Saint-James is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Manche

Manche

Manche is a French department in Normandy named after La Manche , which is the French name for the English Channel.- History :Manche is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

 department in Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

 in north-western France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Saint-James is on the border between Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

 and Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

.

Heraldry

Demographics

World War II

After the liberation of the area by Allied Forces in 1944, engineers of the Ninth Air Force

Ninth Air Force

The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....

 IX Engineering Command began construction of a combat Advanced Landing Ground

Advanced Landing Ground

Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...

 outside of the town. Declared operational on 14 August, the airfield was designated as "A-29

Saint James Airfield

Saint James Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield, which is located near the commune of Saint-James in the Brittany region of northern France....

", it was used by the 373d Fighter Group

373d Fighter Group

The 373d Fighter Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with First Air Force stationed at Mitchel Field , New York. It was inactivated on 7 November 1945....

 which flew P-47 Thunderbolt

P-47 Thunderbolt

Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...

s until early September when the unit moved into Central France. Afterward, the airfield was closed.