Omaha Beach

Two thirds of the seaborne troops from the United States on D-Day were launched against a four-mile long beach overlooked by steep bluffs and blocked off at either end by limestone cliffs, the place they call ‘Bloody Omaha.’ The 29th Infantry Division and the 1st Infantry Division would be badly mauled in their assault; mined obstacles on the beach and mines in the bluffs, a shingle bank or sea wall to overcome, barbed wire, and concrete fortifications beyond. At its western end, the first wave was all but wiped out, and succeeding waves piled up on the sea wall, paralysed for a time.

Cimetiere Americain de Colleville-sur-Mer

Located in the heart of the D-Day Landing beaches, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer overlooks Omaha Beach. Not to be missed during your tour of the Normandy Landing beaches, the cemetery is home to the graves of 9,387 soldiers, fallen in combat, a chapel, a memorial and the Garden of the Missing.

Utah Beach

Utah Beach, the westernmost beach of the five landing areas of the Normandy Invasion of World War II. It was assaulted on June 6, 1944 (D-Day of the invasion), by elements of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division and was taken with relatively few casualties.

Sainte-Mere-Eglise

The liberation of Europe from German occupation began in spectacular fashion for the inhabitants of Sainte-Mère-Eglise. A misdrop brought paratroops raining down onto the village square, their chutes lit by the light of a house fire! Private John Steele would be the most famous of them all, left dangling from the pinnacle of the church tower.

Airborne Museum

The Airborne Museum first opened its doors back in 1962, in the centre of Sainte-Mère-Eglise. It takes visitors into the very heart of the fighting by the US paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions in the early hours of June 6th 1944. Unique of its kind in Europe, it features a life-sized scene depicting a stick of paratroopers belonging to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the US 101st Airborne Division enplaning at an English aerodrome in June 1944.

Mont-Saint-Michel

A magical island topped by a gravity-defying abbey, the Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay count among France’s most stunning sights. For centuries one of Europe’s major pilgrimage destinations, this holy island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as is its breathtaking bay.

Cimetiere Militaire Americain de Saint-James

The Brittany American Cemetery and Memorial in France covers 28 acres of rolling farm country near the eastern edge of Brittany and contains the remains of 4,404 of our war dead, most of whom lost their lives in the Normandy and Brittany Campaigns of 1944. Along the retaining wall of the memorial terrace are inscribed the names of 500 of the missing. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified. The gray granite memorial, containing the chapel as well as two large operations maps with narratives and flags of our military services, overlooks the burial area. Stained glass and sculpture embellish the structure. The cemetery is located on the site of the temporary American St. James Cemetery, established on August 4, 1944 by the U.S. Third Army. It marks the point where the American forces made their breakthrough from the hedgerow country of Normandy into the plains of Brittany during the offensive around Avranches, France.