D Day Beaches

Glosfan

Am off to explore the Normandy beaches next week, with kids and parents in tow. Have always wanted to visit the area and pay my respects to the incredible bravery of those men, and I'm finally getting round to it. Have any lifers got any knowledge of the area, I only have two full days and it would be very helpful to know the best places to see?

Henry Irving

Arronmache (sp) is good. Think it is gold beach and you can see the remains of the artificial harbours. Their is a very big peace museum in Normandy which is worth a trip.

On mobile so can't check details so will come back to you.

If going via Calais then Estaples British WWI war graves is a must see

ken from bexley

try this for background........
I went a few years ago, and if you have any interest in history this is a must.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings#Gold_Beach.
Lot's of small museums, monuments and great cafe's.
Sorry I cannot be more specific, I am sure others will be able to help with specific reccomendations,
good for all ages.

Greenie

Done this a few times. Simply fantastic place on the most important day in the 20th century.

Buy a good guide book, Pen and Sword Battlefield guide books are the best, from the starting position, dependent on which part of the Landings you want to follow, the book tells you to walk or park your car at a certain point and tells you which battle/skirmish happened at that point, most are marked with a memorial, you then move on to the next part of the book following the troops route inland.

Dont forget Pegasus Bridge, where the first action of D-Day occurred. Or Point du Hoc on the Yank sector.

Gold beach is where most of the Brits landed and Sword beach.

Visit the Yank cemetery at Omaha beach 9,000 buried there from the whole of the invasion of Europe, take some tissues, you will need them!!

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?search=pegasus+bridge+guide+book&searchfor=

FYI The best time to visit is around the 6th June, you get to chat to a lot of the Vets, however if you are going in 2 weeks you will get more done because it is less busy.

You wont regret going!

I-SAW-POUSO-PLAY

Hope you have a great time GlosFan.

QatarNapsy

Went last summer to Arromanches (British landings). As Henry says, there is a good museum and 360 degree cinema showing footage of the landings etc.
Also went up to Omaha Beach to the US memorial which is well worth the trip.
Can't believe this was my first visit, every school should be made to visit these as part of their curriculum as there is so much history in a small area.

CAFCBourne

Went last summer to Arromanches (British landings). As Henry says, there is a good museum and 360 degree cinema showing footage of the landings etc.

Went there year before last as my grandad took part in building the mulberry? harbour there bought the dvd and bought it back to him very nice village as well

You can go 15 minutes further down the line coast line to see the american beaches as well

SoundAsa£

My dad (well he was my real uncle actually, and he adopted me at the age of two) was part of a small team of designer draughtsmen who designed the Mullberry Harbours/Bailey Bridges, the remains of which can still be seen just off the Normandy coastline.
He was working for the Air Ministry at the time and was posted down to Portsmouth for a while whilst this 'top secret' task was completed.....no one in the family had a clue what he was up to.
He was an expert in steel re-enforced concrete structures and was a Chief Designer Draughtsman.
He later went on to design the steel structure work of Heathrow control tower (long since demolished of course) and the Blue Streak guided missile pens.
God bless him....he was such a kind lovely gentle unassuming man. What did he do to deserve me I wonder!

SE7toSG3

Definately go to the Pegasus Bridge museum and Mark the guide will give you an excellent presentation around the spot (irrelevent fact of the day but the 2nd Bridge code named "Jam" as opposed to Pegasus "Ham" was designed bu Gustav Eiffel before he built the tower). Its one of the few spots I can think of that takes longer to guide/explain than it did to capture!

Arromanches and the remains of the Mulberry Harbour are worth a look, they used the rubble from the blitzed area around St Paul's and Paternoster Square as hardcore for the foundations which was a nice touch!, if you have the time there is an excellent walk from Sword Beach up to Hillman Bunker following the men of the Suffolks and 3rd Division as they came ashore and headed in land.

The sight of the naval flotila that day must have been just awe inspiring, with Duplex drive Sherman tanks leading in the numerous landing craft, behind them the self propelled guns of the Hertfordshire Yeomanry (86 Field Regt) firing a running shoot from their vehicles inland from their landing craft, numerous destroyers and cruisers right back to HMS Rodney that could fire a shell approx the size of a VW Beetle inland 4/5 miles! It is believed that the Belfast that is moored up o/s Heys Wharf fired the opening salvo of the day.

As rightl yrecommended elswhere the P&S guide books are good, also the Holts Guide which has a useful map if touring in a car. Two excellent infantry memoirs are "18 Platoon" by Sidney Jarrow and "The only way os out" by Rex Winfield both are enthralling eye witness accounts of not only the landings but the subsequent battle for Normandy, through the Bocage and before the breakout post Falaise.

Last anorak fact from me, in the weeks between the initail landings and before the breakout (so after mid June & before early August) when the Germans had recovered slightly and the ground inland favoured defence (i.e. Bocage Hedgerows and rolling hills) casualties statistically were both higher and younger than at any time in the Great War, whilst on the face of it this may seem far fetched the BEF of 14/18 was huge compared to the size of our force in NW Europe in 44 but per head more people were killed or wounded quicker and younger than the Somme of Passchendaele, I always find that an incredible thing to comprehend.

Hope you have a fascinating time Glosfan, the only Addicks connection I can think of is that many of the men would have been "beasted" in PT before they left for Normandy by Don Welsh who was a PTI instructor at Woolwich I think but someone on here will know more than me on this

stilladdicted

Someone beat me to it. We're 'doing' Brittany for four weeks then the D day beaches, Bayeux etc for two weeks. If we stay at a campsite on Omaha Beach, would we be easily able to see everything from here or should we do a 2 campsite stay? We'd be very grateful for any advice.

