| Day 2 started with a visit to the British
Cemetery in Bayeux, followed by the excellent museum. Inside the
museum there is far more to see than you expect when you go in. Well
worth the visit. |
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| There are also many German graves in the British
cemetery. I find it impossible to visit the war cemeteries without a
real lump in the throat, so many young men. |
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| A Sherman tank on display outside the museum. |
In the museum were original front pages from a number of
newspapers around the world, giving the news of the landings. My
wife is from Rochester, upstate New York, and was bowled over to find the
front page of the Rochester Times Union paper on display. Made her
day! |
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| From Bayeux we went off to the American
beaches, Omaha and Utah. This shot of
Omaha shows how different it is to the British beach at Sword. Here
the photo is taken from the high ground above the beach, and this rise had
a number of strong points built in to deliver enfilading fire along the
beach. Some of the scenes from the 'Longest Day', 'Saving Pte. Ryan'
and the shots by the great photographer Robert Capa are readily brought to
mind when you visit the beach. |
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The cemetery at Omaha beach is on the heights just behind
the landing beach. There are over 9,000 headstones for the American
dead from all over Normandy. |
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| Richard in the rain at Point du
Hoc describes the action of the Rangers under Colonel Rudder who
achieved the seemingly impossible task of scaling the cliffs under German
fire. |
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One of the strong points on the Point du Hoc which has been
well damaged by some accurate low level bombing. It was grey, windy
and raining when I took the photo. |
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| Utah beach showing the museum
almost on the beach. Again, like the British beaches, this one is
very different to Omaha, and is the western most of the invasion beaches. |
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| The 82nd Airborne dropped
in the dark to protect the right flank of the Allied invasion, but for
various reasons their troops were dispersed over a wide area. One of
the best remembered scenes from The Longest Day is the paratrooper who
lands on the spire of the church in the village of Sainte-Mere-Eglise.
The story is true, and now there is a permanent model of the scene on the
village church. There is also a good museum to the US Airborne
forces in the village. |
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