While the D-Day beaches of&nbsp;Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword&nbsp;are marked into popular memory for their strategic importance and large loss of human lives, Normandy offers many other remembrance sites that are worth visiting to dive even more into the stories of the D-Day and the following Battle of Normandy. In the countryside, towns like Sainte-Mère-Église, and the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer offer a deeply immersive experience into the human stories of both soldiers and civilians who were tragically impacted by the fighting in the area.The Liberation Route Europe offers you various themed routes in the region, which are regularly enriched with new content and trails, from the local historical tours in the city centres of Caen and Le Havre to longer hikes, along the beautiful coast and the D-Day beaches.

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Normandy: Where WWII History Lives and Breathes

​​This themed walk takes in some of the key moments of D-Day, in and around the village of Sainte-Mere-Eglise. It starts at the townhall of the village and ends at the Memorial of Lieutenant Richard Winters.​The town was a key objective for the allies on D-Day, more so for the men of the US 82nd Airborne Division. It was crucial that the town was liberated and the key road junctions that ran through the town were secured. This in turn would allow a swift breakout from the area of Utah beach where the landings would come ashore during the morning.&nbsp;​The town would see action before the landings onto the beaches would begin. In the early hours of the morning, US paratroopers began to land in and around the town. This include the likes of Lieutenant Richard Winters who was portrayed in the series ‘Band of Brothers’ and Private John Steele who is said to have landed on top of the church which was made famous in the film ‘the Longest Day’.&nbsp;​Some American paratroopers would get caught up in trees and telephone wires, their feet never touched the ground before they were killed. Others would immediately engaged with the Germans as they looked to capture the town.&nbsp;​With all this taking place, the civilian story should not be forgotten within the village. In total 24 would be killed on 6 June. They are commemorated on the local town’s memorial as victims of war. Some are buried within the town’s cemetery. This includes the grave of the Viel family. Other civilians would be out in the streets as the paratroopers arrived, much to their surprise and excitement.&nbsp;​Within the centre of the town is the Airborne Museum that has a wealth of historical information, veterans accounts and artefacts. This helps visitors with the understanding and learning of what took place here from 6 June onwards as the American forces secured the Cotentin peninsula.​&nbsp;

France

Sainte-mère-Eglise

​​This themed walk takes you through the Normandy bocage (hedgerows) and fields, following the advance and bitter fighting that took place in this area. The walk then moves into the suburbs of the town before entering the built-up urban area.&nbsp;​The bocage has become synonymous with the Battle of Normandy. dating back centuries, these hedgerows had originally been placed to divide the fields by landowners. Over time, they have grown in places to be over 30ft high and over 6ft in depth. They would be used effectively by the Germans who tried to halt the American advance. In turn, the American soldiers had to adapt tactics in how to advance through this terrain.&nbsp;​The walk gives you the opportunity to walk through areas of dense bocage and gain an insight into these conditions. Large areas of countryside around Saint-Lo remain the same to this day.&nbsp;​The town had been heavily bombarded since 6 June 1944, D-Day. Civilian casualties were sustained and are honoured on memorials within the town. The bombardments on the town would continue until the liberation on 19 July 1944. By this time, almost all of it had been reduced to rubble and was uninhabitable. &nbsp;​This walk can be supplemented by a visit to the Musée du Bocage Normand, which will further add context to the intense fighting and battles that took place around and in the town of St Lo.​

Hedgerow hell in Saint-Lô

​​To support and sustain the landings in Normandy, logistical supplies would be key. The Mulberry artificial harbours would support this, but if possible, a deep-water port would further assist in the disembarkation of supplies.&nbsp;​The closest deep-water port to the five landing beaches that would be achievable to advance towards was that of Cherbourg on the northern coastline of the Cotentin peninsula. From 14 June, the US 9th &amp; 79th Infantry Divisions pushed north and towards the city. A siege would then ensue as the German forces looked to resist the American advance. They would also begin to destroy and scuttle the port facilities to deny their use to the allies.&nbsp;​General Von Schlieben surrendered the city and the remaining German forces on 26 June.&nbsp;​The walk takes the visitor into the story of the battle of Cherbourg with the Musée de la Libération. Around the area of the port and quays, numerous German defensive positions can still be located.&nbsp;​At the Cherbourg old Communal Cemetery, there are just over 700 burials. The British and Commonwealth burials number 86 graves, the majority from the 1940 period during the German advance and the fall of France. There is a large French plot containing men who died during the First World War.&nbsp;​Numerous memorials can be found that commemorate the battle of Normandy, those who resisted the German occupation, and the liberation by the Americans in June 1944.​&nbsp;

