REMEMBRANCE 2023 THE GUIDE
Infantry Division on the morning of June 6, 1944. It is closed during the winter.
www.goldbeachmusee.fr
Musée No.4 Commando Ouistreham, Calvados This museum, at Sword Beach, tells the amazing story of Philippe Kieffer’s Franco- British commandos who stormed the shore and liberated the port town of Ouistreham on D-Day.
www.musee-4commando.fr
Le Grand Bunker Ouistreham, Calvados This museum, housed in a fi ve-storey blockhaus, is dedicated to Normandy’s Atlantic Wall, the system of fortifi cations constructed by the Germans. Here you’ll discover reconstructed engine rooms, fi lter rooms, an infi rmary, an armoury, a radio transmission room and an observation post equipped with a telescope looking out across the Bay of the Seine.
museegrandbunker.com/en
Overlord Museum Colleville-sur-Mer, Calvados Situated opposite the Normandy American Cemetery, this museum houses an amazing collection of more than 10,000 items (including uniforms, posters, rare documents and personal objects – many found on local battlefi elds) as well as 40 or so vehicles, tanks and cannons. It was originally compiled by the late Michel Leloup who lived locally and
The Airborne Museum marks the sacrifice made by American paratroopers
was ten years old when World War II broke out.
www.overlordmuseum.com
Airborne Museum Sainte-Mère-Église, Manche This fascinating museum celebrates the great sacrifi ce made by the American paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne during D-Day. Poignantly, close to the museum is the belfry on which American parachutist John Steele famously became snagged during landing on June 6, 1944. Despite being taken prisoner by the Germans, he escaped and rejoined his division to fi ght on. The aeroplanes on display include a Waco glider and a Piper Cub Grasshopper.
www.airborne-museum.org
Musée Mémorial de Bloody Gulch Méautis, Manche
This area saw ferocious fi ghting between German and 101st Airborne US soldiers – in what became known as
the Battle of Bloody Gulch – and many relics remained buried in the ground or hidden in homes for over 65 years. Now visitors can discover what was left by the soldiers and hear the testimony of civilians who survived the battle.
museebloodygulch.com
D-Day Experience Saint-Côme-du-Mont, Manche Discover both the German and Allied perspectives on D-Day at this 10,000m2
D-Day Wings Museum Bretteville-sur-Odon, Calvados This aeronautical museum, housed inside the old aircraft hangars at Carpiquet aerodrome, focuses on the aeroplanes and pilots of World War II. This was one of the air bases from which German planes took off to fi ght in the Battle of Britain. There’s even the chance to sit inside some of the cockpits.
www.ddaywingsmuseum.com
site
with two museums, a memorial and a 3D cinema that shows an award- winning documentary, D-Day Normandy 1944. It’s stirring stuff, all right.
www.dday-experience.com/en
Le Mémorial de Caen Caen, Calvados
This museum and the adjacent gardens cover many aspects of World War II, with special focus on the events in Caen and its surrounding area. There’s also a section on the Cold War.
normandy.memorial-caen.com
Le Mémorial de Falaise Falaise, Calvados
Learn more about D-Day at the Juno Beach Centre
Unlike many of the other museums featured here, this one shifts the focus fi rmly onto the role civilians played during World War II and their unfl agging courage through incessant bombings and the stranglehold of Nazism.
www.memorial-falaise.fr
Musée Dunkerque 1940 Dunkirk, Nord
This museum celebrates Operation Dynamo, as it was codenamed, when more than 338,000 soldiers fl ed from to Dunkirk to England in the space of just nine days in the evacuation of 1940. You’ll see a rich collection of weapons, uniforms, models, photos and maps of military operations.
www.dynamo-dunkerque.com
Musée Mémoire 39-45 Calais, Pas-de-Calais
Located inside a bunker that was used by the German army for telecommunications, this fascinating museum features collections of newspapers, propaganda posters, weapons and uniforms.
musee-memoire-calais.com
WORLD WAR I CEMETERIES, MUSEUMS AND MEMORIALS
Northern France was also the focal point of much of ❯❯
Oct/Nov 2023 FRANCE TODAY ❘ 125
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