It was on the heights of Amfreville that the British commandos carried out their last mission on June 6, 1944. They had been ordered to hold this lock east of the D-Day beaches, repelling any German counter-attack.
Around the central square, dominated by the church and surrounded by farms, the commandos set up defensive positions against the German lines a few hundred meters away in Bavent, Bréville and, further north, Sallenelles.
They prepared for a war of position in trenches dug for their first night in France, to the east of the church, opposite Bavent and then at the edge of a grove opposite Bréville.
Arriving in? Amfreville in the late afternoon of June 6, 1944, the officers of no. 6 Commando chose a large building closing one of the corners of the Place du Plein to house their men and HQ. Owned by the Saulnier family, the farm had extensive outbuildings and a large courtyard capable of housing everything the commandos would need during the battle: an infirmary, a kitchen, dormitories and a morgue. The "commando farm" served as billeting for several hundred men, and as HQ for the 1st brigade until the end of July 1944. Today, a monument in front of the farmhouse and a plaque to the right of the entrance porch commemorate this singular episode in the Battle of Normandy.
Since June 6, 2014, a bust of Lord Lovat, commander of the First Brigade of Commandos, has dominated the square in front of the farmhouse, which was completely reconfigured for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.