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Postcard from Normandy

Bayeux to Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer: Omaha Beach

The landings on Omaha are well-documented in many different sources. Although the fighting on the other beaches was fierce, that on Omaha was probably the worst on the morning of June 6. The nickname, 'Bloody Omaha', was well-given. Nowadays, the topography hasn't changed significantly and seeing the bluffs overlooking the beach, it's not too difficult to imagine how exposed the LZ must have been.

The visitor center/museum is a short walk up the road from the seafront at Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer. Many of the exhibits are presented in the form of full-size dioramas and several sections of the beach are reconstructed in this manner. There are quite a number of examples of the original beach defences one of the most interesting being the 'Belgian Gate' which was an underwater obstacle designed to rip the hull of landing craft (see photos).

We walked along the beach from Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer to Colleville-Sur-Mer which is a very interesting experience - being able to see how the beach changes from sand to pebbles and how the high-tide covers most of the beach. The latter area is where many of the troops were trapped and it's here where the breakthru was made when the engineers were able to blast a path through the dunes and off the beach. Later on, a road was constructed to move heavy equipment off the beach - this road is marked by the bunker (see photos) and a simple plinth commemorates the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division on the same spot.

Omaha is still a very wild place. Although a number of holiday homes have been built between the bluffs and the beach one can still get the idea of what a claustrophobic area it must have been in 1944. Unlike other landing beaches, when the tide is in, there's little room. There is a certain 'pall' still hanging over the place. Despite from the many visitors who visit the area, it's very quiet and peaceful...

Military cemeteries

We visited two of the many Military cemeteries of Normandy. While visiting Omaha, we visited the American Military Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer. This is somewhat unusual as there are relatively few American military cemeteries outside of the U.S.A. For those who have visited the National Cemetery at Arlington Va., the similarities are immediately striking. The center point is a large semi-circular parthenon which overlooks a long pool (very similat to the Reflecting Pool in Washington D.C.). Within the Parthenon are relief maps of the Normandy campaign. The cemetery is the final resting place of 9,386 personnel with the names of another 1,557 inscribed on a wall in the Garden of the Missing. The location is very evocative as well, located on a hill which overlooks Omaha beach.

The British Military Cemetery at Bayeux is on the outskirts of the town. For those that have visited other British/Commonwealth cemeteries before, virtually all are designed in the same manner. As with the American cemetery, this is also impeccably maintained. The cemetery contains 4,648 graves with the names of a further 1,801 whose remains were never recovered.

There are many more cemeteries in Normandy inluding two Canadian ones and unusually enough, a Polish one at Urville-Langannerie.

Away from the coast - other places of interest

The town of Bayeux is dominated by its enormous 12th century cathedral. Also in its own museum, as an interesting side-visit away from 20th century warfare, is the famous Bayeux Tapestry this documents another amphibious operation - the Norman Invasion of England in 1066.

On the outskirts of Bayeux is a superb museum - Musée Memorial de la Bataille de Normandie (Memorial Museum of the battle of Normandy. In several large exhibition halls, the Landings and the following battle for Normandy. All aspects are extremely well-presented including the planning stages, the landings and the breakout from the area of the beaches. A good number of vehicles and an enormous amount of equipment is also well-displayed. Photos of some of the vehicles can be seen in my other Feature 'Armor in Normandy - Museums & Monuments'. Across the road from the museum is the British Military Cemetery of Bayeux.

A few years ago, in Caen, the museum Le Mémorial de Caen was opened. This is probably the most grandiose of all the musems in Normandy and, sadly, in my opinion, the least focused. It is neither a museum to the Battle of Normandy nor, in the conventional sense, a museum of anything else. Rather it's a series of large exhibition areas which seem to have been designed with political-correctness in mind and the result is a hodge-podge of unrelated themes. The most interesting was probably the temporary exhibition of 9-11, the other exhibitions relied more on gimmickry than series academic presentation. Students of architecture will find much to enjoy, those of us with more 'conservative' tastes, less so. The saving grace to the museum is outside - the British and Canadian Memorial Gardens.

Pegasus Bridge

Half-way between Caen and Ouistreham on the Orne River, is the bridge at Bénouville. On the night of the 5th/6th of June 1944, one of the most daring actions of the entire Normandy landings took place. A small glider force consisting of elements of "D" Company, 2nd Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry, attacked and succesfully seized the bridge.

On the Eastern side of the river, is the museum Mémorial Pegasus. This, to my mind is one of the finest museums in the whole region. Covering everything from the Assault on the Bridge, the history of the 6th Airborne Division and as a sidebar, the use of glider-borne troops. It contains an absolute treasure-trove of incredible mementos of this incredible operation. Not least amongst them, is a set of bagpipes. These belonged to Piper Bill Millin of 1st Special Service Brigade, part of this unit, under the command of Lord Lovat, force-marched from their landing on Sword Beach to relieve the Glider force which a few hours earlier had taken the bridge at Bénouville. Millin, played the pipes as the relieving force crossed the bridge - under constant fire from the remnants of the German defenders.

Outside the museum building is the ORIGINAL 'Pegasus Bridge' along with a full-size reproduction of a Horsa Glider. On the other side of the road are three concrete pillars marking the point where the Horsas landed along with a bust of Major John Howard, the commander of this operation. Another memorial plaque commemorates an unfortunate event - the death of Lieutenant Den Brotheridge, who was the first British soldier killed in action in Normandy.

On the Western side of the bridge, is Café Gondrée which has the honor of being the first building liberated during the Normandy landings. However, the story doesn't end there. Thanks to information communicated to the Allies by the owners, the operation was helped considerably and thanks to the determination of the daughter of the cafe's owners, the museums at both Pegasus Bridge and that of the Battery of Merville were established as permament reminders.

Final Thoughts

More than 60 years after the landings on the Normandy coast and the subsequent and bloody battles which finally allowed the Allies to move onwards towards the final defeat of Germany in the West, there are a few things worth considering. Firstly, the relatively short distances involved. If one travels from Caen to Ouistreham, the distance is something less than 20 kilometres. However, it wasn't until more than 6 weeks after the landings that Caen was finally liberated - after a tremendous cost in both civilian and military lives.

In every churchyard in the region, apart from the usual memorials to the dead of WWI, there are many additional names of civilians who were summarily executed or sent to places whose names still bring horror to any civilized person - Auschwitz, Treblinka etc.

There are still permament (and inadvertant) memorials to the ingenuity of the planning for Overlord - the remains of the Mulberry Harbors at Arromanches and, from the other side, the determination to foil any invasion - the dozens of overgrown bunkers which are still keeping watch on the coast. In the smaller memorials there is one which sticks in my mind, in a churchyard in a small village near Colleville-Sur-Mer. A tombstone commemorates the murder of a member of the French Resistance who was credited with having informed the Allies of the Scharnhorst leaving the port of Brest...

It's no exaggeration to say that the whole region of Normandy is one living museum...

Acknowledgements

Many of the photos were taken by my wife - particularly those of the Mulberries. I'd also like to acknowledge her patience and forebearance particularly when it seemed as if we stopped at every plaque on every beach we visited. Next time we WILL visit Sainte-Mere Église!