We visited the church made famous in the move “The Longest Day” where John Steel (played by Red Buttons) landed on the roof of the church, his parachute then snagging on the steeple and he hung for several hours until the Germans cut him down and took him prisoner. Below is a picture of the church with a model of John Steel and his parachute
The old water pump still remains in its original position which was also shown in the movie where the town residents had formed a human chain passing buckets of water in an attempt to extinguish the flames of a house burning as a result of the bombing.
There is a marvelous Parachute Museum where a perfectly restored Dakota C47 is displayed with troops of the 81st Airborne boarding for a parachute drop into enemy territory
Also a full size Horsa glider is on display with troops of the 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles) on board
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ReplyDeleteMr. & Mrs. Wiener,
ReplyDeleteMy family and I are traveling for 10 days around the North and West of France next months with stops at 12 battle sites, These include Normandy, Aisne-Marne, Belleau Wood (because I am a Marine stationed in Italy) to name a few. We will drive all the way from Naples, Italy on the 11 of Aug and returning on the 27. Do you have any recommendations to make this trip even better than I know it will be.
Respectfully,
Tony Kerch