REMEMBRANCE TOURISM GUIDE 2019 THE NORMANDY D-DAY LANDINGS


amphibious landings of infantry and armoured divisions. It was the biggest seaborne invasion in history, with no fewer than 6,939 vessels involved.


On landing, Allied forces came under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, while their progress was then hampered by mines and obstacles such as wooden stakes, hedgehogs (large steel barriers) and barbed wire. At Utah Beach, the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment of the US VII Corps made their way ashore as the first wave. At 7am, US 1st Division troops landed at Omaha – which was to become the bloodiest of all the beaches – and many were drowned or shot as they waded through the sand flats. By the end of D-Day, there were already 3,000 casualties among the 43,250 men who had landed. British and Canadian units landed at Gold, Juno and Sword. At the latter, the British landed 28,845 men on the first day, with 426 casualties.


By noon, troops at Omaha Beach had moved inland and were dug in, while on the Allied right flank the Utah Beach landings were going well enough that small portions of the reinforcements, from the US 90th Infantry, were already coming ashore by early evening. As the beaches had no ports, British forces brought two temporary portable harbours (Mulberries) and put them into place at Arromanches (Gold Beach). These would allow rapid offload of cargo, and went on to be used for the next ten months.


OBJECTIVES While many of the Allied objectives were not met during the first day – they failed to take Carentan, Saint-Lô, Bayeux and Caen (not captured for another five days) – the foothold was in place for forces to expand their positions over subsequent months. By June 11 (D-Day+5), 326,547 troops, 54,186 vehicles and 104,428 tonnes of supplies were ashore.


D-Day itself had been a success, but fighting inland – and the Battle of Normandy – had only just begun.


CASUALTIES


Allied Forces had suffered nearly 10,000 casualties; more than 4,000 were dead (among them 2,499 Americans, as verified in 2016 by the US National D-Day Memorial Foundation). Yet thanks to extensive planning and training, and due to the courage and sacrifice of the Allied Forces, Hitler’s European stronghold had been breached.


REMEMBRANCE With its many museums, historical sites, cemeteries and cultural and teaching facilities, Normandy today is like an open-air history book. Today, 27 cemeteries hold the remains of 110,000 dead, including 9,386 Americans, 17,769 British, 5,002 Canadians, 650 Poles, and tens of thousands of Germans. In January 2018, the French Ministry of Culture announced


the official candidacy of the D-Day Landing beaches to be included on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. UNESCO will make its decision in July 2019. This listing will help preserve these sites and transmit the universal message they represent to future generations.


75TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIONS June 6, 2019, marks the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, a milestone that is expected to represent the last large gathering of D-Day veterans, the youngest of whom are now in their mid-90s.


From the end of May to mid-June this year, many commemorative events are planned including, concerts, parades, conferences, firework displays, picnics, guided hikes, a Harley Davidson event with military bikes from the 1940s, and even parachuting displays by the US Infantry Regiment (weather permitting). See overleaf for details.


❯❯ Apr/May 2019 FRANCE TODAY ❘ 141


IMAGES © SHUTTERSTOCK, LA TIMES, USAAF


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