Trip To Normandy

[conductor]

Anybody here ever been to Normandy? My wife and I are planning a trip to England and France in September, and I want to spend a day or so at the Normandy beaches.
We're going to be flying home from London, and will also spend some time in Paris (my wife used to live there). I had thought that we could rent a car in Paris, drive to Normandy, spend a day or so, then drive back to Paris to turn the car in before catching the tunnel train back to London for the flight home. Anybody here ever done that?
Thoughts and advice welcome.

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[basil4]

My wife and I made the trip several years ago. There are a couple of must have books (guides) you will need to read and take with you to find the best sites. I will never forget the trip, especially the American Cemetery. I will get the titles after work today.

Scott

[Bill F]

I had a uncle who visited in July of 1944.RIP Uncle Bim.

[Louis of PA]

Conductor,

I made the trip with my wife in the early 1990s; I've always been a reader of WWII history, so it meant a lot to me.

Downside was, she never had any interest in history, didn't like to walk, I suggest you get into real walking shape so you won't get worn out too quickly. Walk and you'll see much, don't walk and you'll miss a lot.

We missed a lot.

I urge you to review what specifically occured in the various invasion beaches; knowing will enhance the enjoyment of your trip, otherwise, you're just looking at terrain.

It's like Gettysburg; if you don't know the history, it's merely a nice park with some monuments.

A few of my Normandy Beach photos appear below; I had posted a complete photo essay on CSP M1 Forum a couple years ago.

Regards.
Louis of PA


This emplacement commanded the British landing beach. It's back to the sea meant it was near impossible for naval guns to even see, much less hit. But it commanded 180 degrees of beach and was deadly.

One British soldier recalled seeing British tanks having to roll over their own wounded in order to get at these guns, it was that desperate.

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[Louis of PA]

We travelled from the eastern most beaches to the west, but only to Omaha; we never got to Utah, further west and then north up the peninsula.

Two British beaches, with one Canadian sandwiched between them, Gold, Sword and Juno, though I forget the assigned sequence.

As you get to the more western beach, around Arromanche, before reaching Omaha Beach, the land rises. Again because of time limits and my non-walking wife (now ex), we never got to see the enormous gunnery emplacement and the bunker where that officer in "The Longest Day" experienced his "Holy Scheiss!" moment, as the mist cleared and he saw what must have looked like every warship ever built from the beginning of time coming straight at him. I think the count of everything we had in the water was about 4- to 5,000.

My photo below shows some of the barges, sunk to create breakwaters. They don't show up properly in this view, but you can also see the shadows of sunken barges and ships, arranged in a semicircle.

Somewhere in this region, we'd laid pipelines under the ocean, 'PLUTO", very secret at the time, to deliver oil and probably gas to our armies.

[Louis of PA]

In our rented Citroen, stick shift, we first hit the region at Ouistreham, to the extreme right on this map.

Colleville - St Laurent- Vierville were the objectives of our troops at Omaha.

Then we drove west following the coastal road - it sometimes leaves the coast - and at the end of the first day, headed south to Bayeaux, to stay the night and to admire the Bayeaux Tapestries on display. They tell the story, in pictures, of William the Conquerer's conquest of England, woven into a strip of linen that's dozens of yards long. They were done by English monks, right after the invasion.

The cathedral itself is quite impressive.

Leaving Bayeaux the following morning, we headed for Omaha Beach.

I avoided the museums; there are several dedicated to the invasion. I knew they could suck me in and chew up limited time, and I wanted to see the places where things happened. I'm sure they are also worthwhile, if time permits.

I believe the German counterattack, which came close to driving a wedge all the way to the beach, was between the British and Canadian armies.

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[Louis of PA]

Pont duHoc

Our last view of the Omaha beach area was Pont duHoc. Rudder's Rangers landed at the foot of a 100-foot cliff, blasted by naval bombardment to maybe half that much by virtue of the rubble created.

Our troops made it to the top in less than 15 minutes, then endured endless German conterattacks.

The entire area has been left as it was at the end of the battle; it's quite sobering to realize how much death, terror and destruction occured here.

[Louis of PA]

None of the beaches were good; some were just more horrible than others.

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[Louis of PA]

The American Cemetery. Beautifully tended, awesome, overpowering, it’s laid out on the land overlooking Easy and Fox sectors of Omaha Beach. While stationed at Clark Air Base, I’d visited our cemetery in the Philippines, so I was a bit prepared. But this still took my breath away.

From some of my research:

“Able Company has planned to wade ashore in three files from each boat, center file going first, then flank files peeling off to right and left. The first men out try to do it but are ripped apart before they can make five yards. Even the lightly wounded die by drowning, doomed by the waterlogging of their overloaded packs.

“From Boat No. 1, all hands jump off in water over their heads. Most of them are carried down. Ten or so survivors get around the boat and clutch at its sides in an attempt to stay afloat. The same thing happens to the section in Boat No. 4. Half of its people are lost to the fire or tide before anyone gets ashore.

“Already the sea runs red. Even among some of the lightly wounded who jumped into shallow water the hits prove fatal. Knocked down by a bullet in the arm or weakened by fear and shock, they are unable to rise again and are drowned by the onrushing tide.”

On a cloudy day, the crosses are not easy to photograph. Also, something in the scanning process introduced discoloration that does not appear on the original prints.

I wish I knew what my low number M1s had seen.

Or maybe I don’t want to know.

[Louis of PA]

"Captain Taylor N. Fellers and Lieutenant Benjamin R. Kearfoot never make it. They had loaded with a section of thirty men in Boat No. 6 (Landing Craft, Assault, No. 1015). But exactly what happened to this boat and its human cargo was never to be known. No one saw the craft go down."