Bayeux - Utah Beach

We got up and had breakfast at the hotel. We had to be at the tour meeting point before 8:30, so it was easiest because we weren't familiar with the town yet. Our guide showed up on time, and we were off. We did the 2 day American Experience tour (American beaches) using Battlebus. They got good reviews, and we were lucky to get on since it is 8 people per group. Our guide, Jules, was a Brit from Brighton and was very passionate about WWII history and the events that happened in Normandy. The other 6 people on the tour were Americans that had a lot of years on us, but they were very nice and knowledgeable about history. They were a good group!

Here are Aaron and I on the bus. Nice photo, right?
This was our fist stop at a memorial to the Battle de la Fiere where paratrooper units fought. They were trying to secure this bridge as it was a pass through which was important because the Germans had flooded the lowlands in the area. The air drop was a bit of a disaster as they missed the target zone because of weather, but the Americans were eventually successful in capturing and securing the bridge. Here is Aaron with the bridge. (Aaron Note - Securing this bridge is the event shown in the final scene of Saving Private Ryan. As you can see, the village around the bridge in the movie was a Hollywoodism)
And me with the monument to the battle fought here.


This picture was taken in a church yard in the town nearby (you can see it if you look closely in the picture with Aaron). The metal bars are damaged from the war, and there is even a bullet still lodged in one of the posts.
We also visited Sainte-Mere-Eglise. We heard the story of John Steele and another soldier who parachuted into the town and landed with their parachutes stuck on the church. Here I am with the church in the background. Yeah, totally touristy. They have a soldier hanging up there, although it isn't in the correct place on the church.
There is also a museum in that town for the American airborne units. Here we are with the plane used to drop the paratroopers.
Me with a tank in the museum courtyard.
We made a stop to see the hedge rows that run through the Normandy area. These were difficult for the allies to deal with when trying to push through because they are earth walls about 10 feet deep in places (and tall as you can see). They were built by vikings long before the world wars to protect crops. When the allies would go through with modified tanks bulldozing the hedgerows, it was obvious where they were coming from, and the Germans could easily kill the equipment and people coming through the hole. The Americans had intelligence about these but didn't plan for the difficulty of getting through. They were a big problem in all of the operations in this area.
Next we went to Utah beach and got an explanation of the events there. The Americans had a lot of luck at this beach and had few casualties. They actually landed at the wrong point on the beach, but it was good because they landed at the least defended point on the beach, and it was fortunate because the Americans were able to get up the beach and secure the areas and roads inland for more troops and equipment to come inland. As Jules told us countless times, Utah and Omaha were completely different stories. Utah was not a bloodbath for the Americans landing there.

Me inside a machine gun station inside the museum at Utah Beach.
Aaron with Utah beach behind him. You will see in the pictures that follow the size of these beaches. They were really massive and of course, booby trapped with mines and structures designed to rip holes in boats.
Aaron with one of the guns.
Me at Utah beach.
This is inside a bunker with a hole for some sort of gun (I don't remember which...should have carried a notebook). The number above the hole is the range (meters). You can see out onto the beach and water where they would have been shooting. In the upper left there are white marks which are a kill count. Sometimes it was a little overwhelming with all the bad things that happened, but we were so glad we visited. It was very interesting.
Our group walking along the edge of the beach towards some of the other bunkers along the beach. Each beach had a series of defensive bunkers for guns, barracks, communications and everything else. It was interesting to see how much effort the Germans put into defending the area.
This is Aaron taking pictures of the rest of us.
Me below a bunker.
Here is Aaron inside a bunker for a large gun. You can see the German writing from WWII. Roughly translated, it reads something like "Always ready to fire"
Aaron on top of a machine gun bunker.
We also stopped at a church in Angoville au Plain. This was the highlight of this day. A company of paratroopers landed in the area to fight, and the two medics for the unit (with only 1 week of training for one and 1 day for the other) used the church for the hospital. They used it even as the church was retaken intermittently by the Germans. The one did the treatments while the other went out into the battlefield and retrieve 80 men and 1 child. During the time, the windows were being shattered and the church was being hit. It was amazing that they lived through it all, and they only lost 2 men that they brought in. It really was a great story, and you could feel how special that place was. Here are two of the stained glass windows that they have replaced in the church. The medics names can be seen on the bottom of the first.
Here I am signing the guest book at the church. I need to reread the pamphlet that we got there...it was such a neat place and a great bonus stop.
Our last stop was at this chateau where German officers were living. Two paratroopers took out all the officers in this chateau during the night. We didn't get to go in because of a party, but it was an interesting stop anyway.
We enjoyed the first day of our tour. We got back around 6 and had dinner at Le Petit Normande. They had a good value for the menus of the day. I had french onion soup, steak with sauce, and a caramel sundae for dessert. Aaron had bread with ham and smelly cheese, some sort of steak, and the same dessert. We had a bottle of Lussac-Saint-Emilion from 2002. It was an excellent choice by Aaron, of course. After dinner we went back to the room and fell asleep instantly. I was so tired!

May 4, 2008, Bayeux and Utah Beach, France