The siege of Cherbourg

​​This themed walk around the city takes in many different aspects of that period, from the occupation in 1940 to the liberation in July 1944 during the Battle of Normandy.&nbsp;​The impact of the occupation by German forces saw the deportation of Jewish residents as well as political prisoners. French resistance members would also be rounded up and transported off to camps, if they were not killed.&nbsp;​The city has changed since 6 June 1944, D-Day, with the Allied landings that came ashore in the region. Many of the buildings in the northern and eastern areas of the city were destroyed. Mainly during the pre-bombardment for Operation Charnwood on 7 July 1944. &nbsp;​Before this date, from 6 June onwards, the city would be shelled and bombed as the Allies looked to target the German forces. The highest number of Caen residents killed was on 6 June, during the pre-bombardment for Operation Overlord. The second largest number recorded was on 7 July.&nbsp;​It is estimated that during this period, up to 2,000 residents of Caen would be killed. Even after the battle of Normandy had concluded, a significant number of Caen residents would die of wounds as a result of the bombings. The last recorded death on 13 May 1945 was Robert Levivier, aged 16 years old.&nbsp;​The walk will take in several bomb damaged or repaired churches and significant buildings. Several exhibitions in the city can be taken in that will offer further information on the impact of war to the city. These can be found at Chateau Caen and Marie de Caen.&nbsp;​The city was eventually liberated on 19 July 1944 by Canadian forces that cleared the southern half of the city.&nbsp;​Many memorial plaques can be found around the city in different places. Some are hidden away in buildings down the side streets of the city.&nbsp;

Caen City Centre

The port city of Le Havre, following the occupation by Nazi Germany forces in 1940, would see its facilities used by the Kriegsmarine (German Navy).&nbsp;The Kreigsmarine from Le Havre would patrol the channel and lay mines to try and prevent the western allies from landing in the area of Normandy.&nbsp;Following the allied landings on 6 June 1944, D-Day, on 12 September it would become the final location in the region of Normandy to be liberated.&nbsp;The themed walk allows you to see the Port area where on the D-Day, German torpedo boats left and were able to sink HNoMS Svenner off Sword Beach.&nbsp;The liberation of the city is the focus with British forces moving in from the countryside towards the city. Breaching the German defensive lines as quickly as possible to try and secure a deep-water port. This would have assisted, logistically, the allies for movement of troops, supplies and vehicles as the frontline advanced west.The German forces however scuttled the port to make it inoperable for the allies, the ‘Festung’ order.

The impact of war on Le Havre

​​This area of the battlefield for Operation Overlord, which was undertaken on 6 June 1944, D-Day, would become an important part of the whole Normandy Campaign. It was the important left flank that had to be secured and held.&nbsp;​The area of the walk should have been secured and in Allied hands by the end of D-Day. However, this was not to be the case, and a static frontline would be formed from 6 June until 17 August 1944. It was on 17 August that the Allies would undertake Operation Paddle as they began to advance from the area of the Breville ridge, eastwards, as they pushed the German forces back towards the river Seine. &nbsp;​The northern area of the walk around Plage de la Redoute is filled with German concrete from the ‘Atlantic Wall’ defences in the area. This was given the name of Weiderstandnest (Resistance nest) 5 (WN05). This includes the observation post for Oberleutnant (Lieutenant) Raimund Steiner, the officer in charge of the Merville Gun Battery.&nbsp;​From the beach area and through the dunes, the walk passes by the German position of WN06. The walk heads into the village of Sallenelles, which was eventually liberated by the Belgian soldiers of Brigade Piron in August 1944.&nbsp;​The walk then starts to climb southwards along the Breville ridge, where the frontline was positioned. Units that held the line here included the Commandos of the 1st and 4th Special Service Brigade, British 6th Airborne Division, and 51st Highland Division. Many memorials can be found in the villages of Amfreville, Breville, and up to Chateau St Come. &nbsp;​Intense fighting took place day in and day out, with one of the largest battles on 12-13 June 1944. This would eventually see the liberation of Breville, which had become a ‘thorn in the side’ of the British 6th Airborne Division.​&nbsp;

