French Workers Dig Up A Giant WWII Artifact in Chartres

During World War II, the Allied and Axis forces deployed high numbers of troops and weaponry across Europe and the Pacific. The intense battles that followed left behind a lot of debris, much of which remains visible even decades later. While smaller items like hand grenades and land mines are frequently found, there are sometimes discoveries of larger, historically important artifacts from that era, as recently demonstrated by finds in Chartres, France.

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 led the charge into the city, given the responsibility of driving out the Germans and demolishing the grand cathedral, which officials feared might be serving as a lookout point. On August 16, Col. Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr., a liaison officer with the XX Corps, questioned if this was necessary and suggested a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines to check if the church’s bell tower was occupied by enemy forces. After it was verified that the bell tower was clear, the order to destroy the cathedral was revoked.

Fighting to liberate Chartres

Although the cathedral was free of German soldiers, the rest of Chartres was still occupied. Teams from the 3rd Cavalry Group and the 1139 Engineer Combat Group then carried out reconnaissance on the city, leading to clashes between both sides, with the Americans supported by the Free French and the French Resistance.

On August 18, the 5th Infantry and 7th Armored Divisions, part of Gen. George S. Patton 's US Third Army, liberated Chartres . The capture of the city was one of many confrontations between the Allies and Germans that eventually led to the liberation of Paris .

Workers thought they were conducting normal road maintenance...

In 2008, during their regular maintenance tasks near Chartres, a group of road workers encountered something unexpected. While excavating close to the renowned cathedral, they inadvertently uncovered what appeared to be a large machine right in the area where they were operating.

An amazing discovery beneath the streets of Chartres

Confounded by the mysterious object, the workers tried to hoist 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. Despite their success in extracting it, they needed the skills of experts to identify precisely what they had unearthed.

Further examination revealed that this find was linked to the liberation of Chartres during 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.