Saving Private Ryan

Yes, we've moved on to Omaha beach after a lovely stop at Longues-sur-Mer. It's all of 15mins up the road! Shorter than the opening sequence to the above mentioned movie. We had to skip Port-en-Bessin as we couldn't find a park. We were shooed out of a carpark by a Frenchman, but I think he was warning us we could be fined rather than being an ass.

We started by looking around the US cemetery which was huge (now 9388 burials) and very sad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial  Unlike the CWGC cemeteries you aren't allowed to wander through the crosses, so some of the personal impact is lost. Whether this was normal I don't know.

Groundsmen  doing a great job

3 weeks and we've travelled just 153km as the crow flies (from the ferry)! 

We had lunch in the carpark then walked up to one of the several Omaha museums. It was seeded by a Frenchman who collected military vehicles from the 70s on. Several halftracks and a Loyd carrier he found being used as logging vehicles for example. A bit like the Italian bloke in Trieste. (Henry Diego? Something like that.) J sat outside for a while then walked back to Reggie. 

Look carefully - a Bailey Bridge (see below)

There's a string of these columns from here to Germany, marking the American's route. I picked it up in the Ardennes several years ago.

People are being good about wearing masks, but not about getting out of your shot.

I carried on down to a small private museum dedicated to the 1st US Division - the "Big Red 1". He was very enthusiastic and had gathered staff since he was a teenager.

Beach obstacle

We were aiming to park-up at the beach but when we arrived there were still a zillion people taking advantage of low tide and sunshine (it's ~30 C again) so no parks. We just went up and had an early dinner in the village so by the time we came down again it was pretty clear. We did get moved on (nicely) by a Frenchman, whose view (from his house) we were blocking. Fair enough.

Reggie hits the beach

Omaha beach at low tide

The cliffs behind Omaha beach that lead to the high US casualties here

A big red one

Remains of Mulberry A, the US portable harbour destroyed by the storm of 19-22 June. (Arromanche was Mulberry B and survived mostly intact.)

The only remaining block from the Mulberry, now a base for the pier.

One of the blockhouses at Vierville that dominated the beach west.

The other that dominated the beach east