Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Normandy / Omaha Beach - September 2013


One of the more special parts of my trip to France was traveling to the Normandy region to see the D-Day Invasion sites and memorials. We took a tour group through LinkParis.com which was very well done. The company picked us up at the train station and drove us to the war museum and several battle sights. It was a moving experience, especially since the Normandy region is very beautiful and relaxing. Imagining a massive battle here is quite a task.


The first stop was the Caen War Memorial Museum which was one of the better museums depicting World War II and the history and aftermath of the war. There are several memorial gardens surrounding the museum, and our guide gave a private tour of the exhibits. They also served a tasty lunch with wine and dessert. Then we headed into vans to drive around.


Our second stop was Point du Hoc where Army Rangers scaled a beach wall to attack a key German installation. The German Army stationed many weaker soldiers along the Normandy defenses which dramatically helped our skilled forces in their attack. The area still has massive craters from offshore artillery. A memorial to the rangers stands at the site.


The next stop was Omaha Beach. The beaches were given random names with unique first letters and simple to pronounce names. One story has the commander asking two soldiers setting up the room where they were from - Utah and Nebraska. Utah Beach was used, but he chose Omaha instead of Nebraska. Omaha Beach was the only true beach and is very wide. Standing on the beach at low tide with similar conditions to the invasion day was a moving experience. This was an important battle that changed the tide of the war and probably saved the United States from invasion.


In case you don't cry at Omaha Beach, seeing the American cemetery will probably do it. This iconic location is right on the coast near Colleville-sur-Mer and is American soil. The families of the soldiers were given a choice to bury the dead in France or back home. Only about 40% chose burial in France with almost 10,000 buried in the cemetery. The crosses with gold lettering indicate a Medal of Honor recipient. Stars of David are used for Jewish soldiers. We arrived shortly before the lowering of the United States flags and experienced the playing of Taps which is something I will remember for a long time.


We had a quick stop at Longues-sur-Mer to view some massive German gun batteries still standing. The Allied forces initial air attack was slightly off due to concerns of friendly fire under low visibility. Because of this, many of the coastal batteries were not destroyed. The initial wave suffered about 10% casualties, but this was actually much better than initially predicted. The Allies were very lucky that day and did an awesome job.


The final stop was the artificial harbor at Arromanches. The invasion force needed a harbor to assist in delivering soldiers and supplies to mainland Europe. Nearby harbors were heavily defended, so we just made our own in about a week. The volume of traffic matched that of the Port of New York within a few days of invasion. Our tour guide also told us about the oil pipeline installed by Allied forces to pump gasoline and diesel to France. His great grandfather was so excited to see gasoline in the town that he "borrowed" some to run his car after four long years of occupation!

The trip was very long including a two hour train ride to and from the region, but it was an amazing experience to see the history books come alive. I highly recommend the tour if you are ever in France. Please enjoy the rest of my pictures below.














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