'03 Springfield Picture of the Day-Dday, 1 year later

One year after the D-Day landings in Normandy, a lone U.S. soldier guards a knocked out German gun position on “Utah” Beach, France, May 28, 1945. (AP Photo/Peter J. Carroll)

I wonder what happened to the bodies buried on the beach? My Dad was in one of the later waves and was picked for Graves Registration. He says he spent days tagging bodies, removing and bagging personal items, and transporting the bodies to mass graves dug on the beach by bulldozers. Surely by now the tides would have unearthed those so interred. He said there were no crosses, just a sign designating the mass grave sites. He said any identifiable body was buried with a tag attached, which if I remember correctly, were made of aluminum which probably didn't last long in that seawater environment.

One side note: When they found a set of or a dog tag(s) absent a body, they declared that person KIA. I wonder how many mistakes were made. He also says it was the worst job he ever had - bar none.

Looks peaceful.

Jim

Jim,
I was there for the 50th Anniversary, june 1994. The German cemetary had both individual and mass graves,muted brownish crosses and markers, the US had the white crosses we're familiar with, and some marked Unknown. I believe anyone buryed on the beach was reinterred at the various main cemeterys.

The German Military Cemetery at La Cambe
Today a visit is not just an exercise in walking around headstones. It is the largest German Cemetery in Normandy containing over 21,000 burials and dominated by a huge mound containing the remains of hundreds

From what I remember of My Normandy visit in 1995, I am sure that the standard for German burials was at leat 4 soldiers per grave. I have a picture of "Tank Ace" Michael Wittman's Grave and 3 other soldiers, hopefully his crew, basically it was " how many people can we bury here?'
Bye the way, German students come every summer to take care of their graves. Something I think we should adopt for our kids

Armorkav