U.S. soldiers pauses in Coutances cathedral.

U.S. soldiers pauses in Coutances cathedral. An American soldier pauses to medidate in the cathedral at coutances, Normandy, after U.s. troops entered the town. Despite fierce Allied and German artillery fire, the cathedral was virtually unscathed. Coutances, captured by U.S. troops July 29, 1944, is some 18 miles west of St. Lo and was the key to the escape routes for thousands of German soldiers hemmed in further north.