Normandy (part 3)

The Beaches

Days 3 & 4:  This link to still photographs taken on D-day will give a very different perspective of these beaches. The map below shows the five beaches from west to east code named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.

Normandy beaches by code name and nationality

GOLD BEACH
Our hotel was in Arromanches-les-Bains, the site of Gold beach. It was also the location of one of two rapidly constructed harbors code named Mulberry A and B that were shipped in pieces across the English Channel a few days after D-day. Mulberry A was constructed at Omaha beach, but was destroyed by a storm a few weeks later. Mulberry B, later named Port Winston, was constructed at Gold beach where we stayed. Port Winston lasted eight months, landing 2.5 million soldiers, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of supplies. The port was constructed from 600,000 tons of concrete and 10 miles of floating roadways to get soldiers and supplies to the beach from the docked ships. Numerous remnants of the dock can be seen near the beach to this day. Pictures of this beach can be seen below and on the earlier post Normandy (part 2).

The remnants of Mulberry B (Port Winston)

OMAHA BEACH
The heaviest losses of life were sustained at Omaha. Of the 43,250 US infantry, there were 10,000 casualties. The Germans with 7,800 infantry sustained 4,200 casualties. Due to heavy seas, little went as planned for the Americans. Most of the German effort was intended to make the beach impenetrable. German defenses were weaker inland. Pre-landing Naval bombardment intended to clear the coastal German defenses was inaccurate due to the weather and the rough seas. The American engineers struggled under heavy machine gun, mortar fire and shelling to clear beach obstacles and mines. Much of the heavy equipment never made it to shore. Despite all the detailed planning, most of the assaults at Omaha were improvised.

Then

Now

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha beach. It covers 172 acres.  9,387 American dead are buried on the grounds.There is a Memorial with the names of 1,557 Americans who lost their lives who could not be located or identified.

Here are some of my photographs of Omaha beach, cemetery and the museums:

Anne-Laure sculpture Les Braves
Omaha beach

UTAH BEACH
Utah was the most westerly of the five code named beaches. Like Omaha, the US led the invasion. Loss of life for the Americans was lower at Utah than at Omaha. The 4th Army Infantry, consisting of 21,000 soldiers, suffered a loss of 197 men. The 14,000 men of the airborne division that landed further inland did not fare as well with losses of 2,500.

Here are some of my pictures from Utah:

 Time did not permit our exploration of Juno and Sword. The invasion at Juno was led by the Canadians. The invasion at Sword was led by the British.