A busy day in France: Pegasus Bridge, Merville, Canadian Cemetery, and Arromanche

Hey guys! Hope all is going well back in the U.S. of A! We had a long day of being on the road to different places in France but it was really interesting and all in all, a good day. Another good day means a lot to write about so I'll get started:

Pegasus Bridge 

Our first visit was to Pegasus Bridge. It was one of two bridges on the Orne river that was tasked to the British 6th Airborne Division. These men were pulled in gliders to France where they were released to quietly fly over the Germans and land near the Bridges. The bridge was important to keep intact because if the the Germans blew the bridge there was no way for the reinforcements landing on the beach to get to them should the Germans counter attack. The British were very successful, catching the Germans completely by surprise and holding the bridge.

Because the symbol of the 6th Airborne was the Pegasus, the bridge was named after the unit and has held the name ever since. Veterans (only 3 remain living) of the division often return with their families to see the river and bridge again and many choose to have their ashes scattered over the bridge.

Our British tour guide at Pegasus Bridge (he knew his stuff and was cracking jokes about the French which made him a hit with our group right off)

Concrete bunker at Merville

 After the bridge, we left towards the coast to the little village of Merville. The Germans had a large system of heavy bunkers outside the town close to the canal (and well within range of the coast for the massive artillery the Germans had). In order to silence these guns, a British Airborne unit was sent dropped on the battery to take it by surprise.

One of the many German guns at Merville

 The bunkers were really neat to see. From the outside they look just like big mounds but underneath the grass and layers of thick concrete was a complex system with well armed soldiers which could deal death to Allied soldiers and ships in the area. One of the bunkers had a reenactment of the British clearing out the Germans. They had lights, smoke, and recorded explosions, gunshots, and voices playing (which in the dark bunker sounded like absolute chaos).

Our next stop was a more somber one. We left Merville to the Canadian cemetery.

Rather than be associated in with the British (like they had in WWI), the Canadians wanted a separate cemetery to honor the sacrifice that their young men made on D-Day. The cemetery is bordered by trees, surrounded by wheat fields, making it a very peaceful memorial. Unlike the British and American cemeteries, the Canadian graves are much more individualistic: They all have a Canadian maple leaf (which by the way there are Maple trees planted around the cemetery) state the man's name, rank, unit, age when he died (date when he died). The last part, which I found really neat, is that the commission in charge of the cemetery allowed for the families of the men to have a message placed on the tombstone. Bible verses (John 15:13), prayers, final wishes of love and respect were very common and made the graves personal to the men and their families.

The one below really stuck out to me:

It reads "In loving memory of our son, our only child. In God's keeping you safely lie"

Call me what you want, but reading this tombstone elicited a lot of emotion in me. It drives home just how costly war and the defense of liberty is. Freedom requires sacrifice and it is not just soldiers that give their all, but families giving their only child (who was a year younger than I am) so that others may live and enjoy freedom.

Sorry for the emotional stuff! After the cemetery we drove to the coastal town of Arromanche. I absolutely loved this town! Im not much of a coastal or beach person but this little town was amazing!

As for WWII history, Arromanche was extremely important to the D-Day invasion because it was the site chosen by the Allies for setting up the newly conceived artificial harbors. In order for the invasion to succeed, the Allies had to keep men, material, and supplies moving from the beach further into the country side. To do that, they needed harbors which all of the harbors in Normandy were heavily fortified by the Germans. Lacking a suitable port, the Allies decided they would just BUILD their own.

They only had a matter of days to design and create the many different components for a sea wall and artificial harbor to be constructed. But they did! And with Arromanche being lightly defended by the Germans the Allies set up the harbors, allowing for the invasion forces to continue their push into France.

Remnants of the harbor are still seen today. It was a massive engineering project undergone by American and British military Engineers

We left Arromanche to go further down the beach to another German battery. Unlike the ones at Merville, the bunkers and guns here were much larger (105mm) and closer to the coast. The barrels were so big I could have probably have fit the lower half of my leg down the barrel! Needless to say, these guns were a huge threat and were subject to heavy naval bombardment and aerial bombing. But the massive guns and bunker systems are still there, making it a really neat place to visit.

Some other facts from today:

Invasion Stipes: As seen on the plane to the left, all Allied aircraft in the invasion had to have the black and white invasion stripes painted on them. This was to avoid a repeat of friendly fire the Allies experienced during the invasion of Sicily.

Because German aerial recon was active to spot invasion craft, the Allies couldn't paint the stripes until the day before the invasion. Considering that the Allies had the largest fleet of aircraft ever assembled for the invasion (11,590 planes) this was no easy task and required 97 tons of paint to accomplish. But they pulled it off!

The Piper at the Bridge: The Lieutenant General of the British forces landing on Sword beach 

(which would relieve the 6th Airborne at Pegasus Bridge) marched with his personal

bagpiper, a Scottish Sergeant. He played all the way from Sword Beach to Pegasus Bridge, his bagpipes being heard from miles away. This scene is popularized in the film "The Longest Day". These are the same pipes that are below.

Well, that about covers today!