D-Day, the Allied landing in Normandy in June 1944, is still one of the defining events of your vacation region today. Not only because there are numerous commemorative events and the D-Day Festival around June 6. No: history buffs make a pilgrimage to Lower Normandy all year round.
Some of them are young people who can no longer ask the war generation themselves what it was like in the famous battle. Others are still trying to find out about the whereabouts of lost relatives. Many of the fallen were only recovered years later and could not be identified. The countless "unknown soldier" gravestones speak eloquently about the fact that there are still families living with uncertainty and grief to this day. On the German side as well as on the Allied side. A vacation in Normandy is always a "live history lesson".
The D-Day around Picauville
The Kranich vacation home is located in the middle of a former battle zone. The Germans have set up their staff quarters with the 91st Airborne Infantry Division in Château Bernaville. Lieutenant General Falley, Major Bartuzat and Private Vogt were on their way to Rennes on the night of June 5 and 6. When they noticed the large numbers of airplanes populating the Norman sky, they immediately set off on their way back. At the mill estate near the Château, they meet the parachutist Malcolm D. Brannen and his group. The lieutenant general and the major are killed in the fighting.
Not all the men of the 2nd Battalion of the 508th Regiment of the 82nd US Airborne Division are able to bail out that night, as the German anti-aircraft fire takes the heavy Hercules C-47s under fire. As a result, only scattered troops landed in the swamps between Chef du Pont and Fière, which also had to be pulled back together. Lieutenant Colonel Shanley heads for a hill near the hamlet of Caponnet northwest of Chef-du-Pont. From the hill, he has a view of the marshes. He has gathered around 300 men around him. They come under fire from the 91st Airborne Infantry Division. Encircled on Hill 30, the paratroopers have to resist for three days against a superior enemy in order to hold this vital bridgehead on the Merderet River. They lack everything: food, water and ammunition. The situation of those trapped is desperate. It was not until June 10 that the 358th Regiment of the 90th US Infantry Division landed on Utah Beach and reached Picauville. The Germans are forced to retreat and the brave paratroopers can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
D-Day in Appeville
The events in Appeville, where our second vacation home, Maison des Lévriers, is located, were less dramatic. On the night of June 5-6, several paratroopers from the 101st Airborne landed. They had parachuted on the wrong side of the Douve and had to regroup to get to Liesville. The only way to get across the flooded marshes is by boat. The locals organize shuttles for the US soldiers. While transporting two wounded soldiers, a German patrol opens fire, one Frenchman loses his life in the attack, the others manage to escape. The soldiers are captured by the Germans.
Commemorate D-Day and experience history around your vacation homes in Normandy
Lucien Hasley in Port Filiolet, a short distance north of your vacation home Kranich, dealt very emphatically with the events surrounding June 6. Ten years old at the time, he experienced the occupation and liberation and was in the thick of the battle. He has processed his memories as a bas-relief on the wall of his house. The wall of remembrance shows parachutists and crashing planes, among other things. The names of the victims are also engraved on the stones.
We also recommend a visit to the German cemetery in Orglandes. 10,152 German soldiers are buried here, including many who died as prisoners of war while clearing mines. The Germans mentioned above, Lieutenant General Falley and Major Bartuzat, also found their final resting place here. The cemetery in Orglandes is only a few minutes' drive from Picauville in the direction of Saint Sauveur le Vicomte and is well signposted. (Dogs are not allowed in the cemetery). We also recommend that you visit the two very impressive cemeteries near Omaha Beach: The American one in Colleville and the German one in La Cambe.
One of the largest museums near your vacation homes in Normandy is the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mère-Église. It is open daily from May to August from 9 am to 7 pm, in April and September from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm and from October to March from 10 am to 6 pm. The museum is closed in December and January, with the exception of the French winter vacations (no dogs allowed).
A tour of the small town is also worthwhile: nowhere else will you find so many books and souvenirs relating to D-Day as in Sainte-Mère-Église. The paratrooper John Marvin Steele, who had the misfortune of getting stuck on the church tower, is commemorated in a special way. That is why a doll hangs there to this day.
Just a few kilometers further on is the Crisbecq battery. In this former German fortification, you can find out how the occupying forces lived on the Cotentin - and experienced the longest day. Open from 10 am to 6 pm in April, May, June, September, October and November and from 10 am to 7 pm in July and August. You can bring your dog here.
Sainte-Marie-du-Mont is the first village to be liberated by the American troops. It is worth a detour for its imposing church with its impressive church tower alone. Refresh yourself in the Bar du 6 Juin, which has a long tradition in the village and is now to be reopened. A young man from the village has taken over the bar and the Épicerie.
The D-Day Festival is held every year from the end of May to mid-June and combines commemoration, history and entertainment. The complete program in English and French is available on the website of the tourist offices in Sainte-Mère-Église and Bayeux. In 2020, however, most of the events have been canceled or postponed to the fall.
Text: Barbara Homolka /chiennormandie.de
Photos: Barbara Homolka & Tanja Kranich