German swimming pool and its infrastructure à Sideville dans la Manche

Timeline

Origin and history

Sideville's German swimming pool, located at the place called the Boulay, is a rare vestige of the Nazi occupation during World War II. Built in reinforced concrete around 1942, it is 25 metres long and includes divers, a light shelter and a curate. This site was part of the Wn 258 resistance nest, a Luftwaffe cantonment area located near a requisitioned master house. The package was intended for German soldiers stationed in this strategic sector of the English Channel.

The Boulay site was divided into two sets of buildings, of which only the first remains today. It includes, in addition to the pool, a hydraulic network, sanitary facilities and archaeological remains protected since December 2024. These infrastructures illustrate the logistical and recreational organization of German troops in Normandy, in a context of total war. The location, noted as mediocre (level 5/10), remains approximate, centered on the cadastral plot ZD n°50.

Ranked under the title of Historical Monuments, the swimming pool and its annexes (shelter, healing, land base) testify to the military history of the 20th century in France. Their preservation offers concrete insight into the daily lives of German soldiers in occupied territory, in an area marked by preparations for the Allied Landing. The site, although not accessible, is a unique memorial heritage in Lower Normandy (now Normandy).

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