This was an extremely sobering experience.
What these men did was remarkable on so many levels and leaves a debt we could never repay.
Our journey begins in Ste-Mere-Eglise
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| In Ste Mere Eglise, a few miles inland, a "stick" of paratroopers jumped into the middle of town. Unfortunately, a building had been set afire and the townspeople were out in force fighting the fire. The German garrison was also called out to guard the townspeople. When the paratroopers came down almost all were killed before they hit the ground. |
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| One survivor, Pvt Steele, was caught on the church steeple and played dead until cut down. They preserve his memory with this dummy. |
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| Across the street from the church (where the burning house had stood) is a museum to the liberation of France. This gives an idea of what the GI who came ashore looked like to the Germans. |
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| Inside the church, two stained glass windows give tribute to the paratroopers under the watchful care of the Blessed Virgin and Child Jesus |
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| Bullet holes still pockmark the church facade and will probably never be repaired - lest we forget! |
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| The pump was manned that night by the fire brigade trying to douse the fire set by Allied incendiary bombs |
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| This monument is dedicated to the American soldiers who fought to liberate Normandy and this town - the first liberated by the American forces. |
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| This is one of the "highways" we drove. My driveway is this wide! We passed a very large truck coming towards us and did the reasonable thing - pulled onto the shoulder/weeds and hunkered down until he was past! |
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| As we drove through the countryside, we encountered many "pillboxes" heavily armored which awaited the invading troops. |
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| Utah Beach - The American landing forces experienced a bit of good fortune here. Most of the "pathfinder" boats were destroyed at the outset. The single remaining boat tried valiantly to rally the landing craft. In the meantime, the entire force had been blown/drifted almost a mile south from the objective beach. As luck would have it, they landed in a virtually undefended section of beach and took very light casualties. |
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| A museum marks the "center" of Utah Beach |
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| This marker commemorates the landing of the liberation troops on Utah Beach and serves as "KM Zero" for the routes inland |
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| As you drive inland, these markers commemorate the invasion path - many are dedicated to heroes who died in the invasion |
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| This monument above Utah Beach is dedicated to the Navy personnel who participated in the invasion - Beachmasters, Assault Boat Coxswains, etc. |
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| Utah Beach from the German defenders pespective |
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| Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt (Grandson to Pres Teddy Roosevelt & cousin to Pres Franklin D Roosevelt) was advised not to go in with the troops due to poor health. He couldn't get up if he got down, so he strolled the beach with his cane and wool cap extolling the men to push in. When it became clear the force had landed a mile off course, he made the decision to push inland from here. Had the forces gone up the beach, they would have come under withering fire from German defenses. For his contribution to the success of the day, Gen Roosevelt was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. This little shop is named to remember his contribution. |
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| Obstacles such as this (meant to wreck landing craft and stop tanks) littered all the beaches and had to be blown up or removed by the US Army combat engineers and Navy Seabees |
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| The Route of the Liberation |
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| This church marks "Dead Man's Corner" where a US Army tank commander who had been killed hung from the turret of his tank for two days before anyone could retrieve the body (due to deadly enemy fire) |
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| The German defenders lost nearly as many men as the Allied invaders. Near La Cambe is a large German cemetery with this dedication marker |
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| The mound at the center is a mass grave with 200+ German soldiers buried there |
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| Just down the road at Grandcamp-Maisy is this World Peace Monument - we pray this will never be necessary again |
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| At Point de Hoc, Rangers scaled 75 foot cliffs to attack gun emplacements that could bring fire on both Omaha Beach and Utah Beach |
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| The area has been kept as it was with craters and concrete gun emplacements. After taking heavy losses capturing the Point, the Rangers found the guns moved a mile down the road. They located and destroyed the guns |
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| This simple monument commemorates the incredible skill and bravery shown by the Rangers in attacking this position |
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| This photo helps you understand the nature of the imposing cliffs along this section of coast! |
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| This German observation post had a commanding view of the coast for miles in either direction |
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| This abandoned gun emplacement shows the damage done by Naval gunfire. |
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| Point du Hoc - roughly half way between Utah & Omaha Beaches - has been maintained much as it was that day in June so many years ago. These craters are typical of the damage done by large caliber Naval "rifles." These craters made use of some of the landing equipment almost impossible and in some locations, smaller caliber guns were requested for support fire |
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| Bloody Omaha Beach - This bunker survived the Naval bombardment and bombs dropped by Army Air Corps planes. The small bunker over the center is a similar bunker about 400 yards away. These defensive positions took and extremely heavy toll on the landing American forces |
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| This bluff overlooks the beach with sufficient height to provide German defenders with a commanding and deadly advantage. Heavy machine guns raked the beaches (think "Saving Private Ryan"). The range was short (200 yards), the cover sparse (a hundred yards of open sand) and the results deadly |
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| This is a section of Omaha Beach. The Germans were well dug in at the top of the bluffs to the right. The first wave landed at low tide and had a hundred yards of open beach to cross before reaching a short sea wall. The German gunners used machine guns to cut down many soldiers before they could even leave their landing craft. In one company of 200, only 6 survived. We owe a debt to theses men that can never be paid. |
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| This photo of a photo shows the wrecked equipment on Omaha Beach days after the invasion. At one point, a Regimental Commander radioed "Do not send more equipment, send men!" |
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| This monument is in the approximate center of Omaha Beach and is lined up with one of five "draws" that formed the "exits" from the beach |
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| Knowing this invasion would place enormous burdens on the logistics forces, these "Mulberry" piers were towed into place after the beaches were secured to form "piers" onto which men and equipment could be offloaded. Unfortunately a fierce storm just two weeks after the invasion destroyed the Mulberry piers and the invasion ground to "all ahead slow" until replacements could be rigged |
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| Perhaps the most sobering site in a day filled with sobering sites was our visit to the American Cemetery near St Laurent. This American Cemetery is the final resting place for nearly 10,000 Americans killed during the invasion. (An additional 14,000 were returned to the US at the families request). |
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| This display shows the magnitude of "Operation Overlord" - spanning miles of Normandy beaches |
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| This quite reflecting pool frames a monument to the ferocity of fighting in June 1944 |
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| Rows of neat crosses w/ a few Stars' of David interspersed. The cemetery is at the top of one of the bluffs stormed by American troops on Omaha Beach. |
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| The statue at the center of the American Cemetery pavilion is "The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves." As you can tell from our garb, it was chilly, windy, and rainy - just what it should be when visiting a place this sobering |
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| We left the Normandy invasion area and headed to our hotel in Rouen, a city some 3 hours drive known for being the site of Joan of Arc's "trial" and execution. While driving into Rouen, we lost GPS! We "dead reckoned " into town and found the hotel. But by then, it was nearly 7PM. As we walked about, we visited Notre Dame and took a few photos in the failing light. In retrospect, I wish we'd have just found an Ibis on the road outside of town - but hindsight is always 20/20! |
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| Next day, we left early and headed for Versailles - the Royal Palace in the country! - Just your basic necessities! This was where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were apprehended during the French Revolution. Tomorrow - Versailles! |
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