Breville ridge

​​The 9th Parachute Battalion were allocated to parachute into Normandy on 6 June 1944, D-Day. They were to parachute into drop zone V which is close to the village of Varaville. From here around 600 men should have successfully drop in and then moved off from the drop zone rendezvous (RV) point towards the village of Gonneville-en-Auge.&nbsp;​Once in the village of Gonneville-en-Auge, Lieutenant Colonel Otway and his men formed up at the RV point. It was from this point once formed up they moved off towards the battery. He should have had 600 men, but at 02:45 he only had 150. The attack would have to go ahead regardless.&nbsp;​The attack was finally made from the direction of the south of the battery. This was across a mine field which Lieutenant Colonel Otway and his 150 men would need to cross.&nbsp;​This was completed and the attack went in with the 9th Parachute Battalion understrength and under resourced. With the attack being made on all four casemates, casualties started to amount. Lieutenant Colonel Otway was satisfied that in the short time of the attack, all four cannons had been destroyed by his men. They began to withdraw back out across the minefield. Lieutenant Colonel Otway by then only had 80 men who were fit and able to fight. Some of the severely wounded men were left at the battery inside the casemates for protection.&nbsp;​To the north of the battery was the observation post where the German Battery commander, Oberleutnant (Lieutenant) Raimund Steiner. He received telephone calls during the early hours of 6 June about the attacks. He called on other German artillery batteries to fire directly onto the Merville Battery. He eventually made his way from the area Merville-Franceville-Plage and head towards the battery.&nbsp;​This walk covers all three main areas of the story of the Merville Battery from the 6-7 June 1944. This includes a visit to the Merville Battery Museum.​&nbsp;

​​9th Parachute Battalion on D-Day​ 

While planning the invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord), the Allied Command considered it necessary to have deep-water ports to land reinforcements and logistical supplies to the continent.&nbsp;​However, the Canadian assault against Dieppe on 19 August 1942 had shown how thoroughly the German command had fortified the ports. They could not be captured without significant loss of lives, and in the process the port facilities would more than likely be busted and reduced to ruins.&nbsp;​The solution found by the Allied staff was to manufacture the components for two artificial ports in Britain, to be towed across the Channel and assembled on site. One of them was planned off the American sector of Omaha, (Vierville-sur-Mer), and was codenamed ‘Mulberry A’. The second, ‘Mulberry B’ was planned at Arromanches-les-Bains off Gold sector, a British landing zone. The villages needed to be secured on D-Day by units of the British 50th Infantry Division that landed to the east on Jig Sector, Gold Beach, around Asnelles.&nbsp;​The themed route starts with views across to the east on to Jig Sector. This position was referred to as Wiederstandnest 42 (WN42) which was a resistance nest that formed part of the ‘Atlantic Wall’ defence line. Along the walk you will pass through three individual WN positions and see the concrete casemates at points which formed part of the German defences against an Allied invasion.&nbsp;​Along the route you will see many memorials linked to the liberation of Arromanches-les-Bains and the construction of the Mulberry Harbour. These include the D-Day 75 Garden close to the 360 Cinema, a Sherman Tank, and several around the promenade area of the town.&nbsp;​The Arromanches 360 Cinema offers an immersive visitor experience bringing to life the archive footage captured during the battle of Normandy along with comparisons of today’s landscape.&nbsp;​The Musée du Débarquement, refurbished in 2023, tells the story of the Mulberry Harbour and the logistical feat that was undertaken by the Allies in 1944. Within the museum are many original artefacts. &nbsp;​The remains of the Mulberry Harbour are visible around the beach area and at sea. This is a lasting testament to the civilian engineers and designers who created the harbour.​&nbsp;

Arromanches-les-Bains & Mulberry Harbour

A fleet of over 6900 vessels was required to land the assault forces of more than 156000 men on five beaches, that received code names (from west to east) Utah and Omaha (U.S.), Gold (British), Juno (Canadian) and Sword (British). About 24000 airborne troops were also deployed in order to take control of strategic points and to prevent German attacks on the flanks of the assault forces ashore.Despite poor weather conditions and fierce resistance from German units the operations were successful. On the evening of 6 June 1944, the Allies had gained a foothold on all five beaches. The German defenders were uncertain how to respond. D-Day was mostly an Anglo-American effort: British, U.S. and Canadian troops made up most of the numbers, but no less than 17 Allied countries participated on the ground, the sea and in the air. The landings of 6 June 1944 entered history under the now legendary name of D-Day.<div data-youtube-video=""><iframe class="video" allowfullscreen="false" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Co1J6Yxof_0" start="0" width="640" height="480"></iframe></div>

Normandy: Where WWII History Lives and Breathes

Themed routes

Sainte-mère-Eglise

Hedgerow hell in Saint-Lô

The siege of Cherbourg

Caen City Centre

The impact of war on Le Havre

Breville ridge

9th Parachute Battalion on D-Day

Arromanches-les-Bains & Mulberry Harbour

Along the D-day beaches

Map

Normandy: Where WWII History Lives and Breathes

Themed routes

Sainte-mère-Eglise

Hedgerow hell in Saint-Lô

The siege of Cherbourg

Caen City Centre

The impact of war on Le Havre

Breville ridge

​​9th Parachute Battalion on D-Day​

Arromanches-les-Bains & Mulberry Harbour

Along the D-day beaches

Map

9th Parachute Battalion on D-Day