Editing Givet (section)

== History ==
The town's history claims that [[Hubertus|Saint Hubert]] lived there in 720 and performed a miracle. The town has changed hands several times since the Roman era before becoming part of France in 1678, and was later invaded by Russians and Germans.

During the [[Nine Years' War]] in 1696 Givet functioned as a supply depot for the French army and was [[Bombardment of Givet|bombarded by and Anglo-Dutch force]] under [[Menno van Coehoorn]].

During the Napoleonic Wars, the French maintained a camp here for British naval prisoners of war from 1804 to 1814. One of the officer prisoners, Captain [[Jahleel Brenton]], Royal Navy, who had been captured when his ship, H.M. frigate ''[[French frigate Minerve (1794)|Minerve]]'' ran aground off Cherbourg, and Naval Chaplain the Reverend Robert B. Wolfe, also a prisoner, established a school of navigation for the imprisoned British sailors.  This was a successful unofficial initiative for teaching navigation that also provided a center for the growth of religious piety in the Royal Navy.<ref>Mark J. Gabrielson, "Enlightenment in the Darkness: The British Prisoner of War School of Navigation. Givet, France. 1805–1814," Northern Mariner, vol. 25 (2015), pp. 7-41.    https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol25/tnm_25_7-41.pdf</ref>  An example of student work in the navigation school is
preserved in the notebook by British seaman William Carter.<ref>William Carter Navigation Journal, MSC-364- File MSI 21, Naval Historical Collection, Naval War College, Newport, RI.  The document is online at [https://usnwcarchives.org/repositories/2/archival_objects/39992]</ref> British seaman, John Wetherell, a survivor of the British 38-gun frigate {{HMS|Hussar}} that had wrecked near Brest and was burnt by her crew to prevent her capture, was imprisoned at Givet from 1804 to 1814 and left an account of his experiences.<ref>C.S. Forester, ed., ''The Adventures of John Wetherell'' (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1953), pp. 146-246.</ref>

In [[World War II]], Givet was occupied by the Germans on May 12, 1940 and liberated by the [[allies (World War II)|allies]] on September 7, 1944. By December 1944, 11,000 American soldiers were billeted in the ancient [[Charlemont fortress]]. The German [[Ardennes Offensive]] targeted Givet and its crossing of the Meuse.  The British, under [[General Montgomery]], organized a last-ditch defense, and on 24 December, the German drive was stopped about {{convert|10|km|0}} from Givet.

Givet is also the birthplace of writer [[Henry Bidou]] (1873 – 1943), pianist [[Jeanne-Marie Darré]] (1905-1999) and oboist [[Gilles Silvestrini]] (born 1961).