Bayeux Day 1 (Part 4 for today)

After Utah Beach we drove through several small towns, stopping whenever there was anything interesting. In the town of St. Marie du Mont we saw another group of recreators camping around the town church. This was wear the 101st Airborne collected themselves after being scattered everywhere EXCEPT their drop zone!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next town we stopped in was Angoville-au-Plain. The church here is very small, and it's where two American medics treated both American and German wounded on D-Day and beyond (for 72 hours). They refused to neglect the German soldiers, saying that they were there to treat ALL wounded. The medics forced all the soldiers to leave their weapons outside the door and peaceful ruled the inside of the church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the church are several wooden pews that still have clearly visible blood stains from the wounded and dying soldiers. Also, there are new stained glass windows that honor the American medics and the paratroopers of the 101st. This was one of the most moving sights of the day. I'm so glad we stopped!

 

Tomorrow is June 6 - the 69th anniversary of D-Day! We're going to Omaha Beach, its museum, and the American Cemetery! There's a commemoration ceremony at the American Cemetery that we're going to attend, and later on we might go to a big town picnic on Omaha Beach itself. I can't wait! I've got lots of kleenex!

 

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Bayeux Day 1 (Part 3 for today)

Let me just say that we both had tears in our eyes pretty much all day today. Seeing all the veterans, the banners and flags, and the innumerable memorials dotted all over every town was pretty overwhelming! I'm so proud to be here and to be an American! This is more powerful than I ever could have imagined!

After St. Mere Eglise, we drove to Utah Beach and its museum. This museum is built inside a huge German bunker that was captured on D-Day.

 

The museum's very compelling displays focus on both the Germans who were defending the bunker and the Allies who fought nearby and captured it. In addition to the small personal displays of items both donated and recovered, there's a B-26 bomber in a hanger and a Higgins boat (landing craft).

 

Of course, Easy Company and the paratroopers played several starring roles in the exhibits. It was an informative and overwhelming experience to walk through all of the displays.

 

 

 

 

 

We walked out onto the beach and got lucky enough to be there at low tide and saw the beach just as the troops saw it on June 6, 1944. Up on the dunes there are several memorials that sit on top of smaller bunkers. In addition to the re-creators who were everywhere, we saw real soldiers, too. Dutch and German troops who came to learn about the historical site.

 

 

Watch Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan and imagine these beautiful beaches covered in hedgehogs, landing craft, wounded and dying soldiers, and the soldiers who were still alive racing up the beach to escape German machine gun fire.

Then in the next few days after D-Day, imagine these beaches covered in tanks, jeeps, and other kinds of supplies, ammunition, and equipment as the Allies prepared to press further inland. Awe inspiring!

This a shot from the beach back up toward the museum that's housed in the German bunker.

 

 

 

 

The pic. below is of one of the smaller bunkers and a memorial that's been built on top.

Next up will be my last post for the night - two churches in towns that were liberated by the Allies.

 

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Bayeux Day 1 (Part 2 for today)

After checking into the B&B, we took off in the car for the D-Day locations. First up was St. Mere Eglise. Here is the info on it during WWII. "On the night of June 5, 1944 parachutes were seen in the night sky and began landing in and around the town. It was the 82nd airborne division. The Germans opened fire and ordered the locals into their houses. The Austrians left and only a few Germans continued the fight. The town was taken by members of the 505th led by Lieutenant-Colonel Edward C. Krause. At 04:30 the stars and stripes were hoisted over the town and St Mere Eglise was on of the first towns to be liberated in France. The town was made famous by the paratrooper John Steel and by the film "The Longest Day". John Steel managed to land on the church and his chute caught on the steeple. He hung there while the fighting continued on the ground for two hours before being cut down by the Germans, taken prisoner and later released by the Americans. An effigy of John Steel is usually to be seen on the church. (See upper left of spire in picture to the right and below.) Inside the church there are two stained glass windows, one shows the Virgin Mary surrounded by paratroopers, the other shows St. Michael (patron saint of the paratroopers)."(http://www.normandy1944.org.uk/ste_mere_eglise.htm)

Here's the inside of the church. I couldn't get pics of the two paratrooper stained glass windows because the light was just too bright. But you can probably find pics of them online if you're interested.

 

 

 

There are LOTS of celebrations going on in all the little towns all over Normandy so there are military personnel (French, American, etc.), tanks, jeeps, etc. all over the place. Here's a Sherman tank rolling down a street in St. Mere Eglise in front of the Paratrooper Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a pic of a C-47 Dakota that carried the paratroopers across the English Channel and into Normandy (see the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers).

 

 

 

 

There are also WWII veterans all over the place in every town. This is a man we met in the Paratrooper Museum. Tammy is talking to him (and his daughter). He was a medic who took care of soldiers during the Normandy invasion. He said he saw some "incredible" things (meaning terrible).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pic to the right is of a Horsa Glider plane. Many of the 82nd Airborne paratroopers came in on these gliders. It looks like it's made of aluminum, but it's actually fabric stretched over a wooden or lightweight metal frame. It's amazing. We got to walk through it!

 

 

 

 

This is a re-creation group (not reenactment group) that set up next door to the museum. This is a very popular club or hobby in Europe. So we got to walk through authentic tents and see other gear and equipment! Very cool!

 

To the right is a memorial to honor American Major Dick Winters. (Again, watch or read Band of Brothers to learn more about how awesome he was!)

 

 

 

 

Next up is the Utah Beach Museum!

 

 

 

 

 

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Bayeux Day 1 (Part 1 for today)

This morning we left Caen and drove 40 minutes to our new base at Bayeux. We're staying here for four nights. We drove along little two lane roads that are only wide enough for one car. Whenever we met a car coming towards us, one of us had to pull over. Also the roads are often lined with tall hedgerows (like the Allies had to cross as they pished inland From the beaches). Theyre so tall and dense that it feels a bit like driving in a tunnel at times. And when there werent hedgerows we got to see mile after mile of pastures, cows, and beautiful old stone houses. And every village we passes through had a beautiful old stone church with a tall spire you could see from way down the road. Here are few scenic pics.

Can you tell cows were a common theme? I love all the white cows in Normandy. And they're always grazing in fields of yellow flowers!

 

 

Bayeux is the largest town closest to the D-Day landing beaches, and it was the first town liberated on D-Day +one. It also has the unique distinction of having never been bombed during the war. A local chaplain of Bayeux contacted London to let the Allies know that Bayeux was not a German headquarters and wasn't strategically important. So a scheduled bombing raid was canceled. Pretty amazing!

The town itself is absolutely amazing! I know I've said that so many times, but it's true. All the buildings are old stone ones, and the streets are so narrow you have to pull over onto the miniscule sidewalks to pass. Every single house and business in town looks like it has 500 years of history to it! Here are a few pics of the buildings around the Bed & Breakfast we're staying at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The B&B is a 17th century manor in the main part and a 15th century tower in the section where the three bedrooms are. Yes, we're staying in a tower! It's the tall stone part on the left. The wall is so high you can't really see how cool the manor really is, but it's beautiful!

 

This is the spiral staircase we have to climb to get to the room. It's three stories in total. The tower is 15th century, but the rooms have all been newly renovated in French country style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the right is the view from the bedroom window. It's of the twin spires of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux. It's as large as the more famous Notre-Dame in Paris.

 

 

 

 

 

Below is the little garden area of the B&B. It's very peaceful and quiet.

 

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