pruniers and showed them the only remaining intact bridge, the railway bridge of Petit Anjou over the Maine. Therefore, the Americans decided to attack the German troops in the city from the south with a "bypass".

On the evening of August 8, a group of five volunteers led by Brigadier Frederick Keppler removes the anti-tank mines hidden in a car in the middle of the bridge. They then have complete control over the bridge, and troops cross the Maine the following day.

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