Following on from visiting Pegasus Bridge and Merville Gun Battery, we visited all 5 D -Day beaches (codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword) over a period of 2 days from our base (holiday cottage) in village of Fontaine-Henry which was centrally located and quite near to Juno Beach.
This blog will look at the US led beach of Utah, one of the first of the Normandy beach landings according to the timelines.
Just to note – I am not a military historian, so this is a very brief outline to provide some context to anyone who wants to visit the area. The museums are quite comprehensive and go into more detail if you want to know more!
Date: Tuesday, 6 June 1944
Time: 03:00
What happened:
The enormous Allied naval armada, consisting of over 5,000 ships, assembled off the coast of Normandy. This fleet included warships, landing crafts, and support vessels… all ready for the assault.
Time: 05:00
What happened:
The Allied navy launched a massive bombardment of German positions along the Normandy coastline. This artillery fire aimed to destroy enemy fortifications and clear the way for the landing troops
Time: 06:30
What happened:
About 21 000 troops of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division came ashore at Utah Beach In reality the events resulting in the Utah beach landing started at about 01:30 with the arrival of the first Airborne units, parachuting into the area around Sainte Mere Eglise.
Places to visit today:
Near to Sainte-Marie-du-Mont is the Major Richard D Winters or Leadership Memorial. Major Winters or (Lt Winters on D-Day) led his men on a daring assault of a German artillery position at Brecourt Manor which was firing on the nearby Utah landing beach. He was one of the main characters depicted in the mini -series ‘Band of Brothers’, based on the book about 101st Airborne (Easy Company) by Stephen Ambrose.
In the town of Sainte Mere Eglise is the legacy of Private John Steele and the Parachute on the Church Steeple.
Steel’s parachute was caught on the steeple of the village church, leaving him hanging from its rooftop to witness the fighting below, He hung there for 2 hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later escaped from the Germans and rejoined his division.
Also in Sainte Mere Eglise, is the Airborne Museum – a very excellent museum but get there early as it gets very busy! Separate hangars deal with different aspects of the Airborne contribution to the war.
Utah Beach Museum – built on the spot where the US troops came ashore on D-Day, this museum is also very comprehensive and worth a visit.
Don’t miss the Utah Beach memorial and the café / restaurant named after Teddy Roosevelt Jr, son of the US president of the same name, who died shortly after the D Day landings, having successfully directed his troops of the Utah beach.
Next time, we’ll look at Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc.
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