France in World War II in Requiem for a Nun (Location)

Two French locations that were prominent parts of the history of the Second World War are referred to in the novel. "Dunquerque" (more commonly anglicized as Dunkirk) was the coastal city in northern France from which England had to evacuate its army after German forces overran the country in May 1940, near the start of the War (193). "Utah Beach" was the code name that the Allies gave to the westernmost of the five Normandy beaches where the D-Day invasion of occupied France began on 6 June 1944 (193).