Landing Beaches

Troops landing at Omaha Beach 6 June 1944	Omaha Beach today	Mulberry floating harbour at Arromanches 1944

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tranquil beaches of the Norman coastline made history on the morning of 6 June 1944. Chosen to be the theatre of the Allied landing that the Germans were expecting to take place in Pas-de-Calais, these beaches have carried the code names given to them by the allied command ever since : Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. The Battle of Normandy, which began on these beaches, ended the 21st of August with the encircling of the 7th German infantry. It cost the lives of over 29,000 American soldiers, more than 36,000 English and Canadians, 200,000 German soldiers, and 14,000 Norman civilians.

Perhaps the most famous of all is Omaha Beach, memorialised by the film Saving Private Ryan. Nearby is Point du Hoc - scene of some of the most ferocious fighting - whose huge shell crators and burnt out German bunkers are virtually unchanged since 1944.

At the pretty village of Arromanches the remains of the Mulberry floating harbour - built in England and ferried across the Channel - can still be seen.