Our D-Day day

In Normandy, we went to Omaha Beach, where D-Day happened, where I saw the differences in the ways you can commemorate D-Day. The way I always saw it, it was a horrible battle where thousands of soldiers gave their lives to liberate France from Nazi Germany. By contrast, the French in and around Omaha Beach, the landing beach, chose to celebrate the bravery of that day instead of the horror. I even saw a poster with a little kid wearing a parachute, proclaiming a D-Day festival that was to happen. We went to three places that commemorate D-Day: Omaha Beach, some D-Day museums, and the American cemetery.

The armored bunker at the base of the hill by the road they took on D-Day.

We began our D-Day day at Omaha Beach, where the American soldiers first landed to help liberate France. They landed as part of two American landing groups, out of a total of six. The Canadian and British forces also landed along the beach in other areas. As we drove up to the parking lot, we found a concrete bunker, with the remains of a cannon sticking out of the front. We walked to the beach, and began to wander along it, toward the obvious monument to the day, set out on the sand. As we walked, we noted a number of things: the beach, which we thought would have been very steep, was instead almost flat; we found that many houses along the beach still flew American flags; and lastly, there were a number of commemorating plaques and signs littered about the place, one to a group of soldiers, of whom only three had survived the next twelve or so hours and only one of which had survived the next month. We approached the monument, a multitude of curved shining metal wing-like spurs coming out of the sand, and read the surrounding information. We shared the area with a bunch of kids on a field trip, including one group clustered around a sign loudly proclaiming the English contents for all to hear. As we made our way back to the car, we again saw the bunker, and this time the war memorial that was set up next to it. As we explored the bunker and hill above it, we remarked on how it looked and felt just like any other hill we could see, and wondered why so many people through time have wanted this hill, and not any of the others.

Next we examined the warfare side of the day. We went to two museums, each one displaying a fascinating new piece of information, and some derivation of the M4 Sherman tank. The first place, a small museum in sight of the water, had two cannons for show in the parking lot, and, being cheap, we decided that was as much as we were willing to pay. The first was a German cannon, the next an American one. The tank, a design inspired by the M4 Sherman, which seems to be code for “armored gun on wheels” had wheels branded Firestone, the tire company. The next place was surrounded by tanks and, oddly enough, a bridge. The bridge had, in fact, been designed as a quick set-up, quick take-down, bridge for transporting goods across chasms and rivers and the like, and could be set up by ten men with ordinary tools in around six hours (sorry, I don't have the exact information). The bridge on display had been set up as a bridge until further notice over a river for which the Germans had burnt the bridge, and it lasted some sixty years as such, before being transferred to display at the museum. Also at the museum, we found an actual M4 Sherman tank, which, true to its name, is a tank. It looks like a cartoon. There isn't much more to say about it. Again, we did not go into the museum.

Lastly, we went to the American cemetery. We began at the visitors center, which gave us a good idea of what it was like on D-Day, along with lots of information about the equipment, and timeline of the twenty four hour battle. There was also information on Eisenhower, and his decision to attack. After we left the visitors center, we found ourselves in the cemetery. It is very big. The cemetery encompasses more than just the American deaths of D-Day, but much of it is dedicated to that battle. It is divided into six huge sections, and has two large memorials set up on either end. The largest monument is that of a man being lifted high from the water and is surrounded by drawings of the battle and troop movements of the war. After we had seen the monuments, we walked around and back to the car. It was a long way.

These experiences summed up our D-Day day, both fascinating and saddening. We did not go to any of the other spots along Omaha Beach, to see British landing sites, for example, or Canadian cemeteries. Coming out to the American cemetery was what really gave me a good idea of what had happened. I saw so may graves, all of which meant someone had given their life for that war, for someone they might not even know. The last thing to say is that in the monument in the American cemetery, there was a mention of William the Conqueror, who will be examined at length in Joe’s upcoming post “William the Bastard”.

Trail update #1

The mountains are calling (Dad)