“MHN has assembled this list of must-see landmarks, as well as some hidden gems, that will make your voyage meaningful, memorable and complete.”
ON JUNE 6, 1944 the long-awaited Allied liberation of France began.
The massive invasion, codenamed Operation Overlord, would see some 150,000 American, British and Canadian troops, supported by 7,000 warships and 11,000 aircraft, storm the coast of Normandy in what would become the largest amphibious assault in history.
With 2019 marking the 75th anniversary of the Longest Day, officials in Normandy have invited the world to help commemorate one of the most important turning points of the Second World War. A jam-packed schedule of live events, memorials and remembrance services has already been announced; a veritable army of tourists, journalists and dignitaries will be on hand to take part. And with the last living participants in the campaign well into their 90s, D-Day 75 will be probably be the final major anniversary of Overlord to include surviving veterans.
If you’re planning a visit to Normandy this June, MHN has assembled this list of must-see landmarks, as well as some hidden gems, that will make your voyage meaningful, memorable and complete.
Pointe du Hoc
Located near the Cricqueville-en-Bessin, this natural seaside lookout commands the Normandy coastline for miles in both directions. Heavily fortified by the Germans, the Allies hoped to capture the 100-foot cliff-top citadel before its heavy gun batteries could rain fire down on Omaha and Utah beaches to the east and west. Following a furious dawn barrage by American and British warships and air force bombers, 200 U.S. Army Rangers famously scaled the steep promontory to subdue the defenders and silence the guns. Fighting raged until sunset as the Germans regrouped and launched a series of savage counterattacks. It would take two full days until reinforcements arrived to relieve the Rangers. Today, visitors to Pointe du Hoc can walk among the bombed out bunkers and twisted steel girders, climb down into the gaping craters left by the naval bombardment and see the spot where the American commandos reached the summit. No D-Day trip would be complete without tour of this impressive vista.
Sainte-Mère-Église
The war came to Sainte-Mère-Église just after 1:40 a.m. on June 6, 1944. That’s when two C-47 transport planes full of paratroopers from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne descended onto the centre of the German-occupied village. Unlucky members of the so-called “All American Division” were picked off as they landed, while others crashed through rooftops or were entangled in trees. Perhaps the most famous of these was paratrooper John Steele whose chute snagged on the town’s tall church steeple. Dangling helplessly from the pinnacle for nearly two hours, the 32-year-old private from Fayetteville, North Carolina was forced to watch as his buddies were massacred below. He survived the ordeal, but was captured before the town could be liberated by U.S. troops arriving from Utah Beach. Today, a mannequin in full airborne battledress hangs by parachute from the bell tower of the town’s church, just like Steele did on D-Day. Sainte-Mère-Église has since become a mecca for costumed re-enactors in period uniforms, as well as privately restored tanks, half-tracks and jeeps, which are assembled annually in a park a short walk from the town square. You’ll want to add this location to your list.
Pegasus Bridge
Sixty miles east of Sainte-Mère-Église, British glider troops landing in the early hours of June 6 succeeded in securing a pair of crucial bridges across the Orne River and the Caen Canal near the small town of Bénouville. The mission, dubbed Operation Deadstick, involved 181 soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and six Airspeed AS.51 Horsa gliders. The force touched down minutes after midnight and, following a brief firefight, drove the defenders from both bridges. Led by a major named John Howard, the “Ox and Bucks,” along with support from the 7th Parachute Battalion, held both bridges until units from nearby Sword Beach arrived in the morning to relieve them. The road spanning the canal was promptly dubbed Pegasus Bridge after the famous insignia of the British airborne. Today, visitors to the town can stand on the very spot the gliders landed and then cross the canal to have a drink at the same waterside tavern that was at at the centre of the fighting all those years ago. The original bridge, which was replaced in 1994, now sits on the bank of the canal and is the featured exhibit at Bénouville’s Memorial Pegasus museum.
Bonus Fact: Richard Todd, the actor who played Major Howard in the 1962 D-Day epic The Longest Day, actually fought at Pegasus Bridge in World War Two. Then a 24-year-old captain with the 7th Parachute Battalion, Todd took part in the June 6 raid alongside the real Howard. Oddly enough, another actor played Todd in the film’s Pegasus Bridge sequence.
Utah Beach Museum
If it’s museums you want, no tour of Normandy would be complete without a stopover at the sprawling visitors’ centre at Utah Beach. Located yards from the surf, the facility boasts an expansive collection of wartime uniforms, weaponry, vehicles and artifacts. Exhibits include an indoor gallery showcasing German trenches, tank traps and gun emplacements, while a large open hall houses one of the world’s last surviving Martin B-26 bombers. Visitors can also take in the powerful film Victory in the Sand, winner of a 2012 Cine Golden Eagle Award and a 2013 Cine Special Jury Award for best museum documentary.
Juno Beach Centre
Founded in 2003 at Courseulles-sur-Mer, the Juno Beach Centre commemorates the contributions and sacrifices of Canadians at Normandy. Situated on the spot where 14,000 Canucks fought their way ashore on D-Day, the museum features rotating indoor exhibits that highlight Canada at war. Outside, guests can tour fully-intact German tunnels, bunkers and pillboxes. Although a worthwhile destination any time of year, if you happen to visit on June 6, you’ll see the museum’s annual D-Day commemoration, during which residents of Courseulles-sur-Mer, both young and old, line up to shake the hands of some of the last surviving Commonwealth veterans who helped liberate the town in 1944.
