Étréham () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.
Toponymy Oesterham in 1350.
Probably Old Saxon *wester or Old English westre related to "west" (Old High German westar, west-; see Westerham, Kent) and hām "home, hamlet"René Lepelley, Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de communes de Normandie, Presses Universitaires de Caen 1993. or, less probably, Old Saxon ōstar related to "east" (see Ouistreham). This place name corresponds to Saxon settlements in Bayeux and in the surrounding Bessin Region (the so-called Otlinga Saxonia) in the 5th - 6th century or to Anglo-Scandinavian settlements later in the 10th.
History World War II The village was bombed on 8 June 1944, two days after the D-Day landings, by the Big Red One (U.S. First Division). It was liberated one day later, and about 600 German soldiers were taken prisoner. After the liberation, the Allies used the place called Mont Cauvin in the same commune to store their oil until the conquest of Cherbourg.
Population
See also Communes of the Calvados department
References