Our first stop of the day were the cliffs above the small town of Arromanches.
“This small town was ground zero for the D-Day invasion. Almost overnight, it sprouted the immense Port Winston, which gave the Allies a foothold in Normandy, allowing them to begin their victorious push to Berlin and end World war II.”
From up on the cliffs above the town we had a good view of the artificial harbor. “On June 7, 1944, 17 old ships crossed the English Channel under their own steam, and were sunk by their crews from bow to stern, forming the first shelter. Then, 115 football-field-size cement blocks (called Mulberries) were towed across the channel and sunk, creating a four-mile-long breakwater located a mile and a half offshore – a port the size of Dover, England. Finally, seven floating steel “pierheads” with extendable legs were set up; they were linked to shore by four mile-long floating roads made of concrete pontoons. Anti-aircraft guns were set up on the pontoons. Within six days of operational, 54,000 vehicles, 326,000 troops, and 110,000 tons of goods had been delivered. An Allied toehold on Normandy was secure. Eleven months later, Hitler was dead and the war was over.” (Rick Steves Germany)
The weather seemed to set the mood perfectly for our first view of the Normandy beaches. Overcast, a little foggy… very similar to what it looked like on the morning of the invasion. We walked along the cliffs, went inside the Arromanches 360 Degree theater and watched the film ‘The Price of Freedom’ and then wandered down closer to town and then back up.
No comments:
Post a Comment