We hired a tour guide from the same company we used previously, Overlord Tours. Overload was the military name for the D-day invasion plan. We stopped at Omaha Beach where our guide Thiery explained the dynamics of the beach landings. Mike and I spent some time explaining too about the loss of life and the seemingly impossible odds that confronted the troops. The beach at Omaha is wide and it stretches out quite far when the tide is out. That's lots of exposed ground to cover when people are shooting machine guns at you.
Our next stop was the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. It's a sobering place with the rows upon rows of markers, and it's less than half of the Americans killed just at Omaha Beach. Amanda and Greg took their time and really felt the effect of the memorial.
We made a stop at the La Fiere bridge over the Merderet. One of my favorite places for the story of their fight to keep the bridge from the Germans.
We also saw the gun batteries at Longues-sur-Mer, and the village of Sainte Mere Eglise.
After a lunch break in the village, we went to Utah Beach and Pointe du Hoc.
Last stop was the tiny village of Angoville au Plain where two American medics worked tirelessly through a multi-day siege to treat wounded soldiers, including a couple of German soldiers. At one point, their position was overtaken by the Germans and the only reason the Germans let them stay and continue to care for the wounded was because they were also caring for German soldiers. At one point, a bombshell came right through the roof of the church but didn't explode. One of the medics had to pick out up and carry it outside. You can go into the little church and see the shellhole in the ceiling and the bloodstains that still remain on the pews.
See my blog post from September 2016 for more on these places.
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