Normandy and the D-Day Beaches Part 3

by Paul Holmes

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Remembrance Day 2005

 

Day 5: Juno Beach and Gold Beach.  I was looking forward to this day, as I was going to visit the Juno Beach Center and see the remains of the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches.

I had done some "scouting" the day before, so I would be able to "not get lost looking for things" this day.  I stopped in a town called Bernieres sur Mer. 

The famous "Half-timbered House" in Bernieres.  This building is believed to be the first building liberated by seaborne allied forces on D-Day.  Men from the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada landed at first light, suffering over 100 casualties in just the first few minutes.

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The Juno Beach Centre, inaugurated on 6 June, 2003, is the brainchild of WW2 Canadian Veterans who took part in the D-Day landings.  Though the permanent exhibit is geared towards younger patrons, there is more than enough to keep anyone of any age occupied in this delightful museum.

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 The tour takes you through aspects of Canada before, during, and after the war, leading up to a look at modern day Canada and its many accomplishments.  Through many pictures, letters, artefacts, and models, you get a real sense of the pride and hard work that went into making this museum a reality.

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Away from the museum, towards the beach, there are a quite a few remnants of German Pillboxes, Blockhouses, Bunkers and Tobruk pits.  In some cases, the Bunkers, damaged or not, have sunk into the sand (no wonder, considering how heavy these things must be).  Further up the beach, near Graye sur Mer is a massive Cross of Lorraine, marking the spot where Charles DeGaulle came ashore to his newly liberated countryside.

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I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening exploring the western section of Juno Beach, finding a couple of Bunkers here and there, and wound up on the Eastern boundary of Gold Beach.  Though it was getting fairly dark, I continued on to Arromanches.  From atop the bluffs East of town, you have a magnificent view of the town of Arromanches to the West, and down onto Asnelles to the East... while in the distance, the massive remains of the Mulberry Harbour rest silently in the Ocean Surf.  I stopped in Arromanches for dinner, and then scouted ahead for the location for the Gun Batteries at Longues sur Mer.

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Day 6: Bayeux, Arromanches, Longues sur Mer, Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc.

An incredibly busy day started with me relocating my accommodations from Connelles to a small hotel in the central part of the town of Bayeux.  After settling in, I headed back to Arromanches.  I hit the Arromanches 360, not really a museum, but a movie theatre showing a movie in 360 degrees of viewing screens.... a very well done film.  Next was the Musee du Debarquement....which was quite a treat.  As I was very interested in how the artificial harbour came into being.

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From here, I stepped out onto the beach.  There are a couple of Harbour sections that remain close enough to shore that at low tide, one can walk right up to them and get a further sense of just how massive the harbour must have been in full swing.  I had done a lot of reading before I went on this trip, but I didn't quite know how the Harbour was actually constructed.  From the models on display and the films being shown in the museum, I learned something new this day.

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From here, I continued west to the German Batteries at Longues sur Mer.   Remarkably, it was still quite early in the day......

This emplacement is high up above the sea, with the main observation post at the cliff's edge and the main guns set back and away from the cliff.  What makes this location different from other Batteries is that it still has the majority of its guns intact and in place.

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On towards Omaha.  I missed the Museum of Underwater Wrecks... perhaps next time.  I was hoping to get to the American Military Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer, but arrived too late and found the front gates closed.  I continued on to the Musee Memorial D'Omaha Beach.  Greeted by a Sherman tank and a "Long Tom" out front, this museum has thousands of actual items from the war, from both Axis and Allied forces.  Though a bit smaller than some other museums, there are enough sights in this museum to keep any history buff's attention for (potentially) the better part of a day.

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With the daylight again starting to fade, I made it down the Vierville Draw to Dog Green Sector of Omaha Beach.  There are some remnants of beach obstacles here, most notably Tetrahedrons..... There are monuments of all sorts around this area, and I didn't get to see them all (unfortunately).  I did come across one bunker with two dedication plaques, to the Provisional Engineer Special Brigade Group and the 467th AAA AW BN (anti-aircraft artillery automatic weapons battalion).  In the same area was a pillar commemorating those from the Second Infantry Division.  I plan on revisiting this same area on my next trip...

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An interesting little side note... while I was heading back to my car from the beach, I noticed a rusty, beaten up metal pipe sticking out of the sand (which I've included here).... I'm not completely sure, but I wonder if it could possibly be the remains of a Bangalore Torpedo, used by the US soldiers on D-Day.......(it certainly looked like it could have been)
I continued on to Pointe du Hoc..... of which I will speak of in Part 4 of my "marathon" article.

Paul

Photos and text © by Paul Holmes