DAY 183 - Bayeux...D-Day Beaches Excursion (Part 1)

Sept 18 - Where WWII Ends!

A very interesting map showing how Germany occupied  MOST of Europe - in blue;  Allies in red; white areas are neutral countries; Atlantic Wall is in green

Looking across the beaches at our first stop

 The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the allied invasion of Normandy during WWII. The landings began on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (D-Day), beginning at 6:30 am -British time.

Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower gives the order of the day "Full victory - Nothing else" to paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division

The invasion begins.

Our hosts, Quentin and Aude take off to drive us everywhere!

 The landings were conducted in two phases: an airbourne assault landing of 24,000 British, US and Canadian troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France starting at 6:30 am.








 

Standing on one of the original German bunkers.

We started at the cliffs above Arromanches - they were quite spectacular, especially as I imagined what it was like nearly 70 years ago.

2014 marks this special anniversary.  All of France and the world is gearing up for celebrations especially around this area.  VERY FEW survivors from WWII are left, but most of them who were part of the Normandy invasion will be here this summer.

Town of Arromanches-les-Bain where a military procession stopped traffic.

Most everyone stopped to watch them in the streets.

 We put our name on a list to see the
 Arromanches 360º Theater show.
We then hiked 10 minutes up the bluff to see how this makeshift harbor would culminate the war and liberate all of Western Europe.

 

Looks like someone really made us laugh...even in such a somber place.

At the top of the monument

Monument erected in 1911 for a war in Napolean days - Sept 1811

 The world's first prefab harbor was created by the British in Arromanches. Since it was Churchill's brainchild, it was named Port Winston.  On June 7, 1944, 17 old ships crossed the English Channel under their own steam. The crews sunk them so that the bow faced the next ship's stern, forming the first sea barrier. Then, 115 football-field-size cement blocks (called "Mulberries") were towed across the channel and sunk, creating a four-mile-long breakwater located a mile and a half offshore. Finally, engineers set up seven floating steel "pierheads" with extendable legs; they were linked to shore by four mile-long floating roads made of concrete pontoons. Soldiers then placed anti-aircraft guns on the pontoons, protecting a port the size of Dover, England. Within just six days of operation, 54,000 vehicles, 326,000 troops, and 110,000 tons of goods had crossed the English Channel. An Allied toehold on Normandy was secure. Eleven months later, Hitler was dead and the war was over.

 
It was remarkable - the undertaking that resulted in this harbor being built in just 12 days, while battles raged.

Note two of the seven "pierheads" in the distance.

Here is a close-up of one of them.

 It was a very heart warming sight...to see the flags being flown yet today!

 

The Price of Freedom offered footage in a noisy montage of videos on its 360-degree screen.  This circular cinema was built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings. The video lasted about 45 minutes and was absolutely incredible!  At the beginning, the young boys were so eager and excited to be serving their countries.  Then you saw the fear and trepidation dot their faces.  After seeing actual footage, all I could imagine was my son and trying to cope with all the losses.  I had no idea all that went into preparing for the invasion, but in the end...FRANCE WAS LIBERATED!

Most of the people around us were our age, so they had close ties to the war.  We were all teary-eyed, but I saw one older man just sobbing.  The movie was very well done.  You had to keep turning constantly because all around was different clips and sounds.  It was amazing and totally worth the $5 or so each to get in.

But the most thought-provoking experience in town was simply to wander the beach among the concrete and rusted litter of the battle, and be thankful that all we heard were birds and surf.

Most of the towns from 70 years ago had to be re-built.

We stopped for a quick bite...not much was open because the tourist season is just about over.

Like a stuffed baguette with a pizza-like veggie filling.

We headed west to Longues-sur-Mer to spend the afternoon visiting the American Cemetery.  Along the way, I took pictures out the window, but most didn't turn out.   Here is an old church that withstood all the battles.

  Which beach is this?

 

We really enjoyed the short rain fall and hiking around for a few minutes.  The water colors were the most beautiful greens and grays with contrast of the sky blue (after it rained).  Too bad my photos didn't capture that :(

Also, the shades of green in the cliffs were just gorgeous...what a beautiful day with partial clouds in the sky!

 

  GREAT shots of these love birds as they get ready this year to get married in the Bayeux Cathedral...one year waiting list to do this!

We forgot about the chill and the rain as it was clear for our photo

"A real French kiss from a Frenchman in France.??"

Then Rich grabbed me and said, "Time for this Frenchman to give you a real French kiss since we're in France."  Looks like I'm not so thrilled about it.

"Here you go!!"

So, here goes - now it's official.  I've received a REAL French kiss in France.

I hiked up a steep hill and got a picture of the trio below me...The sun is out and it's going to get warm!

I'm singing as I look down on the beautiful English Channel (an arm of the Atlantic Ocean) that knew so much devastation 70 years ago.

Pointe de-Hoc

We drove a little ways and went for a walk up on some steep bluffs.  We saw bunkers, pillboxes and artillery and machine gun placements built by Nazi Germany.
 All those movies I've seen through the years and now I'm really here with the REAL DEAL!

The Batterie is in an ideal position, 215 feet above sea level and was well able to threaten the Invasion fleet.

