British Isles Tour - Day Four LeHavre, France; Normandy

Our first stop on the cruise was the port in LeHavre, France. 

We were met by our fantastic French guide, who lived in the area and had majored in history in college. We not only learned so much history of the area, but she really helped us feel the importance of what we were seeing.  From the port, we took a small van with 17 of us aboard. 

Me, our French guide, and George

Although Doug, Joyce, and I had gone to Normandy in 2007, this time we went to many difference places than we had been before.  The17 people on the tour with us became like family because everyday we toured with the same people including our travel agent, her husband, and business partner who we had travelled to the Mediterranean with a couple of years ago.   It was a fantastic group!  After passing through Caen where we had gone before in 2007 and seen the war museum there, this time we went to the city of Arromanches. 

The streets were so small, the driver really had to maneuver the van to get around the corners.  This small town lies along the stretch of coastline designated as Gold Beach.  This was one of two locations where a temporary harbor was built by the British troops in the Allied Invasion of World War II. 

Sections of the temporary harbor still remain today with huge concrete blocks sitting on the sand, and more can be see further out at sea.

It all looks so beautiful and tranquil today--so different than when all the military action was taking place.

When you start seeing all of the remnants from what took place here, it is really mind boggling to think of all the brave soldiers that piled into these U-boats to participate "in one of the largest, most dramatic invasions ever witnessed." 

Walking through the town to get down to the beach.

It is amazing how 160,000 troops emerged from the English Channel to storm a 50-mile stretch of French coastline before dawn--all in one day! 

Why you say?  They came to liberate Western Europe from occupation by Nazi Germany, and the Normandy beach landings which were a highly coordinated military campaign involving the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and other allied nations--were just the first step of what officially was called Operation Overlord.

And what were these 160,000 troops met with?  . . .waiting for them were thousands of Hitler's troops inside these bunkers, plotting and planning their next move.  Those bunkers were in a myriad of shapes and sizes. 

The Germans had even made little indentions in the top of the bunkers so they could grow grasses on top to help disguise them.

These bunkers were everywhere you looked! 

We then drove to the area known as Omaha Beach.  (All of the beaches had been divided into sections code named Utah, Omaha, Juno, Gold and Sword.

Another beautiful little town we later passed was Port-en-Bessen.  You would never know today by the looks of these beautiful little towns that they had been held under seige almost 70 years ago. 

Here we were able to visit a fantastic museum with so many stories and artifacts of the June 6, 1944, "D-Day" Invasion--a military term for the date an event should begin.

Flags of the Allied Forces.

Here was a poster of four brothers who all fought in World War II-the Niland brothers--two of whom are buried here in France, a third is buried in the Pacific cemetery in Hawaii, while the fourth was who the movie, "Saving Private Ryan" was loosely based on, was sent back to the States to finish out his service.  This family had sacrificed too much!

Walking to the cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach.

The rows and rows of crosses, marking where the bodies of those brave Americans lie.  Each country has their own cemetery.  This is the American Cemetery.  Some 2,400 Americans were killed in the first 24 hours.  In all, 9,387 American soldiers are buried here.

Even with all of these rows and rows of markers which by the way are carefully secured underneath so that they will all stand in the exact heighth, don't include many of the soldiers who were shipped home.  (About 2/3 of those who died were sent home after being buried in temporary graves.)

Our guide took us to Theodore Roosevelt, Jr’s., grave, with his name etched in gold lettering stating that he received the Medal of Honor. 

The cross for Christians, and the Star of David for the Jews.

George pointing out the graves of the two Niland brothers buried here--out of the four that fought in World War II. 

A non-denominational chapel is placed inside the cemetery for those who want to go in and pray or meditate.  It really does make your heart heavy while you ponder how really sad war is.

Walking up to the Memorial located here in the American Cemetery

The memorial was put here in 1956.

Here you could see how many plans were going on at once in this invasion.  Pretty mind-boggling, huh?!

This is known as the Garden of the Missing where there is a wall of carved names of 1,557 missing soldiers.

Before we actually went down to Omaha Beach, we stopped for lunch.  Our guide took us to eat at LaSapinier Restaurant where the food was delicious.

 Beverly ordered shrimp and when she saw the plate, she exclaimed, "They still have their eyes on them!"  We all got a kick out of that.

Our little French waitress and our guide showed her how to clean them, and she ended up loving them.  You can see the woman who had arranged all of our tours at the right.  She was so much fun!

After lunch, we actually went down to Omaha Beach.  The cemetery is right above the spot where American forces eventually broke through, after endless hours under siege, to secure the beach.

 Doug overlooking the beach.  He had some very personal interest in the war memorials. When his father,  Val was sailing to England to fight as an infantryman in WWII, his ship zigzagged across the Atlantic to prevent being sunk by German submarines.  They were scheduled to land in England, but instead landed in Le Havre, France.  It was an awesome experience to be where his father landed in 1944.

 "The Braves Memorial."  Its interpretation:

It was placed in honor of the 60th anniversary of D-Day Invasion, as a memorial "as a significant tribute to the courage of the Allied Force soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the liberty of our peoples and as a reminder to coming generations that those who died did so in defense of our shared values of tolerance and freedom.  The spirit of those who sacrificed so much will rise through the waters and linger in our collective memories thanks to your sculpture."  Signed by the Ambassador to France     

The bomb craters were everywhere.  You can see how deep they were.

Our guide told us that there were craters like this out in the water where the bombs, also, landed, so when the Allied soldiers got out of their U-boats, they were loaded down with so much artillery and their guns, that many of them slipped into these big craters and drowned.

The Pointe Du Hoc Ranger Monument is located here.  The simple granite pylon monument positioned atop a German concrete bunker was erected by the French to honor the American assault of Omaha and Utah beaches.  These U.S. Army Rangers scaled the 100-foot cliff and seized the German artillery pieces that could have fired on the American landing troops at Omaha and Utah beaches. 

This is the stand where a former cannon had been.




Burned out area of one of the bunkers.

Think about how the soldiers coming in the U-boats must have felt when they got to the spot where many of them were let off.  Now they had the huge task of scaling the mountain with hundreds of guns and artillery facing them when they got to the top!

Yes, the bravery shown by those soldiers is absolutely unbelievable.  But seeing it all in person is an experience that makes it all so real.

June 6, 1944, D-Day, was really "the turning point of World War II, as the Allies pushed inland and eventually freed millions of Europeans from a murderous dictator's mad reign."  May this experience never be forgotten by any of us who go there.

The final stop we did in Normandy area was go to the German Cemetery.  Many of the Germans were buried in the French cemeteries at the time of the war which angered the French.  There was still such animosity against them at that time, so the Germans were leased the land in this area to re-bury their dead.

The door you go through to get into the cemetery.

Certainly a different feeling than the American Cemetery.  Their crosses are all a dark color instead of the white. 

21,000 German soldiers are buried here.

What an absolutely phenomenal day of history and remembrance!  We headed back to the ship, almost feeling guilty for our delicious dinner and wonderful evening performance we were able to attend after seeing all that our soldiers went through.  But it reminded us of all that our military is constantly doing for our protection throughout the world.  I salute all of those who serve our country!

Tomorrow:  St. Peter Port, Guernsey Island