of French origin was sited to the north at Batz-sur-Mer. A similar battery was located south of the Loire on the Pointe Saint-Gildas. Between these two batteries were other more modest calibre guns, in particular at the with four 170mm guns and four 105mm guns, or, on the south shore, at Mindin and Pointeau in the commune of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins. There were also anti-aircraft defences comprising 80 large calibre pieces divided into about twenty batteries. In total, the Germans had 700 guns of all kinds (fixed, mobile and anti-aircraft), with a higher density around the submarine base, the port facilities and the airfield. Closer to Saint-Nazaire, there was a belt of anti-tank ditches. The perimeter started from Fort de l'Ève, then north, crossing Maisac, Trignac, then along the Grande Brière marshes, Montoir-de-Bretagne until reaching the estuary coast at Donges. South of the Loire, the belt described a circle from Paimboeuf to the south of Saint-Brevin. Altogether it is estimated that this pocket fortress had 28,000 German soldiers commanded by Aviation General . The submarine base remained under the command of Admiral . Allied forces around the pocket The isolation of the German forces was mainly entrusted to the units of the French Resistance: the under (General Raymond Chomel), FFI and FTP battalions from Nantes, Vendee etc. French Resistance units were mainly armed with small arms and captured 75mm and 105mm guns. These were supported by units of the 94th US Infantry Division under Maloney, divided between pockets in Lorient and Saint-Nazaire. At the end of December 1944 the 94th Division were relieved by the 66th US Infantry Division under Kramer. Civilians The pocket also contained nearly 130,000 civilians. By October 1944, a large number of them (women and children) were allowed to leave the pocket, easing pressure on the Germans to feed them. Other convoys were subsequently organized by the Red Cross. Trains left the pocket near Cordemais. A temporary truce was observed between the belligerents during their journey. The refugees, once in Allied controlled Nantes, were subject to a questioning at the premises of the Lycée Georges Clemenceau, partly occupied by the American army. Other inhabitants left the pocket by their own means, in particular on its eastern and southern limits: for example, some of the inhabitants of Fession (Saint-Omer-de-Blain) left their farms, under constant American mortar fire at the end of November 1944, and went east through the mined