BDL

Surprised no one has mentioned the Museum in Caen - Memorial - They show a film of Omaha Beach today, interspersed with clips of the Longest Day. Utterly awesome and thought provoking.

Also surpised that no one mentioned Point du Hoc, German betteries on the high cliffs, take tyour boots as there is a lot to explore and a certain amount of crawling needed.

It's a fascinating piece of coast.

Glosfan

First time to check thread, and am really very grateful for all the information and tips. Will take advice given, thanks guys for your efforts, really appreciate it.

StubleyAddick

I went to Normandy when i was about 5....the best place was Pegasus Bridge by far... very historic place.

Pelham123

Went to Normandy a few years ago. Stayed in a lovely old hotel in the village of Cruelly inland a few miles from Arromanches-les-Baines and Asnelles. The village had a monument to the Green Howard's who liberated them. Also learnt that in the process the only VC awarded on D Day was won by Stan Hollis of the Green Howard's. As well as the beaches we went to Bayeux and Pegasus Bridge. Also had an emotional visit to Ranville graveyard, just down the road from Pegasus, where my wifes great uncle is buried. He was with the Queens Own Royal West Kent's and was 18 when he was killed in action.

HugoZHackenbush

My dad (well he was my real uncle actually, and he adopted me at the age of two) was part of a small team of designer draughtsmen who designed the Mullberry Harbours/Bailey Bridges, the remains of which can still be seen just off the Normandy coastline.
He was working for the Air Ministry at the time and was posted down to Portsmouth for a while whilst this 'top secret' task was completed.....no one in the family had a clue what he was up to.
He was an expert in steel re-enforced concrete structures and was a Chief Designer Draughtsman.
He later went on to design the steel structure work of Heathrow control tower (long since demolished of course) and the Blue Streak guided missile pens.
God bless him....he was such a kind lovely gentle unassuming man. What did he do to deserve me I wonder!

I remember many years ago a client whom I had always regarded as a rather "grey" character. Then one day we got to talking about this and he related how the company he worked for won the contract to build the Mulberry harbours, as a result of which they were allowed to name their "dream team". So one day he was sat in an ack-ack battery defending London and the next day he was in Portsmouth.

They are unfortunately far fewer now but I believe there are still loads of unsung heroes out there, men of modesty.

SE7toSG3

BDL mentioned Pont Du Hoc, its been really opened up in the last few years, there is a lot of damage to the complex but its worth remembering that the majority of this was caused by American Engineers post action testing various explosives on the recently captured bunkers. Not a lot of actual battle damage from the 6 June when the US Rangers took it.

Merville Battery is quite impressive as well back in the British sector, far too much to see ii. A couple of days, makes me want to go back again soon now.

BDL

BDL mentioned Pont Du Hoc, its been really opened up in the last few years, there is a lot of damage to the complex but its worth remembering that the majority of this was caused by American Engineers post action testing various explosives on the recently captured bunkers. Not a lot of actual battle damage from the 6 June when the US Rangers took it.

Merville Battery is quite impressive as well back in the British sector, far too much to see ii. A couple of days, makes me want to go back again soon now.

Don't forget it was also battered by USAF and RAF prior to the invasion.

Forgot about Merville, thats also a great place to visit.

Here's the website for Memorial.

http://www.memorial-caen.fr/portailgb/

SE7toSG3

Its a fair point BDL, the Naval bombardment at its height was delivering 10 tons a minute on 6 June, incredible stuff, there is a place called the Maisy Battery just behind Pont du Hoc which I have not been to yet but I hear is an excellent visit

Latimer

I had the pleasure of staying in Grandcamp Maisy in 1990. Did a lot of the above, I also remember Port en Basin and the Bayeaux Cemetery as worthwhile places to go. But one of the greatest memories for me was going to the American Cemetery overlooking Vierville beach and later that day seeing Ms Lat taking her first steps, all in all an emotional day

SE7toSG3

Sounds great Lat, wasnt Port en Basin where the PLUTO thing came in and I remember a commando plaque on the wall of the church

Latimer

Certainly into the Cherbourg area, lots of connection to Corby and Woolwich for its construction. Port en Basin is very pretty, I also enjoyed Honfleur

BDL

Its a fair point BDL, the Naval bombardment at its height was delivering 10 tons a minute on 6 June, incredible stuff, there is a place called the Maisy Battery just behind Pont du Hoc which I have not been to yet but I hear is an excellent visit</

Yep, that's well worth a visit! Spent a week over there about 20 years ago, just visiting the various sites. Had a fantastic time.

Henry Irving

And wasn't Honfluer the site of the "once more into the breach once more or fill the gap with our English dead" speech from an earlier Normandy campaign?

eaststandmike

Honfluer is also a very nice place to stay or visit, plenty of good restaurants around the harbour area.

BlackForestReds

And wasn't Honfluer the site of the "once more into the breach once more or fill the gap with our English dead" speech from an earlier Normandy campaign?

That was Harfleur.

Henry Irving

Close enough

SoundAsa£

And wasn't Honfluer the site of the "once more into the breach once more or fill the gap with our English dead" speech from an earlier Normandy campaign?

That was Harfleur.

Also known as Hancocks Harfleur.

Addickted

To be fair to Henry, Harfleur and Honfleur are only about 5 miles apart.

Still, being a Henry, you'd think he'd know the difference.

Addickted

And wasn't Honfluer the site of the "once more into the breach once more or fill the gap with our English dead" speech from an earlier Normandy campaign?

That was Harfleur.

Also known as Hancocks Harfleur.

God, have I got to put up with that kind of thing all the way to Preston?

Off_it

Read all about it ....... Henry Irving in factual inaccuracy shocker!!!