I think it’s impossible to write a review of the D-Day Invasion sites in 500 or even 1,500 words, so I’m positioning these two reviews as “Experiences.”
I have visited this area twice. In March 2003, I spent 3 days with John Flaherty of Hand Maid Tours exploring the entire area: all five beaches, the German bunkers and artillery batteries that constituted the “Atlantik Wall,” and the museums and memorials that are to be found throughout this whole area. I will write a separate review on the cemeteries.
In August 2004, I once again engaged John to give my friend Tom Trier and I a quick 1-day tour of the invasion beaches. We chose a holiday weekend, which was a mistake, but we still managed to cover a lot of ground. If you are interested, you can read my Review of Hand Maid Tours in my Normandy Journal.
Based on my experience, in planning a visit to the D-Day sites, I recommend that you either start at Utah Beach and work your way north and east or start at Sword Beach and work your way south and west. An ideal itinerary would be to spend 1 day at Utah Beach and its museum, visit the many gun emplacements covering the beach, and then travel to St. Mere Eglise, the first town captured on D-Day.
The next day I would start with the Pegasus Bridge and Museum, then visit the three British and Canadian Beaches, Sword, Juno, and Gold. The area is now very built-up, so parking can be a hassle. You should also visit Arromanche, overlooking the famous temporary Mulberry Harbor, which is still visible 60 years after its construction, and view the 360° Cinema on the battle of Normandy.
On day three I would start with Longue sur Mer, the artillery site overlooking both the British beaches and Omaha Beach. Then go to Pointe du Hoc, where the rangers scaled the cliffs to capture the heights, before exploring Omaha Beach and its many memorials. If you are American, give yourself lots of time to visit the American cemetery above the cliffs of St. Laurent sur Mer. It is the largest U.S. cemetery in Europe and takes time to fully absorb. I’d work in visits to the British and German cemeteries, as time was available.
To me, 3 days is a minimum amount of time to fully appreciate the scope of the invasion and the subsequent 70-day battle for Normandy. You’ll need another full day for the Caen Memorial Museum, plus at least 1 day to see the Bayeux Tapestry and visit Mont St. Michelle.
SWORD BEACH
This beach, at the east end of the allied landings, was taken by the British. Because of air and naval bombardment, there was little resistance and the British troops moved quickly inland and captured Hermanville by 10am.
There’s not much to see. Some of the bunkers have even been converted into houses and shops. In the port city of Ouistreham, we did visit the 52-foot concrete tower that served as a communications and fire control center and is now a museum. It is the only major part of the German Atlantic wall left in Ouistreham. Unfortunately, it was closed the day I was there, but I understand you can visit the generator room, the gas filter rooms, machine gun emplacements, the telephone exchange, radio communication room, and observation post.
PEGASUS BRIDGE
This is one of the most fascinating sites both because of its history and because of the museum and other memorabilia from the D-day landings. The original bridge across the Caen Canal has been replaced but is just down the road, at the excellent museum complete with bullet marks and bomb dents.
The museum also has a completely rebuilt Horsa glider, which was the type used in the assault. I could have spent half a day in the museum alone.
The airborne troop’s task was to secure the two bridges crossing the River Orne and the Caen canal at Benouville. The British decided to use six Horsa gliders, three for each bridge. The first glider carrying Major John Howard, whose bust is in a small park near the canal, landed just 60m from the bridge. The second glider landed 1 minute later 20m from Major Howard's glider. The third glider landed between the other two. I can’t imagine a more impressive exhibit of airmanship than that. They overran the German positions before they could react with the loss of only one soldier. The bridge over the Orne River was also captured, though not so easily. Not only had the bridges been captured easily, but they were intact.
The cafe Gondree next to the bridge was the first house to be liberated on D-day and is now owned by British Veterans together with Mme Gondree, who cooked us an incredible omelet for lunch.
JUNO BEACH
There is even less to see here than at Sword. Evidently the Germans thought the reefs out to sea would stop the Allies contemplating a landing here. Nevertheless, on D-Day the beach was strewn with obstacles to prevent landings, many of which were mined. The attack here was led by Canadians. They did not have an easy time of it because of rough seas and blocked landing areas. We stopped at a few of the many monuments in the area dedicated to Canadian Units. There is a Canadian cemetery nearby at Berny, which we did not visit.
HOBART'S FUNNIES
We also stopped and looked at some of the specially modified tanks, called “Hobart’s Funnies,” which the British had created to help in the invasion. They were named after their creator, Major General Percy Hobart.
We saw the Spigot Mortar, called the flying dustbin and able to fire a 40lb charge; the Churchill Crocodile, which was equipped with a flame thrower; and the Firefly, a standard Sherman tank fitted with the tried and tested British 17lb gun and the only Allied tank capable of dueling with a German Tiger with any chance of success.
GOLD BEACH
At Gold Beach houses are built clear down to the beach and seawall, so there is little to see other than monuments and memorial tanks. Because of heavy pre-invasion bombardment, there was little or no opposing artillery fire, and the sea wall was easily breached by British and Canadian troops with the help of Hobart’s Funnies.
By the end of D-Day, 25,000 men had been landed, and they occupied the beach area between Arromanches and Courseulles and later met up with the Americans, as well as capturing Port en Bessin. On June 8th, work commenced on building the artificial port I mentioned earlier.
THE MULBERRY HARBOR AT ARROMANCHES
After the disastrous raid at Dieppe, the Allies realized that they were unlikely to be successful capturing a port in a frontal assault, so they decided to build two ports that could be constructed right off the invasion beaches and used until Cherbourg was captured from the land side. They were named “Mulberry.” Mulberry One was to be on Omaha beach and Mulberry Two at Arromanches.
While they were being assembled, an incredible storm appeared and pretty much destroyed the American harbor but left the British one intact. The British Mulberry continued to be used until November 19, 1944, a month longer than planned. Much of the structure is visible today from the cliffs of Longues sur Mer, in spite of the effect of being subjected to two tides a day for over 60 years. Interestingly, I noticed that at low tide I could see the remnants of the destroyed Mulberry at Omaha Beach.
LONGUES SUR MER
This battery that overlooks both Gold beach and Omaha Beach is unique in having its guns still in their casements. There is also an observation post about 200 yards in front of the guns, which I crawled into. As an interesting note, the bombing had destroyed the telephone cables linking the observers with the gun emplacements, so the Germans tried to use signal flags, but the smoke from the guns made the flags impossible to see. The gun crews finally fell back on the traditional technique of "creeping fire" and did little damage. The batteries were put out of action by naval bombardment and were easily taken on June 7th.
The first casemate we saw as we entered the site was from a post D-Day explosion, which threw the gun and its barrel out of the bunker and killed four servicemen. According to John, one of the soldiers caused the disaster with a lit cigarette.
My review of the American beaches is in a separate item.