By Jeff – Sept 12, 2011
Okay – when we left off, it was 1:00 a.m. and I was going to bed, so I could get up at 4:45 to get on the train for my tour of the Normandy Beach / D-Day museum area.
So – yes, I did manage to get up at 4:45 and be out of my hotel by 6:00. The 2 hour train ride to Caen was scheduled to leave the main train station (Gare Saint Lazare) at 7:05 a.m. We arrived in the city of Caen, were promptly picked up by our tour guides and taken to the D-Day museum.
The museum is quite spectacular. As you enter, the first two things you see are an English fighter plane that is hanging from the ceiling – it is facing right toward you. My first thought (after “whoa, cool”) was, “I’d hate to see that thing coming at me.” The other thing you see is an enlarged picture (like larger than life-size), taken from the inside of a landing craft (Higgins Boat) of soldiers exiting into the English Channel, to storm the Normandy coast. The picture’s caption says (in French, English and German), “On the 6th of June 1944, on the beaches of Normandy, over 10,000 young soldiers paid for our freedom.” Among its many displays, part of the exhibit talked about events starting in 1918 (just after WWI) that impacted Hitler’s rise to power. Interestingly, the museum did not shy away from anything. As an example – our tour guide was French and did not omit that the French made many errors in Hitler’s early years, turning their eye from some of his actions and choosing to do nothing – when doing something could’ve possibly prevented further actions (possibly including the invasion of their own country) from happening.
After touring the museum (which I will not cover all of it here, there would be too much to write. Please check out the pictures – they are captioned) – we got into mini-vans that took us along the north coast of France to see some German gun batteries, Gold and Juno Beaches, the American Cemetery at Normandy Beach, another German gun position and yes, Omaha Beach (the most famous of the landing sites). (by the way, this was a great way to take a tour – only 8 of us, plus the guide, in a mini-van rather than taking 30 people in a big bus where there is constant chatter)
To speak briefly on each portion – The 2 German gun batteries were interesting. It showed what the Allied soldiers (mostly American soldiers on this part of the beach) were up against. It also showed the living conditions of the “German” soldiers while in this area – and yuck, I wouldn’t want to live there. You’ll notice that I put German in quotes there. Something I didn’t know – 80% of the soldiers in the German army in the Normandy region we not actually German. Many were coerced into fighting for the German army (“fight for us or we kill your family”) – which would explain why, in some areas, they gave up without much of a fight. Why fight and die for a country that is forcing you to do their bidding?
The American Cemetery was quite moving. It covers 172 acres and contains the graves of 9387 of our military dead. Most were killed on the D-Day invasion, but there are a few others as well. For more information, visit their official site at: http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/no.php.
The 9387 grave markers are lined up in exactly straight rows both east/west, and north/south. It is amazing how much thought and effort went into creating the cemetery. For example – all of the grave stones face west – back to the USA. At the western end of the cemetery, a part of the wall is left open – this is to allow the souls of the soldiers to exit and go back home (west, to the USA). The northern side of the cemetery (closest to the English Channel) is slanted down towards the water. This gives the grave markers an appearance of coming up out of the water – as the soldiers came out of the water onto the land of France to liberate the country. Overall it is terribly moving. While I was there, all I could do was stand among the markers and say, “Thank you, guys. I know you can’t hear me – but thank you.”
As mentioned we also went to Omaha Beach. The main thing that struck me about Omaha Beach was that it is not the same as it is portrayed in the movies (Saving Private Ryan, for example). In the movies you are led to believe that 20 feet from the water is nothing but straight cliffs. Actually, the cliffs are about a quarter mile from the beach at low tide and many of the soldiers didn’t climb the cliffs, but rather attacked the Germans in the natural ravines that led to the hilltops. Now – that being said – the differences from film to real life do not make it any less imposing or less terrifying when you stop to think that thousands of German troops were firing at our soldiers as they landed on the beach. Oh – and yes, if we wanted to, we could go and dip our hands in the English Channel where our troops actually stood. Yes – I did walk the quarter mile to the water to dip my hand in the Channel.
The tour ended by taking us back to the Caen train station, for the 2 hour ride back to Paris. I left my hotel at 6:00 a.m. and got back at 11:00 p.m. It was a full day.
I will not say it was a fun day. Nor will I say it was awesome, as that implies fun – like, “the roller coaster was awesome.” It was an awe inspiring day. It gave me great respect for those who participated in the landing, and also for anyone who has seen combat. As I looked at the beaches and the ground that the troops had to cover – all while having gun-fire rain down on them – it became more awful than I could’ve previously imagined. It was a worthwhile trip and I so very glad that I went.
Now to packing up and getting ready to leave on Tuesday, the 13th.
That’s about it for Day #6. Sorry that this one was so lengthy.
JBD
No comments:
Post a Comment