In the end, only a handful of houses remained. Between March and August 1944, as the Second World War was coming to an end, the town of Saint-Maximin (Oise) was shelled by eighteen Allied armed operations.
At the height of summer, no less than 9,000 tons of shells fell on the town, which then had 1,200 inhabitants, but also on the neighboring town of Saint-Leu-d'Esserent. Coalition aircraft between the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union target Nazi army installations in the quarries in the area. In September 1944, there were only five or six buildings still standing. The city was razed to 95%.
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