June, 2014 Vol. 18, Vol. 9
Seventy years later, it’s still tragically and emotionally shattering to view what is now peaceful beaches scattered along Normandy in France then recall the horror of memories of D-Day, the day when Allied Forces, literally “sitting ducks,” were decimated during their attempt to invade Nazi forces from the English Channel. Today, eight of the memorial zones include the five beaches of Omaha, Utah, Juno, Sword, and old, plus two infantry landing zones for the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne and British 6th Airborne Divisions. High on cliff of the beaches, Pointe du Hoc’s standing pill box bunkers have pock marks from bullet holes and burnt ceilings from flame throwers. The Germans used these bunkers as living quarters with one having a telephone that provided exact coordinates for shooting guns aimed at the Allies.
The Allied forces planned to land at low tide. As Germans blasted from their pill boxes several hundred yards about them, the first men to land had to get first overcome traps and other snares in the surf before they could attempt to climb the cliff. Many men lost lives in tall, thick hedgerows. It is estimated that 10,000 died, and 72,000 Caen thousand homes were destroyed. The majority of troops who landed on June 6th were from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. To a much lesser extent, there were forces from Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland.
On D-Day, the Allies landed around 156,000 troops in Normandy. American forces numbered 73,000. A total of more than 23,200 on landed on Utah Beach, another 34,000 on Omaha Beach. At the same time 15,500 airborne troops parachuted to join them. Britain and Canada used three beaches, Gold, Juno, and Sword Beach to land 83,115 troops. Of the almost 12,000 aircraft supporting the landings, 127 were shot down. The Mémorial de Caen, built by former French President Francois Mitterrand in 1988, is a museum and war memorial in Caen, Normandy, France which commemorates and pays tribute to those who fought during the Second World War and the D-Day Battle for Caen. A distance away is a Memorial to journalists of many wars, including the better known Robert Kapa. There names are etched into a tribute by the year and where they were killed by photographing. Even the Germans have their own cemetery in La Cambe.
The largest is the Commonwealth cemetery built for British, Canadian, French civilians, Russians, Australians, and New Zealanders. Normandy’s American Cemetery and Memorial has 9,387 gravestones. The names of the deceased are recite daily. While some security lines may be long, all of Normandy’s cemeteries are free. In this beautiful area of France, each of us have on own wartime memories of family, relatives, or friends who fought in this infamous battle. It is not an area we can see in a day or perhaps a week. Guides by Locals Richard Hannigan, a local resident, knows the history and area as well as anyone.
If you have a particular focus in terms of a certain battle, country, area, Richard is an expert and will not only lead you to the right place, his knowledge of the area and D-Day is probably unsurpassed. If you go: Toursbylocals.com