The intense bombing of the beaches by Allied forces is best experienced here, where US Army Rangers scaled impossibly steep cliffs to disable a German gun battery. Pointe du Hoc's bomb-cratered, lunar-like landscape and remaining bunkers make it one of the most evocative of the D-Day sites.




This point of land was the Germans' most heavily fortified position along the beaches and held six anti-ship guns capable of firing 12 miles east to west. Omaha Beach is 11 miles to the east; Utah Beach is 7 miles to the west. Even so, only about 5% of the bunkers were destroyed.

For the American landings to succeed, the Allies had to run the Germans off this cliff. So they bombed it to smithereens, dropping over 1,500 tons of bombs on this one cliff top. That explains the craters. Heavy bombing started in April of 1944, continued into May, and hit its peak on June 6 — making this the most intensely bombarded site of the D-Day.


Even so, only about 5% of the bunkers were destroyed. The problem? Multiple direct hits were needed to destroy bunkers like the ones here, which were well-camouflaged and whose thick, dense walls were heavily reinforced.

Pointe du Hoc. Omaha Beach, pocked by D-Day bombardment

  It was like going into a deserted ghost town and going back in time...eerie!

Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah Beaches

Looking from above into one of the man-holes where the guns were positioned.

We were able to go inside where the Germans had their guns pointed out towards the beaches and felt what must have been fear and trepidation for them. Rich is 1/2 German and 1/2 French, so I'm sure he had many thoughts concerning all of this.

This is what the Germans saw looking out over the sea when the allied troops were coming.

See all 7 of the "pierheads"

Inside one of the bunkers where the Germans lived.

Another "surviving" church along the way to our next destination

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Walking into the premises and immediately there is a beautiful reverence.

Crowning a bluff just above Omaha Beach and the eye of the D-Day storm, 9,387 brilliant white-marble crosses and Stars of David glow in memory of Americans who gave their lives to free Europe on the beaches below. 

The heart of the cemetery's Visitor Center tells the stories of the individuals who gave their lives to liberate people they could not know, and shows the few possessions they died with. There were some amazing stories and the security just to get in was very tight.

The cemetery is in Coleville-su-Mer

 

This was a great explanation of all that happened at the time - can't really see it here.

"We've been here before, but not for awhile."

Aude's great-grandparents escaped any harm during WWII as they fled with others and hid in the mountains of France.

There were many of these no-name monuments.

This soldier was Jewish.

Relatives come and drop flowers on their loved ones cross.

On June 8, 1944, the US 1st Army established the temporary cemetery, the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. After the war, the present-day cemetery was established a short distance to the east of the original site. 

Rich took some amazing photos of the American Cemetery.  It covers 172 acres and was so CLEAN!

 During the campaign, the dead were buried in temporary cemeteries throughout various parts of Normandy. After the war, the families of the soldiers could decide whether their loved ones should remain with their comrades or be brought home (61% opted for repatriation).








 A number of officers are buried here, including General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., who joined the invasion despite having a weak heart — he died from a heart attack one month after D-Day.

It was a beautiful sight on a very nice hill overlooking the English Channel.

 German Memorial in La Cambe

"I give unto them Eternal Life and they shall never perish."

The sign in front of the cemetery reads as follows:

“

The German Cemetery at La Cambe: In the Same Soil of France Until 1947, this was an American cemetery. The remains were exhumed and shipped to the United States. It has been German since 1948, and contains over 21,000 graves. With its melancholy rigour, it is a graveyard for soldiers not all of whom had chosen either the cause or the fight. They too have found rest in our soil of France.

”

Casualties of the war in Normandy are still being found after some 70 years, although formal burial ceremonies are less frequent these days. In total, as of July 2008, there are the remains of 21,222 German soldiers, sailors and airmen buried at La Cambe.                            

The rough, dark stones were a stark comparison to what we had just seen in the American Memorial.

MANY unknown tombs here also.

In the summer of 1944, more than 100,000 people died: American, British, German, French, Canadian, Poles and members of other nations. Also at least 14,000 French civilians died.

A warm regard for Americans has survived political disputes, from de Gaulle to "Freedom Fries." This remains particularly friendly soil for Americans — a place where their soldiers are still honored and the image of the US as a force for good has remained largely untarnished.

We all felt very solemn going through this memorial, too.

The British Cemetery in Bayeux
 

Every grave had a little flower garden around it...VERY impressive!

This is the largest British War Cemetery of WWII - 3,935 British are buried here with 17 Australians, 8 New Zealanders, 1 South African, 25 Poles, 3 French, 2 Czechs, 2 Italians, 7 Russians, 466 Germans and one unknown unidentified body. A memorial registers the names of 2,808 more missing soldiers: 1,537 British, 270 Canadians and 1 South African.

An Unknown British Soldier gravestone

  What an amazing day we had!  I am so proud to be the daughter of a WWII veteran of the Army.  I recently read all my father's army letters that he mailed back home.  I'm so glad my Grandma kept them all.  Luckily, he wasn't here at Normandy - he was on the tail end, mostly going to Japan to do clean-up after the atomic bomb hit Hiroshima.  War is such a terrible thing!

     Next post:  Walking the streets of Bayeux and the beautiful Bayeux Cathedral.  Also - why is Bayeux in perfect shape (un-touched by the terrible 2nd World War??)