Normandy

 This is our third visit to Normandy.   My 4th since I came here as a kid with my Father.

One thing that we enjoy about visiting here is not just all the history, but also the pastoral beauty of the place.   Most of this post will be about the former.

Our first stop this time was to the German War Cemetery in La Cambe where over 21,000 soldiers are buried.   The grave markers are simple flat mounted stones that contain 2 names.   I was struck by how many of them were simply marked "Ein Deutscher Soldat", (A German Soldier) meaning that they were unknown.     

Also striking were the ages of the buried soldiers.   Besides the very young, many were in the 50's and 60's.  The oldest person interred here is supposedly 79!  

This was due to the fact that by the time the invasion happened, about 4.3 million German soldiers had already died, 1.2 million on the eastern front alone, and Germany had to draw upon the very young and old to man the Western Front.

A sign at the entrance to the cemetery reads in French, English, and German:

"Until 1947 this was an American cemetery.  The remains were exhumed and shipped to the United States.  It has been German since 1948, and contains over 21,000 graves.   With its melancholy rigour, it is a graveyard for soldiers, not all of whom had chosen either the cause of the fight.   They too have found rest in our soil of France."

La Cambe German War Cemetery

The raised crosses are section markers, not gravestones.

The German War Graves around the world are maintained by a private non-profit foundation that was created after WWI.

1 died on D-day, and one is an unknown soldier

Our next stop was Sainte-Mère-Église to visit the church in the town center.  It was here on the night of the invasion that paratrooper John Steele's parachute snagged the top of the tower and he hung from the steeple for over 2 hours.   

While descending by parachute, he sustained a foot injury, likely from a piece of flak.   Below him,  a fire had broken out due to dropped incendiary bombs and the church bells were ringing to summon help.   A bucket brigade had been formed and the church square was filled with townspeople and German soldiers just as the parachutists began to drop in.    Many of the soldiers were killed before they landed and their bodies hung from the trees.    John's decent however was cut short as his parachute snagged church steeple.    The carnage taking place below was observed by John as he hung there, hanging limply and playing dead, while the church bells continued ringing just feet from his head.

The church at Sainte-Mère-Église

He hung from the tower for about 2 hours before being cut down and captured by the Germans.

His story does not end there however....    A few hours later his capturers were attacked by Americans and John managed to escape.

The Square was filled with townspeople and German Soldiers

John and the town was made famous by the movie "The Longest Day".  Johns character was played by Red Buttons.

Johns effigy still hangs from the church

The inside of the church is quite beautiful as well.   A small local church, yet still so grand!

A large stained glass window to the side of the Altar commemorates the paratroopers from the 101st Airborne.

Look closely all all the symbolism and commemorations.

Further inland from the beaches began the Hedgerow Country.    All of the fields were ringed by tall earthen walls averaging 15' tall, and topped by brambles.   The fields were about 400 yds long and 200 yds wide.  This was very difficult land for the invaders and perfect for the defender.   The Americans said the difficulty was that "they can see us - but we can't see them"

The soldiers would have to climb over a hedgerow and instantly be exposed to fire from the other side of the field.    The first hedgerow that they faced would contain infantry and machine gun placements.    Then the next hedgerow back would have mortars and the third larger artillery positions.    As each field would fall, the defenders would move their respective positions 1 row back and continue the defense.  The battle for Normandy was fought 1 field at a time and it was brutal.

The photo below shows some lower ones, but you can get the idea.

Smaller Hedgerows on either side of the road

Moving to the shore, our next stop was Utah beach.   My father, part of the 90th Infantry Division, landed here in the second wave on D-day.   I previously visited here when I was in a 7th grade with him.

90th Infantry Memorial on Utah Beach

Today, the beaches are a peaceful place but you are never far from a memorial which reminds you of what took place here in June 1944.

The dogs on Utah Beach

Driving back to the hotel, we get to emotionally unwind and enjoy the beauty of the season.

We stopped at Arromanches for one last time this visit, and took this photo of the dogs on the wall with some of the remaining artificial Mulberry Harbor casements behind them.    The logistics and planning required to successfully conduct the liberation of Europe were massive and the harbors were just one piece of this gigantic puzzle.   Click on the link above to learn about the harbors.

We stopped by the gun battery at Longues-sur-Mer battery.    Part of the "Atlantic Wall" these coastal defenses erected by Germany stretched all the way from Northern Norway to Spain.

Destroyed battery

This battery consists of 4 guns encased in concrete over 6' thick, and a forward observation bunker which was located on the cliffs overlooking the beaches about 900' forward.  The observation bunker would direct the fire from the guns.     The whole area was ringed with machine gun nests, mortars, and barbed wire.

The forward observation nest was closed on the day we visited, but Kate and I had been here in 2008 and was able to see it then.

The guns were captured on June 7, the day after D-day.   Over half of the surrendering defenders (about 120 men) were over 40 years old.

