We were staying in Carentan-les-Marais which, to be perfectly honest, I only picked as a location because I recognised it from Band of Brothers (Ep.3)! The town itself was of decisive military significance for the control of the Cotentin Peninsula and the important Cherbourg. From here, German units could have split the Allied forces and thus threatened the bridgeheads but the American forces succeeded in occupying Carentan by 15th June 1944. We didn't actually visit any of the museums in Carentan, but it was a perfect location for a trip to Utah Beach, Sainte-Mere-Eglise, and the Airborne Museum, of which the 101st were well featured (and was very much on Joey's list of places to go!).
The museum took us in the footsteps of the American paratroopers of D-Day - we could climb aboard a real Waco glider, the only one in France in this state of construction, and into a C-47 aircraft, as the paras of the 82nd and 101st airborne division did for the Battle of Normandy. We learned even more about Operation Overlord, the Battle of the hedgerows and the fate of the men who came to liberate Europe. It was a really good interactive modern museum, but actually there was very little space to move around and examine the objects / read the information, unlike the museum in Caen.
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| The M4 Sherman Tank revealed its weakness during the Battle of Normandy - the firepower was too low, the shape was too high, the handing was restricted, the shielding was insufficient, and the ground pressure was stronger than German tanks, which was a problem on muddy ground. |
By the early hours of 6th June, the first airborne troops had already set foot on the soil of Normandy. The American parachutists of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were tasked with capturing Sainte-Mere-Eglise and securing the beachhead at Utah Beach. At 4am, Sainte-Mere-Eglise was stormed.
The Utah Beach D-Day Landing Museum was built on the very spot where American troops landed on 6th June 1944, the biggest amphibious operation in military history. We didn't go inside but walked around the memorials and on to the beach itself.
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| They were painting the Higgins Boat so it was surrounded by a fence which was a bit of a shame... |
Since the rain had held off and it had turned into rather a nice day, we decided to head back east and visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Omaha Beach itself.
Located just above Omaha Beach at Colleville-sur-Mer, the Normandy American Cemetery was dedicated in 1956. It honours the American service members who died during Operation Overlord and is part of the 26 permanent cemeteries on foreign soil - though actually, the land of the cemetery is classed as actual US Sovereign Soil. After the Second World War, the relatives of two-thirds of the American casualties asked for their bodies to be repatriated, but this site is the final resting place of 9,387 soldiers who fell during combat. Completing this moving ensemble is a Garden of the Missing where the names of 1,557 soldiers are engraved.
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| Looking down to Omaha Beach |
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| Two of the Niland brothers' graves - who the film Saving Private Ryan was based on |
And that was the end of our whistle-stop tour of Normandy! Which we would all highly recommend... just try and pick a dry time of year to go!
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