Berlin Over 50: They Fought to Liberate

Dad has always wanted to see the site of the allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, so I booked a bus tour for all four of us, that left early in the morning on May 31st. We thought we would be able to find a cab, and we didn't expect it to be raining; unfortunately, we were wrong on both counts, so by the time we got to the bus stop we were all drenched... especially Melanie who didn't have a coat.

When they finally let us board the bus we noticed a young man trying to get off. He wouldn't speak to anyone and he seemed a little agitated, but none of us thought anything about it. A few minutes later our tour guide got on the bus and almost immediately realized that her purse was missing. We all felt bad for her, but I almost had to smile when I heard her repeatedly mutter, "Oooh la la" and "Mon dieu..." (Just seemed like such a stereotypical thing to say -- didn't realize that real French people actually talked like that.)

The original tour guide couldn't take us to Normandy so the company had to bring in someone else. Took awhile for the new guide to arrive, and when he did you could tell he wasn't very happy. Fortunately, he was VERY knowledgeable and after he resigned himself to his new assignment he proved a very good guide.

This map, at the Normandy American Cemetery, shows the beach landings and the development of the beachead

CAEN MUSEUM
Our first stop was a museum in the town of Caen. They had a lot of interesting WWII artifacts on display and we got to see an interesting split-screen documentary. (One side showed the allied invasion, and the other showed the same thing, only from the German side.)

Included with our tickets was a pretty tasty lunch featuring regional cuisine. (They even had a free bottle of wine at every table!)

Mom and Dad having lunch at the museum. Dad's hat reflects his status as a veteran of the Korean war.

POINTE DU HOC
Our first stop after the museum was Pointe du Hoc, a promontory with a 100 ft (30 m) cliff overlooking the English Channel. During World War II it was the highest point between Utah Beach to the west and Omaha Beach to the east. The German army fortified the area with concrete casements and gun pits. On D-Day (6 June 1944) the United States Army Ranger Assault Group assaulted and captured Pointe du Hoc after scaling the cliffs.

The plan called for the three companies of Rangers to be landed by sea at the foot of the cliffs, scale them
using ropes, ladders, and grapples whilst under enemy fire, and engage the enemy at the top of the cliff.

It was hard to imagine the bravery that took place here...

As we were walking back to the bus I noticed some small children rolling down the sides of a large grassy hole. It wasn't until the tour guide talked about the extensive aerial bombing at Pointe du Hoc that I realized I had been looking at a bomb crater! Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

OMAHA BEACH
According to wikipedia: Omaha was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion. Omaha is 8 kilometers (5 mi) long, from east of Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to west of Vierville-sur-Mer on the right bank of the Douve River estuary.

2,000 men were killed here, and another 1000 were injured.

Many soldiers drowned at Omaha when they got off the boats in deep water wearing heavy backpacks

JUNO BEACH
Juno beach was defended by two battalions of the German 716th Infantry Division, with elements of the 21st Panzer Division held in reserve near Caen.

340 dead
574 wounded
47 captured

The objectives at Juno were to seize the Carpiquet airport west of Caen, and form a
link between the two British beaches of Gold and Sword on either side of the beach here.

NORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY
The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War II cemetery and memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, that honors American troops who died in Europe during World War II.

It's a truly remarkable and obviously very sobering place to visit.