Royan

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This article is about the town in France. For the town in Iran, see Royan, Iran.

Coordinates: 45°37′N 1°02′W / 45.62, -1.03

Administration
Commune of Royan
Location

Country	France
Region	Poitou-Charentes
Department	Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement	Rochefort
Intercommunality	Pays Royannais
Mayor	Henri Le Gueut (2006-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	0 m–35 m (avg. 20)
Land area^¹	19.30 km²
Population^² (1999)	17,102
- Density	886/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	17306/ 17200
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Royan is a commune of the Charente-Maritime département in western France.

Its economy is dominated by tourism. Four sandy coves adorn the coast.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Royan today
4 Twin towns
5 Miscellaneous
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Royan is on the Atlantic coast, near the mouth of the Gironde Estuary. Three islands are nearby: Île de Ré, Île d'Oléron and Île-d'Aix.

[edit] History

Royan's history as a resort dates from the later 19th century. From the 1890s to the Second World War it was both fashionable and popular, especially after the introduction of holidays with pay in France, in 1935.

During the Second World War, two German fortresses defended the Gironde Estuary: Gironde Mündung Nord (or Royan) and Gironde Mündung Süd (or La Pointe de Grave). These constitued one of the Atlantic "pockets" which the Germans held on to grimly well after the liberation of the rest of France. In the early hours of 5 January 1945, planes of the Royal Air Force, having been told that nobody was left in Royan but Germans and collaborators, in two raids bombed the centre of Royan out of existence. This appalling raid is usually attributed to the Free French Forces General Larminat.

The Allied operation, which was directed against the German forces on Île d'Oléron and at the mouth of the Gironde River, began with a general naval bombardment at 0750 on 15 April 1945, some 10 months after D-Day. For five days the US naval task force assisted the French ground forces with naval bombardment and aerial reconnaissance in the assault on Royan and the Pointe de Grave area at the mouth of the Gironde. American B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator aircraft carried out aerial bombing missions, including extensive and pioneering use of napalm, finishing the destruction of 5 January.

According to Edmund Blandford, Fatal Decisions, . .WW2, Airlife, Shrewsbury, 1999, page 167-8, the bombing in 1945 was totally needless and owing to a translation delay: - .. the "allies" (RAF) bombed flat the small French town of Royan ..despite the fact all the Germans had already left. Even if they had not, they could have been left there until the war was over or they realised the game was "up" . . January 1945. Night raid (why - the Allies had air superiority). 300 bombers. 1600 tonnes of bombs, more than those dropped on Cologne in 1942. More than 3000 French civilians were in the town, of which half were killed or injured.

Blandford writes, There was a Free French commander with the US sixth army outside Royan, who was not informed until too late. "The message was in French and the American signalman could not understand it. It took four hours to get it translated",

[edit] Royan today

Notre-Dame of Royan

The town was rebuilt in the 1950s, as part of an urbanisation programme and is very representative of the modernist architecture of the time.

A pleasant resort, known also for its casinos and hotels, Royan has a typical Atlantic climate. It is particularly favoured by families with young children because of the safe beaches, several in attractive coves (conches)with beach cafes.