D-Day beaches

To simulate the D-day landings, at 00:00 hours 0n 21 February, Col. James Hogan-Geekie and I left Portsmouth Harbour bound for Ouistreham (the eastern most beach of the D-Day landings or Sword beach as it is better known). We arrived under the cover of darkness, picked up our Staff car and headed west to start our adventure, holiday & history lesson.

Below is a summary of the landings. Utah and Omaha to the west being the American beaches. To the east are Gold (British), Juno (Canadian) and Sword (British). Pegasus bridge and Ste Marie Eglise are also visible.

DAY 1 - AMERICAN BEACHES

Omaha beach & American cemetery

Because our ferry arrived early, we had the benefit of having Omaha beach to itself. In normal circumstances this would be a beautiful beach suitable for firing a tennis ball around for some impromptu cricket but instead we were interested in the distances from the beach to the bluff, the size of the bluff and the angle of the gun emplacements guarding it. Geographically a very difficult beach to cover for wet, seasick and scared boys - no wonder Omaha was the beach that saw the biggest struggle and highest casualty rate on D-Day. This was strikingly bought home at the American war cemetery overlooking the beach - the 10,000+ crosses, placed with military perfection, a sign of thanks and pride in the unwavering courage these men showed in search of the freedom of others.

The below photo taken by Robert Capa at Omaha beach on D-Day summed up the early struggle - the troops were under such pressure, they couldn't even make the tide line and are held up behind the Czech Hedgehogs.

Below is the plot of General Theodore Roosevelt at the American cemetery. Son of the ex president and Medal of Honour winner in acknowledgement of his rallying of the troops from their trapped positions on the beach.

Pointe Du Hoc

After the air force lashed the potentially dangerous guns at Pointe Du Hoc (a tip overlooking Omaha beach) with a brutal bombardment, over 200 rangers scaled this 100ft cliff in the early morning to secure the gun battery and ensure the troops could land safely - an heroic display as there was little cover and at the top there were more obstacles than just German gunfire to overcome.

65 years on, the craters here are still immense - the area surrounding the battery is like a giant muffin tin.

German War Cemetery

Our next stop was the German war cemetery. Tasteful, respectful, a lot less of a statement than the American equivalent and worrying that the number 21,ooo rolls of the tongue as if that is just another ordinary statistic. Difficult to grasp.

Soldiers buried 2, 3 or 4 to a plot. Some unrecognisable.

Utah beach

Utah beach was a lot flatter and longer than Omaha. Easier to get across but harder to get cover. The density of the Atlantic wall was prominent at Utah beach with gun emplacements at very narrow spacings.

Beach obstacles at Utah:

Crisbecq battery

Thinking our day had all but ended, we were more interested in where we could find a good bottle of red for the evening when we stopped in at the Crisbecq battery. Here we found an excellent exhibition - first because the state of the bunkers was so immaculate and second because of the story they told.

Main bunker with 3.5m thick, reinforced concrete surrounding the 210mm gun (capable of firing 27km out to sea).

So well designed were the Crisbecq bunkers that, after the Americans had breached Utah beach and were marching inland, Walter Ohmsen had his men go down into the bunkers and ordered the artillery further inland to attack his bunkers. The shelling had two effects - 1. it caused disarray in the American troops and Ohmsen was able to capture some prisoners, and 2. it scored a direct hit on the bunker as a shell came down the stairwell (below):

Ste Marie Eglise

On to St Marie Eglise where the famous story of John Steele took place. In the bad weather and darkness of June 6, Steele and his fellow paratroopers were dropped in the wrong zone and came down in the square of St Marie Eglise. To double their misfortune the local garrison was out in force seeing to fires form the bombings earlier in the night. Steele's parachute caught on the steeple of the church from which he could not get free. Shot in the foot, he played dead but was eventually taken prisoner by the Germans before rejoining his unit later in the campaign. A torn parachute remains on the steeple as a monument. We also enjoyed the "Menu John Steele" for dinner - a four course spectacular which proved our French to be dreadful (the onion soup I ordered turned out to be grilled oysters!).

DAY 2 - BRITISH BEACHES

On Sunday we headed east to focus on the British beaches. Our visits included the courageous story of the Merville Battery and also the Hillman Bunker but the photo opportunities were not great due to closures.

Longues-sur-mer Battery

A well preserved battery overlooking Gold beach and also the set for the opening of the film The Longest Day. Blanketed with bombs in the lead up to the invasion but in good condition - such was the density of the construction, it needed a direct hit to make any impact.

Arromanches & Mulberry harbour

After the initial fighting, victory relies as much on what happens at the front line as what happens behind it in terms of reinforcements and supplies. Two enormous Mulberry harbour's were established at Arromanches and at Utah beach as the Allies answer to the logistical issue of the English channel.

Pegasus bridge

D-Day started at 00:05am when 5 British glider plans landed near Pegasus bridge - a key bridge linking the flank of Sword beach to the east. The bridges were wired by the Germans to be blown if they came under attack and hence the use of gliders to surprise the enemy. The bridges were taken with only two deaths - a miracle for such a dangerous operation.

The original bridge:

And on closer inspection, even though it's repainted it still shows the scars of battle. To the right is the new, wider bridge currently in use in an identical design.

Major John Howard, the man in charge of the operation:

Ranville British Cemetery

The Ranville cemetery was a fitting place to end our tour by paying respect to the British troops (including some Kiwi's). Typically understated, the British cemetery was a touch more personal than the American or German cemetery's and we spent an hour looking through the names, ages, regiments and dates of death of these men to try and piece the events together.

Final comments

It is no accident that a brief 2 day trip has turned into one of our largest posts on this blog - this is something so recent and real yet difficult to grasp.

I am amazed at the scale of everything - the months of planning, ingenuity and courage of the operations. I learnt an incredible amount - I had no idea that parachutists jumped with bicycles or dogs, that the Germans flooded the fields behind the beaches to make landing difficult or that Lord Lovett insisted on marching his troops with a piper at his side!

I wish I could summarise this in my own words. I can't; and have chosen an introductory comment at the American cemetery instead:

Visitor
Look how many of them there were
Look how young they were
They died for your freedom
Hold back your tears and be silent.