WAR SITES OF FRANCE ❘ REMEMBRANCE


WORLD WAR II Normandy


June 2022 marked the 78th anniversary of the D-Day landings on the Norman coast, which sparked the Battle of Normandy to force the endgame for Hitler’s German occupation of France – within a year the war was fi nished. Allied forces endured almost 10,000 casualties; more than 4,000 were dead, among them 2,499 Americans. Every year, fewer and fewer veterans – all now in their 90s – make it to France to honour their fallen comrades, but French authorities continue to salute the bravery of Allied soldiers with the utmost deference and gratitude. As they do every year, this summer many tourist offi ces in the region came together to coordinate the D-Day Festival, stretching from Pegasus Bridge to Sainte-Mère-Église (where nearly 13,000 American paratroops dropped under a full moon including, famously, Private John Marvin Steele, who landed on the church steeple), passing through Ouistreham, Arromanches, the Pointe du Hoc, and the fi ve emblematic landing sectors (Utah Beach, Omaha Beach,


Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach). While it had a commemorative feel, it was more a celebration of liberation, with parachute displays, parades, concerts, historical re-enactments, exhibitions and lots of dressing up. Visit the festival’s Facebook page for images and videos including a fl y-past by the French Air Force’s elite La patrouille de France: www.facebook.com/DDayNormandy. There are many superb museums to explore on a D-Day commemorative visit – too many to list here. But among our recommendations is the Utah Beach Museum (utah-beach.com/en), constructed on the very spot where American troops landed on June 6, 1944. The fi rst beach to be stormed by the Allies, it was chosen as a beachhead in the Cotentin region to facilitate the capture of the port of Cherbourg. The museum recounts the story of D-Day in ten sequences, from its preparation to its successful conclusion, including the amphibious assault, primarily by the US 4th Infantry Division and 70th Tank Battalion.


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Aug/Sep 2022 FRANCE TODAY ❘ 77


IMAGE © SHUTTERSTOCK


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