In th morning we went first to the German gun battery at Longues-sur-Mer. This consisted of 4 huge big guns in their own little concrete box ( Noel says 'casement ' is the correct word for 'box') about 50m apart. Apparently, along the 6000km of coast line the Germans were defending, there was one of these evey 15km. These guns were made in the factory that now makes Skoda cars.
Then we went to Arromanches to see an artificial harbour created be the Allies to enable the D day landings. It was codenamed Mulberry. The guide explained in detail how it was all made, quite a few bits are still there. An amazing engineering and logistical feat.
From the harbour we looked to the right and saw part of Gold beach where the British 50th infantry division ( Noel's military memory is better than my holiday notetaking) landed. The guide talked about the different types of tanks that landed first to clear the beach of German laid obstacles. Quite ingenious. Just at Gold , 1 of 5 'beaches' , 24,000 men landed in 24 hours with 400 casualaties.
Then we went to a small cemetery , Ryes, where most of the graves were for British soldiers. There was 1 Australian and , in the back left hand corner ( as in all of the Comonewealth War Graves Commision graveyards) were a group of Germans.
In the afternoon, with a differnt guide, we went first Pegasus Bridge , a bridge in the eastern part of the battle area that was vital for the Allies to take back from the Germans so that the various forces being landed on the beaches could get to where they were going to. About 180 paratroupers from the 6th airborne Oxford and Buckinghamshire regiment were loaded into 6 gliders ( apparently nicknamed 'flying coffins' ). 3 were to land near the bridge and 3 a little distance away. We were standing near the bridge and I could throw a stone ( almost) to the area where 3 of them landed, at night. Needless to say they got control of the bridge..
We went to an outdoor museum where there were various displays of other heroic feats, but we were both a bit brain dead. We went to another cemetery at Ranville. We saw a recent grave, dug about 2 years ago of an airman who was found in a plane wreck that was recently discovered. We were then taken to look at Sword another beach, where the 3rd division of British troups landed.
Then we went to Arromanches to see an artificial harbour created be the Allies to enable the D day landings. It was codenamed Mulberry. The guide explained in detail how it was all made, quite a few bits are still there. An amazing engineering and logistical feat.
From the harbour we looked to the right and saw part of Gold beach where the British 50th infantry division ( Noel's military memory is better than my holiday notetaking) landed. The guide talked about the different types of tanks that landed first to clear the beach of German laid obstacles. Quite ingenious. Just at Gold , 1 of 5 'beaches' , 24,000 men landed in 24 hours with 400 casualaties.
Then we went to a small cemetery , Ryes, where most of the graves were for British soldiers. There was 1 Australian and , in the back left hand corner ( as in all of the Comonewealth War Graves Commision graveyards) were a group of Germans.
In the afternoon, with a differnt guide, we went first Pegasus Bridge , a bridge in the eastern part of the battle area that was vital for the Allies to take back from the Germans so that the various forces being landed on the beaches could get to where they were going to. About 180 paratroupers from the 6th airborne Oxford and Buckinghamshire regiment were loaded into 6 gliders ( apparently nicknamed 'flying coffins' ). 3 were to land near the bridge and 3 a little distance away. We were standing near the bridge and I could throw a stone ( almost) to the area where 3 of them landed, at night. Needless to say they got control of the bridge..
We went to an outdoor museum where there were various displays of other heroic feats, but we were both a bit brain dead. We went to another cemetery at Ranville. We saw a recent grave, dug about 2 years ago of an airman who was found in a plane wreck that was recently discovered. We were then taken to look at Sword another beach, where the 3rd division of British troups landed.
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