De la Mare Castle (Jullouville) Audio guide

A castle linked to Normandy’s wartime history

De la Mare Castle in Jullouville is one of those places whose significance reaches far beyond the ordinary history of a country house. During the Second World War, it was home to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, the supreme headquarters of the Allied expeditionary forces. Such places show how private residences, in extraordinary historical circumstances, were transformed into centers of military command.

After the June 1944 landings, Normandy became one of the main areas of the Allied advance into occupied Europe. The headquarters had to be secure, easily accessible, and at the same time suitably representative. De la Mare Castle therefore took on a role that firmly linked it to the history of the liberation of Western Europe.

Today, this place serves as a reminder that history is shaped not only on battlefields, but also in the buildings where decisions about the course of the war were made. For visitors, it is precisely this connection between architecture, landscape, and modern history that makes it so compelling.