Loscoat
Loscoat was, before 1945, a hamlet belonging to the village of Lambézellec(fr), which is now a large suburb of Brest. Part of the former hamlet has now become an industrial area(fr), whereas the rest has become a residential area.
History
As in all other hamlets around Brest, intense fighting between the American infantry forces and the German Wehrmacht took place in Loscoat during the Battle for Brest (7 August – 20 September 1944) of World War II.
Most notably, American soldier Ernest W. Prussman, from the 13th Infantry Regiment, took over his squad on 8 September 1944 during the advance on "Les Coates" (as it appears in his official citation) in Brittany, and disarmed several Germans, including a machine gun crew. Shot by a German rifleman, his dying act was to unleash a hand grenade that killed the man who shot him. Prussman was awarded a Medal of Honor posthumously.[1]
Sources
- "These are My Credentials!": The Story of the 8th Infantry Division, 1798-1944. This document does not explicitly state the name of Loscoat, but it gives a rather accurate location of the 13th Infantry Regiment on 8 September 1944, which helps identify "Les Coates" as Loscoat.
- Lambézellec aujourd'hui(fr), a document in French about the district of Lambézellec and the industrial and residential areas of Loscoat.
References
- ^ "Medal of Honor recipients – World War II (M-S)". Medal of Honor citations. United States Army Center of Military History. June 8, 2009. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
External links
- Google Map of Loscoat