D-Day beaches

D-Day beaches

Yesterday I booked in for a tour of the D-Day beaches, because they are so close to Bayeux and I wanted to really hear the story of what happened there...

So the driver, Roman, picked me up from my hotel in a mini-bus and I joined 6 other people who were part of this tour.

I'm not going to be able to tell you the story of the D-Day landings in full..  But if you're interested, here are a few links

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/wwtwo_map_d_day/index_embed.shtml
http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/d-day


Anyway, our tour started by driving to Arromanches, where the Allies constructed  a prefabricated harbour which they towed across from England. They needed to able to land supplies and ammunition etc, but the ordinary harbours in France were too heavily guarded, so they just made their own and brought it over. You can still see remnants of it today, where they sunk the ships to create a false harbour..

Arromanches

It was actually nice to be on a tour for a change and to be driven instead of driving. Because I was the first person picked up the driver asked me to sit in the front seat of bus beside him, as the rest of the crew were couples...  Oh, okay then... if you insist!!!

The next place we went to was Longues sur mer, where we were able to view the German battlements that are still in place..

Our next stop was the American War Cemetery... I found it very moving to see all those crosses

But it was even more moving to see all the actual names on the Crosses  and to realise each one was a person that belong to somebody somewhere..

As I was wandering around, I came across an American service being held for those who were lost and at the end they played the Star Spangled Banner which all the Americans joined in, then they had the last post and a minute's silence. I have to admit I was getting misty by this stage.
This place really makes you reflect on the futility of war and the cost it involves...

The American War Cemetery is located just above Omaha beach, so our guide  explained about how this landing was a very harsh one, where many American lives were lost. We were later driven down onto Omaha beach and could see the great expanse of sand where the Americans were very exposed as they faced the enemy who had guns trained on this place from all angles..

 Our last stop was Pointe du Hoc, where the Allies had to climb almost vertical cliffs.

For more info see...
http://www.worldwar2history.info/D-Day/Pointe-Du-Hoc.html

 

German gun position

 

So overall it was a very informative day, and I loved being driven instead of driving for a change...

 

Also, I loved the commentary that was available to tell of all the happenings of the 2nd World War. Our guide was great, although he often had a heap of military info that I didn't really understand... but that's OK. I just took the bits I was interested in and didn't worry too much about the rest.

 



So, tonight, I am very tired. It's been a big day.

Tomorrow I hope to go a little more slowly as I move on to Honfleur, which is where the River Seine meets the sea.

So, that's all folks for tonight - I'm heading for my bed right now...

:)