On June 9, 1940, as the battle raged around the Seine, the Courcelles-sur-Seine bridge was destroyed to slow down the German armies. Some 20 English tanks accompanied by French soldiers of all arms and civilians had previously fled. Of the 80 men under Lieutenant Guyonnet who defended the bridge, 30 died. The officer, who decided to have it blown up, inaugurated a plaque in their memory on the new bridge that opened in 1966.