Utah Beach. A mighty fleet of battleships, destroyers, mine sweepers and cruisers as well as troop transports went to Normandy. One of the beaches in Nomandy received the code name Utah Beach. Here the operation went almost according to plan. … Read More

In Colleville-sur-Mer we visited a cemetery for American victims of the WWII Normandy landing. After the war, the families of the victims had a choice: either bringing their loved ones back to the US or leaving them in France to … Read More

Sainte-Mère-Église. During the night of 5 June 1944 a huge fleet of airplanes came to Europe. Bombers bombed strategic places. Transport planes delivered the airborne divisions. They were shattered over Normandy and no unit landed on its intended landing place. … Read More

Batterie Longues-sur-Mer. During D-Day this batterie was a prime objective, because it could shell both Gold and Omaha Beach. Therefore a few cruisers of the Allied Forces opened fire to take out this batterie. The guns went silent after a … Read More

Mont Saint-Michel. On top of the hill of the Mont Saint-Michel stands a beautiful abbey church called ‘La Merveille’ (the miracle). This 13th century church is part of the abbey on this famous island. During the medieval centuries the originally … Read More

Pointe du Hoc. On 6th of June in the early morning the US Rangers climbed the walls of the cliff to start fighting. After they had fought themselves into the gun emplacements, the guns they had to take out were … Read More

Omaha Beach. The most memorable D-Day took place on the 6th of June 1944. This opening day of Operation Overlord goes by the name Operation Neptune. Under the code name Omaha the US Army wanted to take five beaches in … Read More

Mont Saint-Michel. According to a legend Archangel Michael gave instruction to build a a church on this island, which is now named after him. Five centuries later, during the 100 Years’ War between England and France, the town of Mont … Read More

German Cemetery. During the invasion of Normandy a lot of soldiers lost their lives. On the German side the casulties where also high, because they fought a numerical overwhelming enemy. The German army was mostly made up by conscripts that were … Read More

Batterie Azeville. During D-Day this battery saw some heavy close combat. It was one of the objectives for day one for the allies. Battleships fired on it but did not take it out. One grenade took out one canon, but … Read More

Bayeux. During the dark ages the French King, Charles the Simple, made an agreement with the one of the Norwegean Viking leaders named Rollo. Rollo and his people borrowed Normandy and in exchange helped defending the river Seine against other … Read More