On  Thursday our first call of business was an appointment with a vet to get the required tapeworm treatments for the dogs in order for them to be allowed into the UK.   This must be done no less than 24 hours prior to entry, and no more than 120 hours prior.      The vet administers the pill to the dogs and then records it in their pet passports.

We will have to repeat this process in a couple of weeks when we leave the UK for Ireland.

Arriving back home

Our final day (Friday) was a mix of old and new sights for us.

First stop was the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.

Always a moving experience, the meticulously maintained site is a sea of white crosses and stars of David.  A photo cannot capture the vastness of this sea.   The final resting places for so many lives cut short by the senseless slaughter of war.   

And yet, 80 years later, one man has again invaded his neighbor and renewed this same endless cycle of death and destruction, while we sit safely at home and quibble over whether we should support the brave Ukrainians who are dying protecting their homes and families from this animal.

Have we learned nothing?

At the far end of the cemetery are two statues:

One is Columbia, representing the US.   She holds and eagle and olive branch.

The other is Marianne representing France.  She holds a rooster and olive branch. 

Columbia (L) and Marianne (R)

At the other end of the cemetery, where you enter, is a memorial site with a reflecting pool and building with maps depicting the invasion and its overall impact on the liberation.   One of the statues there, pictured below, is called American youth emerging from the sea.   

Engraved in the stone below the statue are the words: 

"To these we owe the high resolve that the cause for which they died shall live."

To these we owe....

American youth emerging from the sea

So many lives lost in the cause of ensuring freedom and protecting those less able to protect themselves.

The question I must ask today is will we honor that debt?

Or will we simply walk away from the cause of freedom because it cost$ us too much?

Further down the coast of Omaha beach we visited some new sights for us.

The beach was backed by high bluffs and only a few ravines provided natural exit routes from those beaches.   Securing these valleys off of the beaches were critical for the movement of the equipement that would be needed.    All of these routes were heavily protected by numerous defenses including cement bunkers.

One of these (Widerstandsnest 65) guarded the route off of Easy Red Sector.   I was able to find some pictures of then to compare with now.

You can see the bunker WN65 in all of the photos

Bunker WN65

This was the first path that was opened off Omaha Beach allowing for the movement of heavy equipment inland.

Now looking inland

Then looking inland

Now looking towards the beach

Then looking towards the beach

In the photo above, the trail taken up the hill by the GIs still exists today.

Further down the beach in Easy Green Sector are several more memorials to that day.

The beach here was backed by a tall cement seawall that needed to be breached in order to clear a path fo r men and equipment.   It was here that some say inspired the scene in "Saving Private Ryan" where the soldiers, pinned down on the beach, eventually used bangalore torpedos to blow up the wall and advance off of the beach.

You can see parts of that sea wall below as it appears today.

Sword sculptures on the beach are in the water at high tide

Looking back at the beach from the pier.    The road off of the beach is in the low section to the left of the large building in the right center of the photo.   

On Saturday our time in Normandy came to an end and we drove the 3+ hours to Calais where we would be picked up on Sunday by our "Pet Taxi".   I returned our little rental car and we spent the night at our old faithful Holiday Inn.

Rumble time!

By-bye to the Fiat 600 "Peanut"

Our Pet Taxi picked us up at 1130 on Sunday and soon we were boarding the train for the 35 minute journey thru the tunnel from Calais, France to Folkestone, England.

Boarding the train

From Folkestone, it was about 3 hours to our next AirBnb located on a dairy farm near Chichester.

Riding to the farm, the dogs got some shut eye.

Our home for the next week is a converted barn located on the Fisher dairy farm.

Home sweet home

On Monday morning, I grabbed an Uber from the farm to the Chichester Rail Station and boarded a train to Hedge End, near Southampton (where the QM2 sails from).   I would now pick up our rental car for the next 5 months, and will turn it back in on September 25.   I had to change trains once on the 1 hour journey.

Arriving at Hedge End

The nice thing about renting from VW is that I am able to rent for longer terms than with the regular car rental companies.   I know in advance exactly what model ar I will be renting so that there are no surprises as to how big it is, or how our luggage will fit.

This time we are renting a smaller car - a VW T-Cross.   It will be easier to navigate the smaller roads that we often find ourselves traveling down.    It's also a plus for these tight parking spots over here.

Our rental is brand new with only 200 miles on it.   Even has some "new car smell".

Our new "Peanut" back on the farm

So Monday was take care of business day (fetch the car, get groceries,  dog food, sim cards etc).

Tuesday was chill day.   We took a nice long walk and otherwise relaxed around the farm.

Yesterday we went to Brighton Beach.

All of our activities here will be covered in our next post, with the rest of this weeks adventures, wherever and whatever that might be.

And with that - you are now up to date.    Its Monday, Uno de Mayo, and I have to stop writing and figure out what we will occupy ourselves with today.

PS. One update - our friend Linda left a comment that the duck in the previous post might have been a Mandarin Duck.    I replied that "it did not taste like one" 😂

Looking at it on google, it sure looks like one to me.   Thanks Linda!   Another travel mystery solved!