Another great day of sightseeing. We started by going to Arromanches to look at the remnants of the Mulberry Dock System Harbor. Part of the Normandy invasion planning was the design and construction of concrete dock segments that would float from England to France and then be flooded to settle on the bottom to form unloading docks. Segments of the docks are still in place place after 75 years. The amount of planning that must have taken place for the invasion is hard to imagine.
Sections of the Mulberry dock system.
More docks. That is the village of Arromanches on the left down by the water.
At the Arromanches overlook. That is a pre-built bridge segment in the background.
We then headed to some nearby German artillery bunkers used for defense against ships. And yes, it has been raining.
A couple of old German 88mm cannons that were part of the coastal defense to ward off an Allied invasion.
We then proceeded to the American Cemetery near Omaha Beach and spent considerable time learning about the cemetery and walking through it. It is a very somber place with strict rules. It takes a great deal of labor to maintain the cemetery and it was impressive. As with everywhere we go here in Normandy the sites are very busy. It could be because of the 75th anniversary of D-Day or maybe it is this busy all of the time. Here are photos from the cemetery.
The monument at the front of the gravesites. This has maps and info on the walls about the military units.
The ceiling above the small chapel.
The grave stones form extremely straight lines from every angle.
After leaving the cemetery we headed to find a restaurant and managed to locate one close to the Omaha Beach harbor. It was across from a WWII museum. They had a German 88 mm cannon and a US 155 mm cannon.
German 88mm gun. You read much about how big and lethal these were but it is small compared to the 155 mm below.
A really big US 155 mm gun.
After lunch we went to the harbor and took a look around at the monuments. Then it was down the steps onto the sand by the water. This was a very inspiring moment realizing that this was where Dad came to shore on D-Day. I then wrote in the sand “GUSTAV MORLOCK 907th GLIDER FAB” and took a picture. Others were doing the same.
I took a couple more pictures at the harbor site and then we moved on again.
Our last spot of the day was at Pointe du Hoc where a number of German anti-ship batteries were located. In movies I had seen German coast facilities with just a narrow gap in the wall for looking at the ocean for enemy ships. And today we saw it. This was a bucket list item.
Ships could be seen from inside but without great exposure. These cannon shelters were much more robust than the ones we saw earlier. This is the shoreline view from the gun shelter.
We now headed back to our hotel in Bayeux followed by supper. We shall see what tomorrow brings.
Bryan
In Our Father's Footsteps 