Normandy D-Day 75th Anniversary: Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, Sainte-Mère-Église & American Cemetery

✍️Normandy D-Day 75th Anniversary Trip

Welcome back — and apologies for the lack of recent posts.

After spending the last couple of years living in the United States, my travelling has unfortunately taken a back seat. This trip marks my first major blog entry since returning to the UK.

This visit to Normandy, France, was particularly significant as it coincided with the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings — the Allied invasion of June 6th, 1944.

What made the experience even more poignant was the presence of surviving veterans. Their numbers are now very small, most being in their mid-90s, and it is increasingly likely that future commemorations will see very few — if any — D-Day veterans still able to attend.

✈️ Travel to Normandy – Flying into Paris CDG and Driving to St-Lô

In typical fashion, my planning left a lot to be desired.

Instead of taking the ferry to Caen and travelling by train, my son Travis and I ended up flying into Paris CDG and driving over 320km to our base in St-Lô.

I had very little organised beyond simply showing up.

Fortunately, a good friend, Frances Sherr-Davino, kindly added us to her tour. Frances focuses on the 29th Infantry Division, which gave me an entirely new perspective on the invasion.

🪖 Meeting the 29th Infantry Division – Personal Connections to WWII History

It’s still slightly surreal that I ended up joining a 29th ID group.

The division was formed in 1941 and originally consisted largely of National Guard soldiers. Their first base was Fort Meade, Maryland — about 10 miles from where I grew up.

It’s strange to think that I spent time around a place so closely tied to a unit that would go on to play such a major role in D-Day.

The cost of that role was significant:

• Total casualties: 20,620
• Killed in action: 3,887
• Wounded: 15,541
• Missing: 347
• POW: 845

🌅 Omaha Beach Sunrise Ceremony – D-Day Landing Commemorations

Our first full day (June 6th) started early — very early.

We headed to Dog Sector of Omaha Beach for a sunrise ceremony commemorating the actions of the 116th Regiment, 29th ID.

Standing there as the sun rose over the beach, it’s hard not to reflect on how different the scene would have been 75 years earlier.

Omaha at sunrise

⚰️ American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer – 9,000 Graves of the Fallen

From there, we moved to the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.

This is where we met the veteran we would spend time with over the coming days: SSgt Leonard Jendra.

Myself and Leonard.

Leonard is an amazing man, lots of energy for someone in their mid 90's and he speaks Czech and French!

Much of the day was spent at the cemetery:

• listening to speeches from President Macron and President Trump
• watching performances by the 82nd Airborne choir and band
• and, occasionally, spotting the odd politician

But it’s impossible to ignore the real reason for being there.

Over 9,000 headstones stretch across the cemetery — a constant reminder of the cost of that day.

One of the most meaningful parts of these events is the opportunity to meet veterans.

Whenever I attend, I try to shake as many hands and have as many conversations as possible.

Without exception, they are humble, gracious, and often slightly uncomfortable with being called heroes — despite clearly being exactly that.

🪂 Sainte-Mère-Église – 82nd Airborne Drop Zone and John Steele Memorial

Day 2 was more independent.

We started at Sainte-Mère-Église, in the 82nd Airborne sector — famous for the story of John Steele, the paratrooper caught on the church steeple.

Even a day after the anniversary, the town was still busy, with ongoing ceremonies and a number of veterans still present.

🌉 La Fière Bridge – 82nd Airborne and One of the Bloodiest Small Unit Battles

From there, we travelled just outside town to La Fière Bridge over the Merderet River.

This was the site of one of the most intense small-unit battles of the campaign.

Elements of the 82nd Airborne (including the 505th PIR and 325th GIR) fought against German units including the 91st Air Landing Division.

The importance of the bridge cannot be overstated — had it fallen, the security of the beach landings could have been compromised.

Around 150 paratroopers and glider troops died here in just 24 hours.

One quote from the battle has always stuck with me:

“No better place to die.”
— 1st Lt John “Red Dog” Dolan

**Really looking forward to the upcoming Dale Dye movie about the battle!!**

Movie trailer

The first picture following is the actual bridge at La Fiere...

The next photo is of the memorial to the 82nd and 325th soldiers who took part in the battle...

The last two pictures are of the chapel shown o the aerial view above and a memorial which is located 50 yards from the chapel next to the road.

Following our visit to La Fiere we drove NW to Utah beach, stopping to visit the Major Dick Winters leadership memorial. We also managed to visit the St Come Du Mont church (see previous blog post for more details and photos) before heading to the actual beach.

🌊 Utah Beach and the Atlantic Wall – The Western D-Day Landing Sector

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around the western portions of the D-Day areas. We drove north to the Utah Beach museum (See previous blog post for more details) then along the coast. It is amazing that, after 75 years, there are still significant remains of the 'Atlantic Wall' still visible and accessible. 

The sky was grey and ominous much as I would have imagined it to be 75 years ago.

We also visited several nearby memorials, including those dedicated to:

• US units such as the 90th Division
• the Free French forces under General Leclerc

🪖 Pathfinder Memorial and 101st Airborne Causeways

On the way back, we travelled via one of the famous causeways — key objectives for the 101st Airborne in the early hours of D-Day.

We stopped briefly at the Pathfinder memorial, marking the first US troops to land in Normandy.

🏛 St James Cemetery and Hill 203 – The Liberation of Vire

Rejoining the 29th ID group, we headed inland.

Many visitors focus only on the beaches, but there’s a huge amount of history within a short drive.

We visited St James American Cemetery, which contains over 4,000 graves. Smaller than Colleville, but no less moving. 

The group then had a quiet ceremony where Leonard laid flowers at the grave of a 29th ID MoH recipient.

After leaving St James the group travelled to Vire. The 29th ID fought in and around Vire towards the end of the Normandy Campaign (July-August). One of the key battles in the liberation of Vire was for Hill 203. The hill rises up from the river into the town and was the scene of intense fighting. The local mayor and politicians help a ceremony at the site of the battle where a memorial has been placed. The pictures below show the ceremony at the Hill 203 memorial and the view from the hill to the river which gives you an indication of the scale of the task.

I have included a map of the troop movements from mid July into August to give you an understanding of how massive the operation was and where Vire and the US 1st Army was as part of the big picture.

As usual, the French put on a fantastic effort for the vets and their families. The ceremony on Hill 203 was followed by a ceremony in the town itself, attended by close to a 1000 residents. The Mayor followed that up with a reception which included a significant amount of Calvados. :-)

⚔️ Falaise Pocket and Montormel Museum – Closing the Normandy Campaign

The final day of our long 75th anniversary of D-Day trip was centered around travelling back to Paris to fly home and get back to the realities of life. However, that didn't stop me from hitting another major area of interest. Although it is considered post Normandy and part of the breakout rather than the actual campaign it's still of such importance it deserves even a quick visit. I have included a map to show the shear scale of the operation which included American, British, Canadian and Polish troops.

What is important to note is that the terrain is key to this battle. The terrain, while not substantially high especially to the north contributed to funnelling the German 7th Army to the east. This combined with huge areas where there is very little in the way of cover meant that it was like shooting fish in a barrel. 

The following is a Wikipedia summary of the last part of the battle...

On 8 August, the Allied ground forces commander, General Bernard Montgomery, ordered the Allied armies to converge on the Falaise–Chambois area to envelop Army Group B, with the First US Army forming the southern arm, the British the base, and the Canadians the northern arm of the encirclement. The Germans began to withdraw on 17 August, and on 19 August the Allies linked up in Chambois. Gaps were forced in the Allied lines by German counter-attacks, the biggest being a corridor forced past the 1st Polish Armoured Division on Hill 262, a commanding position at the mouth of the pocket. By the evening of 21 August, the pocket had been sealed, with c. 50,000 Germans trapped inside. Many Germans escaped, but losses in men and equipment were huge. A few days later, the Allied Liberation of Paris was completed, and on 30 August the remnants of Army Group B retreated across the Seine, which ended Operation Overlord.

Museum Montormel

We had a few minutes, literally only 15, to walk through the museum. The museum itself is very small, bordering on tiny, but does give some perspective to the battle. Additionally, the views from the museum are stunning and you can imagine the carnage that took place there 75 years ago.

🧭 Final Thoughts

This was, without question, one of the most meaningful trips I’ve taken.

Even after multiple visits to Normandy, there is always something new to discover — new stories, new locations, and new people. All in all, this was a fantastic experience! I have been to Normandy many times and I am finding new things to see every time and I always meet some fantastic people.

❓ Question

For those interested in WWII history:

Would you focus on the beaches themselves, or spend more time exploring the lesser-known inland battle sites?

🙏 Acknowledgement

My sincere thanks to Frances Sherr-Davino and the 29th ID group for allowing us to join them. The experience wouldn’t have been the same without you.