The D-Day Sites of Normandy
By Michael Rio
Note: I originally wrote this for the Marshall Advisor (Michigan) and this appeared on Wednesday June 6, 2001.
My interest in World War II started when I was young with a father who was not only an avid reader of WWII books, but also a military miniature artist who had me painting soldiers, jeeps and tanks at a young age. I still find the entire history of World War II to be very fascinating and last summer I finally had the opportunity to visit the D-Day beaches, historic sites and museums of Normandy, France from June 18-21, 2000.
I was actually in Europe to visit Italy, where I was also in a wedding. I made a side trip to visit a friend in Switzerland that I knew from college. He had some free time and we decided to make the 10 hour drive from Lausanne across France to spend four days in Normandy. Since many of the D-Day historic sites are scattered and not well marked, traveling with a native French-speaker was quite helpful.
We first went to Mont St. Michel, a beautiful historic cathedral and town on its own island-peninsula which is to the west of where the allies landed. As we drove through many small French towns through Normandy, I could not help but to start imagining what was happening in these areas 56 years ago when the US, Britain, Canada and other allies launched the largest amphibeous invasion in history. Over 2 million, soldiers, sailors and airmen took part in the June 6, 1944 “D-Day” invasion at Normandy.
For those unfamiliar with the geography, Normandy is a northern region of France famous for its seaside beaches and resorts and directly south of Great Britain. The invasion was launched from southern England and the US forces landed on the two western-most beaches code-named “Utah” and “Omaha.” The British, Canadian and Free French forces landed at the beaches code-named “Gold,” “Sword” and “Juno.” Other allied forces that took part included Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Greece.
A great place to stay to see the American beaches is the small town of Ste-Mere Eglise, which is located near Utah beach. The town is full of American flags and streets named after American heroes of the liberation. For those who saw “The Longest Day” this is also the town where an American paratrooper got stuck hanging from a church steeple and “played dead” so the German occupiers would not shoot him (a true story!). The US paratroopers were dropped inland on the night of June 5, 1944 and played a crucial role in the success of the invasion, in spite of many missdrops and other problems. There is also a nice little museum and several monuments on Utah beach, where the US invasion forces had a relatively smooth landing.
Moving east the next major stop was Pointe-du-Hoc, which is a cliff-top location where US Rangers were sent to knock out German guns that threatened both Utah and Omaha beaches. Unfortunately for the Rangers, the German guns had been moved farther back. They fought hard to take them but had to wait for armored support to come up from Omaha Beach on the second day to succeed. Pointe-du-Hoc has been left largely intact as it was when the Americans attacked with barbed wire, huge bomb craters and damaged German bunkers. Also there is a plaque to the brave Rangers that took on such a dangerous and daring mission.
Omaha Beach was made famous recently by the movie “Saving Private Ryan” and it was by far the most difficult and bloodiest beach on D-Day. I visited on a cool, cloudy, rainy and overcast day, just as it was at the time of the invasion. The bad weather contributed to the allied bombers missing most of the German defenses before the invasion. Also the steep hills made it especially difficult for the US troops in the first wave that had to run through heavy fire in the water and across mostly open beaches.
The beautiful French town of Arromanche is located on Gold Beach, and is the location of a huge harbor the British brought down from England and set up in the first week. Parts of this harbor still exist and it played a major role in the allied ability to quickly offload massive amounts of men, tanks and supplies. The Americans built a similar harbor at Omaha Beach but it was unfortunately destroyed by a big storm two weeks after the invasion, making the British harbor that much more important.
The best D-Day museum I visited was in the town of Bayeux, not far from Omaha Beach. This museum was rather large and had many exhibits, uniforms, letters, pictures and even a movie theatre. There was also a nice D-Day museum in Arromanche and a smaller one at Utah Beach. I also visited the American cemetery at Omaha Beach, which was featured in “Saving Private Ryan.” Appoximately 10,000 Americans who died in WWII are buried there and it is sad and inspiring place to visit as I thought about the sacrifices that were made for freedom and democracy. The American cemetery is kept in immaculate condition and is technically US territory, since it was given to the US as a gift from the people of France.
I highly recommend that all Americans visit the D-Day beaches, museums and historic sites in Normandy if they get a chance. I am also interested in talking to any WWII veterans that took part in D-Day or any other campaigns. I am very pleased with the recent revival of interest in World War II. Personally I greatly appreciate all of the efforts of the allied soldiers, sailors, civilians and airmen who bravely served to preserve our freedom and democracy during such a sad and difficult time in history.
Michael Rio is Marshall, Michigan resident and a teacher at Harper Creek High School in Battle Creek, Michigan.