Normandy Day 1

Since living in Europe, one of the places we most wanted to visit before we left was Normandy, France. With my parents in town, we decided that now was the perfect time to go.  We drove across northern France on Sunday and arrived in Arromanches, France at our hotel.  The next day we drove 15 minutes to Bayeaux to begin our guided tour of the American sectors of the beaches and some highlights of Easy Company, 506 P.I.R., 101st Airborne, highlighted in the HBO mini-series "Band of Brothers."  Here are the highlights of our tour:

Our first stop was at Longues-sur-Mer to Widerstandnester 48, or WN 48 of the Atlantic Wall. Widerstandnester means "nest of resistance" in German.  WN 48 is the best preserved remains of many of the WN's along the coast, some of these still containing a rusted out cannon. 

This is the view looking out of WN 48 to the English Channel.  This area was used in the filming of "The Longest Day."

Our next stop was to "Bloody Omaha" beach.  The length of the Normandy beaches were divided into 5 sectors for Operation Overlord (the invasion of Europe).  Starting at the western most portion was Utah Beach, responsibility of the VII Corps consisting of the 4th Infantry Division and 359th RCT of the 90th Infantry Division.  The next beach was Omaha, responsibility of the V Corps, consisting of the 1st Infantry Division (The "Big Red One") and the 29th Infantry Division.  The 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions were to scale cliffs at Point du Hoc, but the 5th Battalion diverted to Omaha Beach.  The next beach was Gold Beach given to the British, then Juno given to the Canadiens, and finally Sword Beach, responsibility of the British.

Each of the beaches were further subdivided.  This picture is taken from the area dividing Omaha Beach into the Easy Red and the Fox Green sectors.  This particular area presented many challenges for the invasion.  This picture was taken just after high tide.  The invasion occurred during low tide leaving several hundred more yards of open beach to cross before reaching any cover.  The natural curve of the beach meant that guns could fire on ships off shore and aim for soldiers crossing the beach.

In this picture you can see the remains of the cannon emplacements set up along Omaha Beach.  They were at a 45 degree angle to the beach to protect them from naval bombardment from off shore, but with the natural curve of the beach, they could easily created a cross fire along the entire beach.  In the upper left hand corner you can see a machine gun nest as well.

The Colleville-sur-Mer American Cemetery, the final resting place of over 9000 U.S. soldiers. The cemetery overlooks Omaha Beach where many of these men lost their lives.

In between Utah and Omaha Beach was an area known as Point du Hoc, strategically important to the Atlantic defenses as its 155mm guns could reach Utah and Omaha beach. Taking this area was assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lt Col James Earl Rudder, who went on to become president of Texas A&M University.  

The Rangers were to be covered from the sea by 3 battleships, one of those being the USS Texas which may have hit this gun emplacement on June 6.

Our next stop took us to Sainte-Mere Eglise.  This was one of the first towns liberated on June 6th and a landing site of many of the 82nd Airborne, including John Steele who landed and was caught on the church spire.  Paratroopers jumped early in the morning of June 6th to secure objectives inland to help speed the landing of troops and supplies on the beaches.

In Sainte-Mere Eglise is a very nice museum dedicated to the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" and the 82nd Airborne "All Americans."  Inside is a rebuilt C-47 aircraft that the paratroopers jumped from and a Waco CG-4 glider.

Here are some original propellers from the C-47's.

After lunch in Sainte-Mere Eglise, we stopped in Beuzeville au Plain at this monument to the soldiers who died when their C-47 crashed near this spot.  One of those names was 1Lt Thomas Meehan, the commander of Easy Company on June 6th.

Here is a farmhouse that was a German Headquarters building until just after D-Day when the Allies took it over.  There are many iconic pictures from WWII taken in this courtyard.

We then moved on to the western most sector, Utah Beach, that went the most according to plan of the two American sectors.

As you can see, there are no large bluffs to scale like at Omaha beach, just a small dune off the beach which helped soldiers work their way inland faster.

Here is a monument to the Texas and Oklahoma National Guard units that participated in the landings, nicknamed the "Tough 'Ombres."

Here is another farmhouse that was the 101st Airborne's first Headquarters.  As you can see on the front gate is a plaque of the Screaming Eagles emblem.

The next part of our tour took us to Brecourt Manor.  On the morning of June 6th, members of Easy Company that had made it to their rally point were tasked with disabling 4 German guns firing on Omaha beach.  1Lt Dick Winters, being the most senior, led a small group of paratroopers against a larger German force.  Using superior tactics and smart leadership, the Americans were able to disable all 4 guns helping the landings on the beach.  The guns were placed along the ditch on the right side of the picture.

In the small town of Angonville au Plain stands this church that dates back to the 11th century, and was the setting for a story of two 101st Airborne medics, Bob Wright and Kenneth Moore.  They set up a first aid station at this church in the first hours after D-Day and treated many wounded men as a battle raged on outside in the town.

The grateful town replaced the stained glass windows, destroyed during the war, with tributes to the paratroopers that liberated them.

Men bled and died in this church, and the townspeople decided to leave the blood stains on the pews as a reminder to the sacrifice made by those men more than 60 years ago.

That completed our first full day in the Normandy area.  We are so happy we decided to take the tour that we did because it was a great way to learn more about what happened here and to see the places where so many Americans and our Allies fought and died to protect that which is worth dying for...freedom.