Germans surrender in St. Nazaire. Commanding officers of the German garrison at St.

Germans surrender in St. Nazaire. Commanding officers of the German garrison at St. Nazaire, France, sign unconditional surrender terms May 8, 1945, yielding 28,000 Germans in The French coastal pocket to the 66th U.S. Infantry Division. The actual occupation by the Allies took place early the following morning. Previously, 26,000 Germans given up in the Lorient pocket. The French Channel ports were defended bitterly by the Nazis as the war moved on into Germany, leaving the rest of France liberated. With the liberation of St. Nazaire and Lorient, 189,000 French civlians hold by the Germans and 856 square miles of French territory were freed.