75th anniversary of D-Day: Day 1- Utah Beach
At the southernmost end of Utah Beach, Ste Marie du Mont was one of the first areas to be assaulted by seaborne forces on D-Day.
Tom demonstrating “crickets”, clickers for the airborne troops. Control of this church switched hands several times throughout the night
The memorial, unveiled 68 years after Winters and fellow 101st Airborne Division troops jumped into Normandy to fight the Nazis and liberate France, depicts Winters leading his men into combat.
A statue and plaque in memory of the 800 Danish seamen who participated in the Normandy Landings. When Denmark was invaded and occupied by German forces on April 9th, 1940, thousands of Danish sailors and many Danish ships were cut off from their home ports.Many of these ships and sailors headed to Allied ports and entered service with the Allies. More than 30 Danish ships and over 800 Danish sailors were involved in the Normandy landings with at least 24 sailing under the Danish flag.
At KM post 0 - the start of Liberty Road, the commemorative way marking the route of the Allied forces from D-Day in June 1944. It starts in Sainte-Mère-Église and travels across Northern France to Metz and then northwards to end in Bastogne, on the border of Luxembourg and Belgium. At each of the 1,146 kilometres, there is a stone marker or 'Borne'.
With Dive Bomber at Utah Beach Museum
Group shot at Utah Beach
La Fiere Memorial Park was founded in order to pay tribute to the US Airborne Divisions who landed on D-Day. It is situated 4km west of Sainte-Mère l’Eglise, on the D15 and by the Pont de la Fière that spans the river Merderet. The causeway was strategically important. On June 6th, at daybreak, a company belonging to the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) as well as soldiers from the 507th and 508th regiments took the La Fière manor as well as the bridge over the Merderet river by storm. At the end of the afternoon, German forces, though backed up by tanks, failed to recapture the bridge.
To pay tribute to the numerous American paratroopers and infantry men who lost their lives in this area, a statute baptized ‘Iron Mike’ was erected. This statute is similar to the one which can be seen in Fort Bragg (USA) where the 82nd Airborne Division was – and still is - based. Every year, on June 6th, ceremonies and demonstration jumps are organized in the La Fière area.
Sweeping view from Fiere Bridge memorial
