CHEVERT SQUARE

Formerly known by the name of Saint-Croix Square, since 1837 this square has borne the name of François de Chevert (1695-1769), whose statue stands here, and who became Marshal of France in 1744. The square has a bronze medallion at the junction of the Pont Legay and the Quai de la République, which commemorates the heroic act by resistance fighter Fernand Legay. On 30th August 1944, when the American Army was on the point of entering the city, he succeeded in disarming a German bomb placed under the bridge adjoining the square, which was the only bridge capable of bearing the weight of the American tanks. A pillar of the Liberty Route marks the passing of General Patton’s Third Army on the same day. Verdun was officially liberated on 31st August 1944.