Normandy, France April 2009

Le Mont-St-Michel

We spent the 4 day Easter holiday weekend in Bayeux, France, which was our home base for touring the D-Day beaches and Le Mont St. Michel. It was a long 7 hour drive to Normandy, but the majority of the drive was through the beautiful French countryside of rolling farmland. We left on Friday, April 10 at 5:30am to avoid the horrendous traffic in the Netherlands and Belgium.


View of Arromanches-les-Bains and the beach with the wreckage of the artificial harbour just offshore.

Our first stop on the itinerary was Arromanches-les-Bains. We arrived during the hour that the Musee du Debarquement was closed for lunch, so we found a small restaurant nearby to enjoy lunch, too. It was a cold rainy day, but our sightseeing was mainly indoors. After viewing the museum which told about the artificial harbour created by the Allies, we hiked up the hill to overlook the town and beach and visit Arromanches 360 Panorama, a movie with real footage from the invasion. Could have skipped that attraction, since it wasn't as impressive as the advertising made it out to be.


Saturday we took the American Experience Tour of the D-Day invasion with Stuart as our guide from Battlebus Tours. We travelled in a 9 seat van with 2 other couples to the various locations. The weather was uncooperative for our tour and remained rainy and windy for most of the day. It made us even more sympathetic to the plight of the troops who had to endure not only gunfire from the enemy on June 6, 1944, but the harsh elements of nature, too. Our first stop of the day was Sainte Mere Eglise, the first town liberated by U.S. troops.

After postponing the invasion for a day because of stormy weather, the BBC announced to the French Resistance at 9:15pm on June 5 that the invasion was imminent. The weather was both a help and a hindrance to the Allied forces. The Nazis could not see the formidable brigade building up along the coast, but the visibility hindered the drop zones for the Airborne divisions and the rough seas caused the landing craft to miss their targets. The 82nd airborne division was to land in the fields around Ste. Mere Eglise, but they overshot their drop zone and many landed in and around the town square. Unfortunately, there was a house fire near the town square (possibly caused by a marker flare), so the entire town was out trying to put out the fire under Nazi guard. The Germans opened fire on the paratroopers who were lit up in the sky by the flames from the burning house. The town was made famous by the film, "The Longest Day", and the portrayal of PFC John Steele landing on the church and his chute catching on the spire. He played dead while the battle was fought around him. Two hours later he was dragged to safety and taken prisoner, but was soon liberated by the Americans. His effigy hangs from the church steeple today.
We visited the Airborne Museum in Ste. Mere Eglise which houses many interesting personal artifacts from the soldiers, a C-47 Skytrain, and Waco glider.

Next stop on the tour was Utah Beach, the westernmost landing beach of the five (Utah, Omaha, Sword, Gold, and Juno) It was a successfull invasion by the U.S.4th Infantry division despite landing south by about a mile from their original destination. There was little resistance from the few Germans guarding the beach. Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. who was the only general to land with the initial seabourne assault and also the oldest soldier at age 57, contacted the other commanders and stated "We'll start the war from here!"



Lunch of huge baguette sandwiches was eaten on the drive to our next stop, Pointe du Hoc, the infamous German gun position that threatened the Allied ships off the Utah and Omaha beaches. The elite 2nd U.S. Rangers scaled the 100m cliffs under enemy fire using rope ladders to attack this well-protected outpost. Since May U.S. Eighth Air Force and British Bomber Command had been repeatedly bombing this area to take out these six 155mm cannons in heavily reinforced concrete bunkers.
Altogether, Pointe-du-Hoc got hit by more than ten kilotons of high explosives, the equivalent of the explosive power of the atomic bomb used at Hiroshima.
The craters left by this mass bombing are still visible today.

Upon reaching the fortifications, the Rangers learned that the artillery had been moved inland by about a mile probably due to the heavy bombing raids leading up to the assault. A small patrol went off in search of the canons, found them, and destroyed them using thermite grenades. Though casualties were light for the initial assault, the Rangers suffered greatly over the next 2 days during the counterattacks and the initial landing force of 225 was reduced to about 90. Flares from Pointe du Hoc to signal success and for the second wave to land were too late, so the 5th Ranger Battalion was diverted to Omaha beach instead.

Omaha Beach was our next destination. Very little went according to plan for this assault. The initial air raid bombings of the area missed their targets, leaving the German defenses intact. Poor navigation and strong currents caused the landing craft to miss their intended destinations on the beach in addition to many sinking before even landing on the beach. Once reaching the beach, the men were under heavy fire with no protection. Only 2 tanks made it to shore. Despite these heavy losses, by the end of 6 June the U.S. 1st and 29th Divisions, and the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions, had gained a foothold at Omaha. Omaha Beach Memorial

Our final visit was to the Colleville U.S. Military Cemetery where 9,387 U.S. service personnel are buried.

Of the 60,000 men that hit the Normandy beaches only four received the Congressional Medal of Honor- Pvt. Carlton W. Barrett, 18th Infantry Division; Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., 4th Infantry Division, Technician 5th Grade John J. Pinder, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division and 1st Lt. Jimmie W. Monteith Jr., 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. We happened to come across the marker of 1st Lt. Jimmie W. Monteith, Jr.


"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of The Congress the Medal of Honor to

FIRST LIEUTENANT JIMMIE W. MONTEITH JR.
UNITED STATES ARMY
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Colleville-sur-Mer, France, 6 June 1944.
Entered service at: Richmond, Va.
Born: 1 July 1917, Low Moor, Va.
Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, near Colleville-sur-Mer, France. 1st Lt. Monteith landed with the initial assault waves on the coast of France under heavy enemy fire. Without regard to his own personal safety he continually moved up and down the beach reorganizing men for further assault. He then led the assault over a narrow protective ledge and across the flat, exposed terrain to the comparative safety of a cliff. Retracing his steps across the field to the beach, he moved over to where 2 tanks were buttoned up and blind under violent enemy artillery and machinegun fire. Completely exposed to the intense fire, 1st Lt. Monteith led the tanks on foot through a minefield and into firing positions. Under his direction several enemy positions were destroyed. He then rejoined his company and under his leadership his men captured an advantageous position on the hill. Supervising the defense of his newly won position against repeated vicious counterattacks, he continued to ignore his own personal safety, repeatedly crossing the 200 or 300 yards of open terrain under heavy fire to strengthen links in his defensive chain. When the enemy succeeded in completely surrounding 1st Lt. Monteith and his unit and while leading the fight out of the situation, 1st Lt. Monteith was killed by enemy fire. The courage, gallantry, and intrepid leadership displayed by 1st Lt. Monteith is worthy of emulation."

Sunday we drove about 1 1/2 hours south of Bayeux to tour Le Mont St. Michel.


Mont-Saint-Michel is a small rocky island jutting out about 1 km into the English Channel off the north coast of France at the mouth of the Couesnon River in Normandy. Mont-Saint-Michel is connected to the mainland via a thin natural land bridge, which before modernization was covered at high tide and revealed at low tide. The first monastery was built on the island in the 8th century with the current Benedictine abbey dating to the 13th century. view from the top


The beauty of the site was marred by the tacky tourist shops along the Grand Rue.
But after climbing the Escalier de Dentelle and reaching the top, we wandered peacefully through the abbey and admired the architecture and views.


St. Michel slaying the dragon

After eating lunch in town, we headed back to Bayeux to view the infamous tapestry. Dating between 1066-1077, the Bayeux tapestry is an embroidery on linen that is 226' long and 20" wide and depicts the conquest of England by William the Conqueror.
Notre-Dame de Bayeux, dating back to 1077.

We headed home on Monday under beautiful blue skies.