Driving through these quintessential French
villages with their quaint streets, boulangeries, and imposing town halls, it
was difficult to image the immense struggle, upheaval, loss and bravery that
these same places must have felt 70 years ago.
This part of France remains very rural and the pretty villages feel
sleepy. We didn't see crowds, just the
odd few people buying their daily shopping, the stereotypical baguettes
included.
We were here to uncover some of the stories of D
-Day 1944, a series of events that changed the fortunes of the Allies and paved
the way for victory in Europe. There are
many museums, cemeteries, memorials and poignant places to choose to visit in
this area, and of course there are the landing beaches themselves.
 |
| Utah Beach |
First stop was the Utah beach museum. As we arrived the wind was strong, sending
sand swirling through the air hitting our faces and making it hard to see. The waves were crashing up onto the beaches
all along the coast, giving some idea of just how hard it must have been to
launch an invasion from here. The museum
itself is interesting, remains of fortifications have been absorbed into the
building along with other memorabilia, telling the story of the 6th June 1944.
 |
| Pegasus Bridge |
Even more interesting was a stop at Pegasus
Bridge. The museum here tells the story
of the gliders of the airborne division who were successful in their attempt to
capture the bridge thus ensuring a vital line of attack and supplies. The bridge and its story made even more
famous in popular culture by the film 'The longest day', despite some errors
made in accuracy as pointed out by our informative guide, has been
replaced. But the original still stands
a few hundred feet away from its original position, and is now a memorial to
those that took it.
 |
| Bayeux Cathedral liberated by allies |
Arromanches 360 museum is another place worth a
look. Located on top of the cliff overlooking
Gold beach, this shows a well put together film of images of the invasion. As you stand in a 360 space images are
projected on the wall. An assault on the
senses and a visual reminder of events of 1944 and beyond. Walking from here you can make your way down
to the beach where the rusting remains of the Mulberries (floating harbours)
can still be seen. Arromanches is now a
small coastal resort complete with ice-cream shops and souvenirs attracting
tourists with its legacy of events past.
 |
| American Cemetery |
A visual reminder of conflict of a different
type was seen at Pointe du Hoc. This
area located between the landing beaches of Omaha and Utah was a German
fortification, complete with canons capable of causing immense damage to the
invading allied forces. All that remains
here now on top of the near impregnable cliffs are the remains of several gun
batteries and large crater holes, as well as the moving stories of the American
rangers who lost their lives here.
 |
| Banneville-la-Campagne |
The most moving part of our explorations around
this part of Normandy were the visits to the exquisitely maintained cemeteries
of the fallen. We laid crosses at the
British cemeteries of Banneville-la-Campagne and Brouay, both final resting
places of soldiers from our town. As we
said prayers of remembrance and thanks, the sun was shining brightly and birds
singing. This seemed like a fitting
tribute to those not much older than the group we were with. The scale of the American cemetery at
Coleville-sur-mer overlooking Omaha beach, was in complete contrast to the more
intimate spaces we had just left, but no less or more poignant.
 |
| Brouay |
Our final destination of this short visit was La
Cambe German military cemetery. This
small space so well laid out with its black memorial crosses and small plaques
made it hard to believe over 21,000 German war dead are buried here. Their remains brought together here from
across Normandy to their final resting place.
As we left here ready to begin our journey back to the ferry heading for
home, we reflected on all we had seen and learnt in the past few days. Sitting outside as we left the German
cemetery was an old man complete with military blazer and a chest full of
medals. He sat smoking a pipe and like
us was reflecting on times past only from a different perspective, as he was
one of the allied soldiers who landed at Juno.
He had come to remember not just names from history, but friends and
colleagues who had paid the ultimate sacrifice.
He was happy to chat, after all he said he is one of the few that remain
and we must never forget.
 |
| German cemetery |
No comments:
Post a Comment