The sites, beaches, museums and memorials associated with D-Day.
If I had to choose my top 3 Omaha Beach places to visit I’d opt for La Pointe du Hoc, the Normandy American Cemetery and Les Braves. I visited these 3 Omaha Beach spots in February 2018 on a chilly but sunny day. I wanted blue sky for the photos I was going to take…
There are a number of memorials on Sword Beach stretching from Ouistreham in the East to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer in the West. This British memorial on Sword Beach is dedicated to the following commando units of the 1st Special Service Brigade: No. 3 Commando – Lieutenant Colonel Peter YoungNo. 4 Commando – Lieutenant Colonel Robert Dawson177 French…
Ranville cemetery in Normandy is the final resting place of predominantly British soldiers killed in the Battle of Normandy. Many of the fallen were from the British 6th Airborne Division who attacked Pegasus bridge on D-Day at nearby Benouville. Ranville is situated 10km north east of Caen and was the first village to be liberated…
The Pegasus bridge and Pegasus Memorial Museum are located in Bénouville and Ranville in the Calvados region of Normandy. D-Day Just after midnight on 5th June 1944, 6 aircraft from the 6th British Airborne Division carried out their mission. Part of this mission was to capture the bridges across the River Orne and the Caen…
The Museum The Normandy Airborne Museum is located in Sainte-Mère-Église’s square just opposite the church. An effigy of American paratrooper John Steele hangs on the church spire. The museum pays tribute to the paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division. The paratroopers landed in Sainte-Mère-Église on the night of the 5th June and into…
It can be overwhelming to plan a visit to the Normandy landing beaches. As well as the five beaches, there are also museums, memorials, bridges, batteries, cemeteries, statues, and sculptures. And they’re dotted around a pretty large area. Hints and Tips There are five beaches, so the first step is to decide which one or…
The Bayeux War Cemetery and Memorial honours almost 6500 soldiers from the Second World War. It’s the largest cemetery of Commonwealth soldiers in France. The cemetery contains 4,648 burials and they are mostly from the Invasion of Normandy. Opposite the cemetery stands the Bayeux Memorial. The memorial commemorates more than 1,800 Commonwealth force casualties who…
La Pointe du Hoc is a headland in Saint-Pierre-du-Mont in the Calvados region of Normandy. It’s set between Omaha and Utah beaches and was a German fortified stronghold protecting 6 artillery guns (155mm) during WW2. Men from the United States 2nd Ranger Battalion were tasked with scaling the 100ft cliffs, disarming the guns and advancing…
My visit to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer on a sunny February day is one of the most memorable days I’ve had. I spent the day visiting the Omaha beach area and the cemetery was my last port of call. I’d seen an aerial photo of the cemetery, I had printed out…
There’s a church in practically every village but there’s something special about the Sainte-Mère-Église church in Normandy. It was built in the 11th century in the Romanesque style and completed four centuries later in the Gothic style. It’s topped by a saddleback bell tower and gained a place in history on D-Day as one of…
Les Braves; this beautiful steel sculpture had been on my ‘to-do’ list of places to visit for quite some time. I came across a photo of it online not long after I moved to Normandy and it mesmerized me. On a cold but sunny February day, in 2018 I headed off to see ‘Les Braves’….
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