Canada House
Three miles east of the Juno Beach Centre is a much smaller yet equally poignant memorial to the Canadians who fought on D-Day, and one you probably won’t find in many official tour programs. The seaside town of Bernières-sur-Mer is home to the ancestral summer residence of the Hoffer family. After evicting the owners in 1942, the Germans transformed the charming three-story brick and timber beach house into a fortified observation post, compete with sandbags and machine gun nests. Packed with Wehrmacht troops, the structure became a key objective for the first wave of troops to hit Juno on June 6. In the opening minutes of the landings, soldiers of the Canadian Queen’s Own Rifles stormed the house under heavy fire, sending the overwhelmed defenders scurrying out the rear door. In fact, the Hoffer home would end up being the first building in France liberated by the Allies on D-Day. Since then, the family has turned the property into a living shrine to the people of Canada. Each year, the outside is draped with Maple Leaf flags while the gardens are adorned with Canadian Inuit stone markers called inukshuks and other symbols of the Great White North. If you happen to be visiting Bernières-sur-Mer on June 6, and if you’re Canadian (or can affect a passable accent, eh?) the Hoffers may just invite you in to take a look around.
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Omaha Beach
Of course, the bloodiest of the five Allied beaches was Omaha. The five-mile stretch of shore between Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes and Vierville-sur-Mer saw some of the heaviest fighting of D-Day as 43,000 American troops came ashore under withering fire. More than 2,000 of them became casualties, many in the opening minutes. The bluffs overlooking the landing zone near the town of Colleville-sur-Mer would be where those first to fall were buried. After the war, the entire site would be expanded and designated as the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. More than 9,000 U.S. servicemen would eventually be laid to rest there. Managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission, the 172-acre property was granted to the United States by the government of France. Its precision-manicured lawns, neat rows of polished marble headstones and permanent staff are all funded annually by the U.S. Congress. The site attracts approximately a million visitors annually, making it the most visited of all the two dozen military cemeteries in Normandy.
La Cambe German army cemetery and memorial
Although not as well known as the memorial at Omaha, the German cemetery at La Cambe has more than twice the graves as its American counterpart 10 miles away. Officially designated in 1961 and currently maintained by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge or German War Graves Commission, more than 21,000 German servicemen are buried there. The grounds are dotted with both flat grave markers and clusters of knee-high black basalt crosses. A conical burial mound containing the remains of more than 200 unknown soldiers commands the field. Among the more noteworthy tombstones is Michael Wittmann‘s, the legendary SS panzer ace who knocked out nearly 30 Allied tanks and armoured vehicles in just 15 minutes at Villers-Bocage on June 13, 1944. A visitor’s centre was recently erected outside the grounds, which features an exhibit showcasing German soldiers’ recollections of the battle for Normandy. A plaque at the gates proclaims: “It is a graveyard for soldiers not all of whom had chosen either the cause or the fight. They too have found rest in our soil of France.”
The Mulbery Harbour at Arromanches-les-Bains
Located at the centre of Gold Beach, the seaside town of Arromanches-les-Bains would play an outsized role in the Allied campaign in the days and weeks after June 6. Until a deep water port could be liberated, men, vehicles and supplies would pour into France there by way of a massive network of temporary floating piers anchored off shore. Assembled in secret in England and then floated across the channel, the barge-like segments of what would become known as Mulbery harbours would transform Arromanches-les-Bains overnight into one of the war’s busiest sea ports. More than 2.5 million men and 500,000 vehicles would eventually be offloaded at Arromanches. After the war, pieces of the installation were scuttled just offshore. The rusted out hulks are still visible to this day. Some can even be reached by foot at low tide. Also worth a look is the city’s beachside D-Day Museum.
Port-en-Bessin
Ten miles west of Arromanches-les-Bains lies Port-en-Bessin. Situated between Gold and Omaha beaches, Allied commanders selected the tiny fishing village as the temporary terminus of a cross-channel oil pipeline system codenamed PLUTO, which would supply the invasion army with precious fuel as it fought its way inland. The task of securing the town fell to Great Britain’s elite No. 47 (Royal Marines) Commando. After sustaining heavy losses coming ashore on June 6, the outfit set off overland to secure this new objective. At the crack of down on D-Plus One, the unit’s 328 marines struck the German defences from the rear. A furious battle ensued as the town and the bluffs overlooking the harbour became a killing ground. More than 130 commandos became casualties in the 24-hour clash. The marines finally secured the area just before dawn the following day, capturing 300 prisoners. No. 47 would later be heralded for performing what was described as “the most spectacular of all commando exploits” of Operation Overlord. “It is doubtful whether, in their long, distinguished history, the marines have ever achieved anything finer,” wrote Lieutenant-General Sir Brian G. Horrocks. Today, visitors to Port-en-Bessin can tour the site of the battle and then stop by for a drink at Le 47ème Brasserie, a waterfront bar and restaurant named in honour of the town’s liberators. For years, the remaining veterans of No. 47 have assembled there on the anniversary of D-Day to reminisce and hoist a glass to the memories of their fallen comrades. As their numbers dwindled, the marines’ children and grandchildren continued the tradition. They meet there still. So, if you are touring Normandy for the 75th anniversary, why not drop in for a pint and a story or two. Cheers!
MilitaryHistoryNow.com would like to thank the Liberation Route for making this story possible. In June of 2018, the Netherlands-based not-for-profit organization representing various World War Two battlefield landmarks, museums and tour operators, invited MHN to visit Normandy. For the past two years, the Liberation Route has been gearing up for #EuropeRemembers, a campaign marking the 75th anniversaries of the invasion of France and all of the events of the Second World War’s final climactic year. Other commemorations include the liberation of Paris, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. The campaign will run through 2020.
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