France: Merville Battery Museum, Longues-sur-Mer battery, Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial and Omaha Beach
In the morning we all went for a 5 km walk on the beach - Garmin Connect and then we visited Merville Battery Museum, that took us back to World War 2 events. We moved on to Longues-sur-Mer, where we found more batteries and we descended to the coast. Next on the menu was the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial above the Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion). We also stopped at the beach and then we headed for the campsite, where we spent the night.
Previous days of our road trip to Bayern - Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Netherlands, Belgium, Hauts-de-France, Normandie - Normandy, Bretagne - Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Rhineland-Palatinate: Day 7 - 16051, Day 6 - 16050, Day 5 - 16049, Day 4 - 16048, Day 3 - 16047, Day 2 - 16046, Day 1 - 16045.
Alone in the morning on the nearby beach.
Gift from the sea.
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| Former tram station in Varaville. |
In 1870, Armand Leclerc, a merchant in Rouen, aimed to build not a holiday home but a large hotel, facing the sea. Inaugurated in 1879, four years later he added a private roadside chapel - Saint-Joseph chapel.
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| Morning exploration. |
Bronco's footprints.
We spotted some animals. Squid eggs and sea horses.
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| Actually sea horses with riders. |
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| Running on water. |
Returning from the almost empty beach.
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| Our next stop was the Merville Gun Battery that is turned into a musem. |
As elsewhere on the Atlantic Wall, the Todt Organisation was responsible for constructing the Merville Battery.
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| The Merville Battery Museum houses an authentic Douglas C-47 which took part in all the airborne operations in the European theatre of operations during the Second World War (Overlord, Dragoon, Market, Repulse, Varsity) as part of the 9th USAAF. |
Abandoned on an airfield near Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, it was repatriated in 2007 by a team of volunteers and restored to the colours that it wore on 6 June 1944, to be displayed in the battery compound.
Operation Tonga was the codename given to the airborne operation undertaken by the British 6th Airborne Division.
Dog friendly museum.
Ordnance QF 25-pounder was a piece of field artillery used by British and Commonwealth forces.
The first concrete pillbox to be cast was number 1, also known as a type H611, the largest of the four pillboxes. This was followed by pillboxes 2, 3 and 4, all type H669.
Soldier's stuff.
Moving forward through the labyrinth of bunkers.
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| Bronco and Tuši attacking. |
Back in trenches.
The Cross of Sacrifice is a war memorial designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to honor fallen soldiers of the Commonwealth forces with Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway's monument.
Bronco cooling the body.
Before we left the museum, we also watched a short movie, describing the events that happened during the assault.
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| Time to move on. |
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| Our next stop, Longues-sur-Mer battery. |
The battery is sited on a 60 m cliff overlooking the Baie de Seine and formed a part of Germany's Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications, between the Allied landing sectors of Gold Beach and Omaha Beach.
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| The battery is the only one in Normandy to retain several of its original guns in situ. |
Looking into the cannon.
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| Running from casemate to casemate. |
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| Bronco's recreation. |
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| Colorful landscape around the fortifications. |
Bronco's jump.
Oh look, we found a toilet.
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| View from one of the bunkers. |
We decided to check the situation from the seaside.
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| The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. |
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| Tuši and Nada. |
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| Below the cliffs. |
Leaving the Longues-sur-Mer area.
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| Back in our René. |
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| Just outside the city we stopped by the church Église Saint-Laurent de Marigny. |
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| Prayer for the world. |
Église Saint-Laurent de Marigny is dedicated to Saint Lawrence (Saint-Laurent in French), a Christian martyr who lived during the 3rd century.
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| Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War II cemetery and memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, that honors American troops who died in Europe during World War II. |
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| The cemetery, which was dedicated in 1956, is the most visited cemetery of those maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), with one million visitors a year. In 2007, the ABMC opened a visitor center at the cemetery, relating the global significance and meaning of Operation Overlord. |
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| The cemetery covers 172.5 acres, and contains the remains of 9388 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. Included are graves of Army Air Corps crews shot down over France as early as 1942 and four American women. |
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| Map of military operations. |
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| Returning back to the parking place through the nice park. |
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| Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War. |
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| On June 6, 1944, Omaha Beach was the scene of the largest amphibious assault in history, with thousands of Allied troops landing on its shores. |
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| The monument to the Fifth Engineer Special Brigade commemorates the service and sacrifice of the soldiers who served in this specialized unit during World War II. |
The monument honors the officers and men of the 1st United States Infantry Division, who made the ultimate sacrifice during the D-Day landings and subsequent operations in Normandy. The motto of the 1st Infantry Division, commonly known as the "Big Red One," is "No Mission Too Difficult, No Sacrifice Too Great, Duty First."
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| Omaha was divided into ten sectors, codenamed (from west to east): Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Easy White, Easy Red, Fox Green, Fox White, and Fox Red. |
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| Nada, Bronco and Tuši. |
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| Time to conclude the day. |
Today we decided to spend the night in the campsite with some showers and fresh water. We also bought some steaks for dinner and chef Tuši did the cooking.
Bon Appétit and good night.
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| Day 8, 210 km: From Dives-sur-Mer to Céaux. |
Geocaches found (all received a visit by trackable items "MissJenn’s 5 Cents", TB9K7R9, "Sukerbiet 1", TB9VDJJ, "Schwarzer Delfin mit Anker", TB9YMGV and "Geo virus", TB45ZBF):
- La gare du Décauville, GC8MJFZ
- Les dunes de Varaville #10 - rue Henri Bourgeois,
- Omaha Beach, Virtual,
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