NORMANDY 

Normandy - Utah beach and musée du débarquement

Memorial sites
and beaches main page

D-Day beaches and War Memorial

Ste-Mere-Eglise

 Caen-Musée pour le Paix

 Pegasus Bridge
Benouville
Ranville

Before finishing this series about the landing sites and memorials let’s say a few words about the very important part played by non-American troops.  Like at Sword Beach where Lord Lovat’s 1st Special Service Brigade was piped ashore (“Highland Laddie” followed by “The Road to the Isles”) by a kilted William Millin waist-deep in water. At Gold Beach, the 47th Royal Marine Commandos lost all but one of their landing craft and had to swim ashore under the machine gunfire. “Perhaps we’re intruding, “ one remarked. “This seems to be a private beach”. At Juno, the Canadian 3rd Division fought through a maze of pillboxes and trenches.
But let’s continue to Utah Beach. Imagine it is 6.25 AM the 6th of June 1944. Twenty landing barges carry the avant-garde of the 8th American regiment infantry. Behind them, companies A and B of the 70th battalion of Sherman tanks. They first to surge out of the sea to set foot on France's soil. A beach of which they only know the code name: Utah beach, or a section of that beach named, "Uncle Red" or Tare Green". Resistance was less than feared, landing was relatively comfortable, the main task was to consolidate the two Airborne divisions that were scattered, some landing on St.Mere-L’Eglise.  On the evening of this same day, June 6, 23.250 soldiers had set foot on Utah. At that time, the adjunct-commander of the 4th DI, general Theodore Roosevelt, far away related cousin of the president of the United States, walks nervously along the dune "as if he was looking to buy some property, some wicked tongues pretended ;-), plants his cane in the ground and shouts with a hoarse voice:" Here we begin!!” The general doesn't know that he just designed the spot 00 on the way to Freedom….
Around a conquered bunker you can visit THE MUSEE DU DEBARQUEMENT tel 0233715335 and 0233715800 is open every day from Easter to Nov 1. In the low season schedules are very variable, better phone in advance.
Entirely renovated in 1994, this museum is dedicated to the landing on Utah beach. Weapons, pictures, testimonies, archive films. Facing the sea, two superb DUKWS (amphibian vehicles) are exhibited. And please don't miss, left from the entrance, the small blockhouse where the shooting angles of the canon that sprinkled the beach can still be seen.
The roads and paths surrounding the museum carry the names of the soldiers who died on June 6.
And why should nature lovers be deprived of visiting the RESERVE NATURELLE DU DOMAINE DE BEAUGUILLOT tel 0233715699? Open all year it is an exceptional place to watch 200 bird species, sedentary or migrating. The best period to observe them is between October and February. Beauguillot constitutes a privileged life space and transit position because of the exceptional favourable climatic and geographic conditions.  Best is to take a guide to explain exactly what you are going to see. Phone in advance to hire one.  They will even lend you binoculars. To get to Beauguillot, take the direction Pouppeville from the Musée du Débarquement.The reservation is located at about 1.5 km. 350 hectares of the total of 480 are situated on maritime domain.

Bibliography

A holiday history of France, by Ronald Hamilton (London-Hogarth press), Region Normandie, ses merveilles, ses cicatrices, by Louis Letellier (ed. Cloison, Rouen 1995), Holt’s battle field guides, Normandy Overlord by Holt, Tonie and Valmai (Sandwich, Kent), Routard 1998 (Hachette, Paris), La France des petits chemins: Normandie, by J. de la Valléé (ed. Cité presse, Paris 1998), Six armies in Normandy, by John Keegan, (paperback ed. Pimlico)- La Journée fut longue, by Patrick Dewaere (ed.Robin, Paris 1988)

Ouistreham

Arromanches artificial port

 Bayeux war memorials

 Omaha beach 
     
 
Pointe du Hoc

Utah beach