What is Bocage?
[[File:Bocagenormandy.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|Bocage country in [[Normandy]].}}]] '''Bocage''' [boh-kahzh] is a [[Norman language|Norman]] word which has found its way into both the [[French language|French]] and [[English language|English]] [[:wikt:languages|languages]]. It may refer to a small [[:wikt:forest|forest]] or a [[:en:wikt:decoration|decoration]] that includes [[:wikt:leaves|leaves]]. But most often it refers to [[:wikt:pastures|pastures]] bordered by thick [[:wikt:forest|forest]] or [[:wikt:hedges|hedges]]. The trees and hedges around the pastures or fields are planted in [[:wikt:earth|earth]] [[:en:wikt:mounds|mounds]].<ref name=Smith63>Judy Smith, ''Holiday Walks in Normandy'' (Wilmslow: Sigma Leisure, 2001), p. 63</ref> Between the planted mounds are sunken [[:wikt:lanes|lanes]].<ref name=Smith63/> The word bocage forms part of the name for several towns in parts of [[Lower Normandy]].<ref name=Smith63/> The term '''Bocage Normandy''' refers to the area around [[Saint-Lô]] and [[Vire]].<ref name=Smith63/> During [[World War II]] following the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Invasion of Normandy]], the allies found themselves in 'hedgerow country' (bocage).<ref name=Daugherty7172>Leo Daugherty, ''The Battle of the Hedgerows: Bradley's First Army in Normady, June-July 1944'' (St. Paul, MN: MBI Pub. Co., 2001), pp. 71-72</ref> It was ideal for [[Nazi Germany|German]] troops to hide in and not be seen until it was too late.<ref name=Daugherty7172/> The hedgerows were thick enough to hide [[tank]]s and [[artillery]] pieces. The final Allied [[:en:wikt:breakout|breakout]] of the bocage into open country took over eight weeks of fighting.<ref>William R. Buster, ''Time on target: the World War II memoir of William R. Buster'' (Frankfort, KY: Kentucky Historical Society, 1999), p. 83</ref> == Bocage landscape == <gallery mode=packed> File:Bocage country at Cotentin Peninsula.jpg|Bocage of the [[Cotentin Peninsula]]. File:Footpath junction near Parsonage Farm - geograph.org.uk - 1388117.jpg|[[:wikt: