Welcome back and my apologies for the lack of recent posts. It would seem that spending the last 2 1/2 years living in the states has adversely affected my travelling. Nevertheless, back to it now with my first blog since returning to the UK.
Due to my propensity for putting things off, and our move back to the UK, this trip turned out to be a bit less organized than in the past. Instead of taking a ferry to Caen and Train to the areas of interest, my son, Travis, and I had to fly into Paris-CDG and drive the 320+ kilometers to our base in St-Lo. My lack of organization also meant that I really didn't have much planned other than showing up...thankfully, good friend, Frances Sherr-Davino was gracious enough to add us to her tour. The interesting thing is that Frances focuses on the 29th ID which is an entirely new facet of the invasion for me.
**note: It is amazing to me that I ended up joining the 29th ID Group. Here's why...the 29th ID was formed in 1941. It was, originally, made up of National guard soldiers. The first base for the 29th ID was at Ft Meade Maryland which is, eerily, about 10 miles from where I grew up! The unit trained and lived on a base that I spent many hours on during my younger years.
It is also worth noting that the unit suffered greatly during WW2. I have included the final casualty list below.
Casualties
- Total battle casualties: 20,620[17]
- Killed in action: 3,887[17]
- Wounded in action: 15,541[17]
- Missing in action: 347[17]
- Prisoner of war: 845[17]
The first full day in Normandy was the 6th. The day started very early with a trip to Dog sector of Omaha beach for a sunrise ceremony to commemorate the actions of the 116th regiment, 29th ID almost 75 years ago to the minute. With the sun rising over the beach, I can only image how different it was 75 years ago...
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| Omaha at sunrise |
Following the ceremony, we moved to the American cemetery in Colleville. It was here that we were introduced to the 29th ID veteran who we would be spending the next few days with, SSgt Leonard Jendra.
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| Myself and Leonard. |
Leonard is an amazing man, lots of energy for someone in their mid 90's and he speaks Czech and French!
Most of our day was spent at the cemetery being entertained by the 82nd AB choir and band and listening to speeches by President Macron of France and President Trump and running into the odd former politician.
However, you cannot forget the reason for being there. The 9000+ headstones always serves as reminders of those who made the ultimate sacrifice 75 years ago.
Following the ceremony we had the chance to mingle with the VIPs and delegates. This gave us the chance to meet the heroes of D-Day. Whenever I attend these types of events I always make it a goal to meet, shake hands with and speak to as many vets as I possibly can. To a man, over the years, I have found the vets to be humble and gracious and honored to be treated like the heroes that they are.
Day 2 was independent touring around, mainly, the western portions of Normandy. We started off by driving to SME (St Mere Eglise) which is in the 82nd AB sector and is famous for the paratrooper hanging from the church (John Steele). Given that it was the 7th, it was still very busy with a lot of ceremonies taking place and more vets touring which allowed me a few more photo ops. :-)
Following our visit to SME we drove about a mile outside of town to La Fiere bridge (over the Merderet river) and drop zone. The area, still 82nd AB, is famous for the battle between the lead troops of the 325th GIR, the 82nd (In particular the 505th PIR) and the German 1057 and 91 Air landing regiments supported by the 100 Panzer Ausbildungs and Ersatz Abteilung. Arguably, if the bridge had fallen then the security of the beaches would have been in jeopardy. The battle is one of the bloodiest small unit battles in modern history and 150 paratroopers and glider men who died in the 24 hour battle are credited by many with saving D-Day. the phrase 'No better place to die' was a written response by 1st Lt John 'Red Dog' Dolan to one of his NCOs.
**Really looking forward to the upcoming Dale Dye movie about the battle!!**
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.
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 took the time to visit some of the many memorials at, and within a few miles of, the Utah museum. That includes those dedicated to US units such as the 90th Division as well as the often overlooked Free French under General Leclerc.
...leaving the beach area we took one of the famous causeways to head home. The causeways were among the main objectives of the 101st AB during the early hours of D-Day. The causeways needed to be secured to allow the US forces to make it off the beach. On the way home we took time to pay our respects at the memorial to the 101st AB pathfinders, the first US troops to hit Normandy on D-Day.
Day 3 saw us rejoin the 29th ID group for a trip to Brittany. Most visitors to Normandy visit the main sites along the beach, the Colleville's and Arromanches and either neglect or do not know that there is considerable history within an hour or so's drive from St-Lo. Our group visited St James American cemetery which contains the remains of over 4000 soldiers, sailor and airmen. Whilst smaller than Colleville, it is no less impressive.
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. :-)
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 funneling 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.
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.
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.
**Note: I would like to extend my thanks and sincere gratitude to Frances Sherr Devino and the 29th ID group for allowing us to join them on this trip. It would not have been anywhere the experience without you.
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