Day 7 would take us to Normandy, France. Everyone, especially Zach was excited to see where the Invasion of Normandy happened in 1944 during World War II. The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion and establishment of Allied forces in Normandy, France, during Operation Overload. It was the largest amphibious operation ever to take place. Allied land forces that saw combat in Normandy on June 6, 1944 came from Canada, the Free French Forces, the United Kingdom and the United States. In the weeks following the invasion, Polish forces also participated, as well as contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece and the Netherlands.
Point Du Hoc
The path leading out to the cliffs.
As you walk along the path you can see these huge craters in the earth where bombs were dropped.
The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks and naval bombardments. In the early morning, amphibious landings on five beaches codenamed Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah, and Sword began and during the evening the remaining elements of the parachute divisions landed. The "D-Day" forces deployed from bases along the south coast of England, the most important of these being Portsmouth.
The invasion fleet was drawn from eight different navies, comprising 6,939 vessels: 1,213 warships, 4,126 transport vessels (landing ships and landing craft) and 736 ancillary craft and 864 merchant vessels. By July 4, 1944, one million men had landed in Normandy.
Memorial Monument.
Trent took this picture of a group of British Army Cadets.
From Point Du Hoc we visited the US Military Cemetery and Memorial Museum.
A map of all the attacks.
The cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion) and the English Channel. It covers 172 acres and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. Included are graves of Army Air Corps crews shot down over France as early as 1942. Only about 36% of those who died during this time are buried at this cemetery. The family made the ultimate decision of where their loved one would be buried.
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. son of President Theodore Roosevelt, Medal of Honor recipient is buried in this cemetery.
While we were at the cemetery a fighter jet flew overhead.
That black speck in the sky is the jet.
That black speck in the sky is the jet.
From the cemetery we went to the Memorial Museum.
Flags of Allied Forces
After the museum we visited Omaha Beach.
Tim and Trent getting their feet wet at Omaha Beach.
We had one more museum to tour. We were all pretty tired and hungry, but it was a really awesome experience seeing all we had.
Trent listening to the audio tour and looking very tired.
After touring the last museum we went back to our hotel in Bayeux for a short rest before dinner. We went into town and had dinner.
The streets of Bayeux.
Dinner!
Trent usually passed the time playing his DS or iPhone.
Day 7 was one of my favorite days. I am so glad that Trent got to see what our country stands for. We came to the aid of France and together with the allied forces fought and won against the evil that was Hitler and his army.
No comments:
Post a Comment