Day
5: Juno Beach and Gold Beach. I was looking forward to this day,
as I was going to visit the Juno Beach Center and see the remains of the
Mulberry harbour at Arromanches.
I
had done some "scouting" the day before, so I would be able to
"not get lost looking for things" this day. I stopped in a town
called Bernieres sur Mer.
The
famous "Half-timbered House" in Bernieres. This building
is believed to be the first building liberated by seaborne allied
forces on D-Day. Men from the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada landed at
first light, suffering over 100 casualties in just the first few minutes. |
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The
Juno Beach Centre, inaugurated on 6 June, 2003, is the brainchild of WW2
Canadian Veterans who took part in the D-Day landings. Though the
permanent exhibit is geared towards younger patrons, there is more than
enough to keep anyone of any age occupied in this delightful museum. |
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The
tour takes you through aspects of Canada before, during, and after the war,
leading up to a look at modern day Canada and its many accomplishments.
Through many pictures, letters, artefacts, and models, you get a real sense
of the pride and hard work that went into making this museum a reality.
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Away
from the museum, towards the beach, there are a quite a few remnants of German Pillboxes,
Blockhouses, Bunkers and Tobruk pits. In some cases, the Bunkers, damaged
or not, have sunk into the sand (no wonder, considering how heavy these things
must be). Further up the beach, near Graye sur Mer is a massive Cross of
Lorraine, marking the spot where Charles DeGaulle came ashore to his newly
liberated countryside.
I
spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening exploring the western section
of Juno Beach, finding a couple of Bunkers here and there, and wound up on the
Eastern boundary of Gold Beach. Though it was getting fairly dark, I
continued on to Arromanches. From atop the bluffs East of town, you have a
magnificent view of the town of Arromanches to the West, and down onto Asnelles
to the East... while in the distance, the massive remains of the Mulberry
Harbour rest silently in the Ocean Surf. I stopped in Arromanches for
dinner, and then scouted ahead for the location for the Gun Batteries at Longues
sur Mer.
Day
6: Bayeux, Arromanches, Longues sur Mer, Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc.
An
incredibly busy day started with me relocating my accommodations from Connelles
to a small hotel in the central part of the town of Bayeux. After settling
in, I headed back to Arromanches. I hit the Arromanches 360, not really a
museum, but a movie theatre showing a movie in 360 degrees of viewing
screens.... a very well done film. Next was the Musee du Debarquement....which
was quite a treat. As I was very interested in how the artificial harbour
came into being.
From
here, I stepped out onto the beach. There are a couple of Harbour sections
that remain close enough to shore that at low tide, one can walk right up to
them and get a further sense of just how massive the harbour must have been in
full swing. I had done a lot of reading before I went on this trip, but I
didn't quite know how the Harbour was actually constructed. From the
models on display and the films being shown in the museum, I learned
something new this day.
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From
here, I continued west to the German Batteries at Longues sur Mer.
Remarkably, it was still quite early in the day......
This
emplacement is high up above the sea, with the main observation post at the
cliff's edge and the main guns set back and away from the cliff. What
makes this location different from other Batteries is that it still has the
majority of its guns intact and in place.
On
towards Omaha. I missed the Museum of Underwater Wrecks... perhaps next
time. I was hoping to get to the American Military Cemetery at Colleville
sur Mer, but arrived too late and found the front gates closed. I
continued on to the Musee Memorial D'Omaha Beach. Greeted by a Sherman
tank and a "Long Tom" out front, this museum has thousands of actual
items from the war, from both Axis and Allied forces. Though a bit smaller
than some other museums, there are enough sights in this museum to keep any
history buff's attention for (potentially) the better part of a day.
With
the daylight again starting to fade, I made it down the Vierville Draw to Dog
Green Sector of Omaha Beach. There are some remnants of beach obstacles
here, most notably Tetrahedrons..... There are monuments of all sorts around
this area, and I didn't get to see them all (unfortunately). I did come
across one bunker with two dedication plaques, to the Provisional Engineer
Special Brigade Group and the 467th AAA AW BN (anti-aircraft artillery automatic
weapons battalion). In the same area was a pillar commemorating those from
the Second Infantry Division. I plan on revisiting this same area on my
next trip...
An interesting
little side note... while I was heading back to my car from the beach, I noticed
a rusty, beaten up metal pipe sticking out of the sand (which I've included
here).... I'm not completely sure, but I wonder if it could possibly be the
remains of a Bangalore Torpedo, used by the US soldiers on D-Day.......(it
certainly looked like it could have been)
I continued on to Pointe du Hoc..... of which I will speak of in Part 4 of my
"marathon" article.
Paul
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