Kuniworth Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Hey guys! thought I share some pics from this summers ww2 trip. I went to Normandy to visit the landing sites and it was very interesting to see it more than 65 years later, the coast is beautiful. Here are some pics and comments: This is looking towards Gold beach from Arromanches. It was here the british landed and built the mulberry harbour. Arromanches got a brilliant museum and is commercialised so if you go you can buy all kind of souvenirs here. Arromanches. You can see remnants of the Mulberry and the pontons further out that was sunk to create the walls of the harbour. Arromanches hails the 231st brigade that lliberated the village. At the museum in Arromanches: Real Sherman M4A2 at display outside Arromanches museum. Belonged to Leclerc's 2nd armoured division, it's in good condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuniworth Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 This is from Longues Ser mer where wehrmacht had deployed a battery to control both Gold beach(to the east) and Omaha beach(just to the west). It's some of few remaining guns of the atlantic wall. Omaha-beach. Not much remains of the ferocious battles that raged at parts of this beach. Today it seems to be very popular to visit, lots of people there. Note that this picture is taken during ebb so the beach-area was much narrower at june 6th, 1944 when it was flow. One example of many monuments and memorial that litters the Normandy cities and villages. This tells us that on this spot at Omaha beach the 56th field artillery landed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuniworth Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 American cemetary with 10,000 dead from the Normandy-campaign. Located at Omaha-beach just above on the hills. Very well looked after and security seems to be high for whatever reason. This is where the opening scene of the movie saving privat ryan was filmed. All crosses are put in perfectly straight rows... Pointe du Hoc: it was here the 2nd ranger batallion moved up the cliffs to capture the german gun positions. When you see it in real life it's hard to imagine the rangers getting to the top at all, it's very steep. Crater from what appears to be battleship bombardment at pointe du hoc. There is clear evidence that battle has taken place, the whole area is complettly littered with craters of different sizes. There must have been hell for the german defenders going through that. This is the pegasus-bridge at Ranville that the british paratroopers captured in a glider-assault. Extremly skillfully executed. There is an excellent museum at the spot that is simply world class. Prince Charles is presenting the museum in a video so the british state apperently put a lot of effort to make this one a honorable tribute to the veterans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuniworth Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Replica in real size of the horsa glider at the pegasus-museum The reason it's called the pegasusbride: named after the british paratrooper-symbol This is a sign from Juno beach where the canadians landed with slight casualties and made good progress. At the beach is a museum that tells the story of Canada in world war 2. Well that's it. If you are interested in ww2 I can tell you that Normandy is a must see along with Auschwitz and Volgograd that I visited before. Tons of museums and things to see and all very well preserved. For people here D-day continues to bear massive presence in their lives. In Caen a british memorial garden was recently opened to commemorate the british forces that liberated the city. And streets are named after Eisenhower etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonRocko Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Very nice! Thanks for sharing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlape3 Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Yes, thanks for the photos. When I visited in November of 2000 there was little to no security although the grounds were very well kept. A somber and respectful experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abukede Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 awesome pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkman Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Nice pictures, I've been there 9 or 10 times, it's been a few years though, maybe I'll try to go this year, it's only about a 6 hour drive from here. Although my next planed history weekend is will be Oradour-sur-Glane, I havn't been there yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baron Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Great pictures thanks for sharing them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The K Man Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Great pics! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaMonkey Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Thanks Kuni, nice of you to share. So when will you be visiting the Ardennes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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