81st Anniversary of D-Day

I was going to write more about the Oregon coast today, but then I was reminded that today is the 81st anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandie, France. (As a side note, the French spell it with an ie ending rather than a y.) On this day in 1944, 156,000 British, Canadian, US and other Allied troops stormed the beach. My uncle was one of those soldiers, and theTravelsketcher’s uncle drove one of the landing crafts. Over 4,000 soldiers were killed that day, and another 5,000 were wounded. Amazingly, our uncles both survived the invasion without physical injuries.

When we lived in France, our home was just 90 minutes away from Arromanches-les-Bains where artificial ports were installed to allow for quick unloading of supplies, equipment, and troops prior to the June 6, 1944 invasion.

Referred to as Mulberry A, located at Omaha Beach, and Mulberry B, located at Gold Beach, these portable harbors were developed in the UK, and towed across the English Channel for the invasion. You can read more about this incredible engineering feat here.

The location of our previous home in France is on the above map to the left. It’s hard to imagine troops in our quiet neighborhood.

Today, Arromanches-les-Bains is a beautiful resort town, thanks to the sacrifices made by the British, American, Canadian, French, and other Allied Troops.

We also visited the American Military Cemetery when we lived in France, located in Colleville-sur-Mer, on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach. The cemetery covers 172.5 acres and has 9,386 graves.

The site includes a semi-circular colonnade with a bronze statue titled “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves” in the center. This site has a lovely reflecting pool, and maps of the invasion routes.

At the Omaha Beach landing site, you’ll find museums and memorials dedicated to the 3,000 US troops who lost their lives there on D-Day. I found it poignant to see people, even young people, laying flowers and wreaths at the base of the monument in the photo below.

There are a wide variety of museums, monuments, and other WWII sites to see along the 54 mile stretch of coast near Bayeux, and a wide variety of tours available depending on your interests.

War does not determine who is right – only who is left. Bertrand Russell

Click here to read theTravelskether’s post about our current activities.

Have you visited any of the WWII sites in this area? As always, I’m interested in your thoughts, so please leave a message.

Tricia