Christmas in Northern France
We had decided to go back to France for Christmas but due to work commitments we could only set off on Boxing Day set to return on Sunday 30th in time to go back to work again.
We set off to catch the Euro Tunnel and as is usual arrived too early, all was not lost as we were offered an earlier train and so arrived in France a whole hour earlier than expected.
We drove across France with a choice of aires in Normandy and as is becoming so normal for us our first choice was full to busting! so enter plan “B”, again!
We know now to have options in place when hunting down places to stay but we did not count on camping in what looked like a sheltered housing complex at Argences, but as the day was drawing to a close we decided that this would do and planned an early start heading for one of the Second World War Normandy landing beaches.
Next morning we set off for Utah Beach the Americans main and most Westerly landing place during operation Overlord June 1944. The beach is notably quiet but scenes from Saving Private Ryan are easy to imagine, small remnants of the fortifications and obstacles are on show at the museum atop the sand dunes that border the beach for what appears to be miles.
The museum houses many artefacts but is crammed with historical facts documenting acts of individual bravery as well as that determined force to succeed in the liberation of France and Europe. I enjoyed the time we spent silently wandering from room to room soaking in the enormity of what was achieved by these young men, it was hard to not be moved by their sacrifice and triumph alike.
The trench and fortifications on top of the sand dunes gave the German army a commanding position, you can only guess what it must have been like once free of the landing craft, wading through the waves onto the beach and onward towards the relentless hail of bullets pouring down from the well prepared and substantial German positions.
An American B26 Marauder bomber sports the white and black banding applied to all allied aircraft to help identify friendly as opposed to foe, the assaulting forces would only have seconds to decide if the aircraft were allied or not.
This particular aircraft sports the mission tally identified by the yellow bombs painted under the cockpit side window, a busy little airplane.
This section of the museum not only houses the bomber but also pays tribute to the engineers who moved in to create landing strips from nothing to help support the advancing forces as they drove to liberate villages, towns and cities held in occupation for years.