I realised that to get a good feel of all the areas we intended touring, that a lot of research would be necessary.
First port of call was Amazon.com to see what published material was available. What caught me eye pretty quickly was Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches authored by Major and Mrs Tony Holt which is omplemented by an excellent 1:116,000 battle map depicting all the military details clearly shown as well as points of interest. Reading the feedbacks on Amazon there seemed to be no doubt that this was the guide to go with and and I ordered it - I was not dissappointed. The map is beautifully laid out and the book is of a high quality glossy print with the history and sequels of the battle as well as detailed directions and guides to the relevant sites.
Above is a basic map of the invasion beaches.
Following the organising of the largest ever logistical exercise in history, Operation Overloard, the Allied forces invaded Europe at Normandy on the 6th June 1944 under the overall command of General Eisenhower. The British forces, on the eastern beaches, were commanded by Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery and the Americans on the west, under General Omar Bradley.
Although the story is well documented I will attempt to give the reader a broad and simple explanation of what happened.
Prior to the main seaborne landings at dawn there were two airborne attacks to secure the flanks, both in the east and in the west.
In the west paratroopers of the US army were supposed to be dropped in the area of St Mare Eglise. However, due to the poor weather conditions prevailing at that time and the effective anti-aircraft fire of the Germans, many of the paratroopers missed their landing zones and were scattered for miles around the area and some even landed in the town itself - remember Red Buttons landing on the church steeple in the the movie The Longest Day? After taking heavy losses the Parachute Infantry Regiments captured the town and secured the approaches.
In the east British Airborne forces were landed in gliders near Benouville just south of Ouisterham with orders to secure the bridges of the River Orne. The glider pilots landed their craft by moonlight with pinpoint precision thus achieving complete surprise and the the bridges were taken and secured within hours. British paratroopers were also dropped in the area to reinforce the glider troops.
The German defence of the beaches, known as the Atlantic Wall, had been tasked by Hitler to the brilliant Field Marshall Erwin Rommell. Rommell's strategy was that the enemy should be defeated on the beaches and driven back to the sea. He personally was involved in the planning of all the defensive positions and placements of the European Atlantic coast from Scandanavia to Italy. On the Normandy beaches he placed gun batteries, tank traps, machine gun nests, concrete bunkers and many other obstacles.
Before dawn the soldiers disembarked from the boats which brought them accross the English Channel into small Landing Craft which were to take them onto the beaches. Before the Landing Craft reached the beaches the coastline was heavily bombed by Allied aircraft artillery from the gunships. Unfortunately this bombing had a limited effect on the Germans positions.
Let us start with the most western beach to be invaded, known as Utah Beach. Here the American 4th Division made a successful landing north east of St Mare Eglise and established a beach head as planned.
The adjoining beach, Omaha, was a completely different story. Here the soldiers of the American 1st Army were massacred in large numbers as the German defences were extremely strong and the conditions were horrific. For the Germans it was a "turkey shoot" - thousands of GIs were killed and wounded and the water on the seashore turned red from their blood. Eventually some senior officers got a handle on the situation and a breakthrough was made. The opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan focus on the horrors on this beach - enough to weaken the heart of any human being. Many GIs are buried in the American Military Cemetery at Colleville su-Mer and it is a central point for D-Day remeberence ceremonies.
The Second British Army landed on the beaches codenamed Gold, Juno (3rd Canadian Division)and Sword. Although the landings went more or less according to plan there was a lot of heavy resistance north of Caen and progress towards that area from the bridgehead was stalled.
The Allied forces also pretty lucky in many ways. The Allied deception plan worked out well and the Germans expected the invasion to take place at the Par de Calaise and concentrated their defensive forces in that area. Another stroke of fortune was that Hitler had ordered that a large Panzer division in the Normandy hinterland was not to be moved without his personal authorisation - his staff were too frightened to wake him as he usually slept until noon so many crucial hours were lost.
I gleaned most of my knowledge on the above and planned the trip from the following sources:
Books
D-Day - The Inasion of Normandy by Antony Beevor
Normandy D-Day Landing Beaches by Major and Mrs Holt
D-Day and the Battle from Normandy by Carl Shilleto and Mike Tolhurst
Internet
Wikipedia
Google Map
Various sites on the subject
Movies
The Longest Day which is an epic and is a remarkably accurate account of D-Day
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers
Numerous documentaries published by The History Channel, War Files and other producers
Looking at the above map you will see that Bayeux is centrally positioned in the area and day trips to the beaches will be a breeze. We also intend to visit may other places of interest in Normandy such as Etretat and Mon San Michel.
On my next posting I will cover the breakout from Normandy culminating in the closing of the Falaise pocket.
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