Normandy - Day One

[smallhobbit]

Last week we were on a coach tour of the D-Day landing sites and the further battles which happened.  This is not a historical description, there are plenty of books which can do that, but photos I took at the time which spoke to me.

We began at the Pegasus Bridge, which was captured by men landing in gliders:



Not gliders as I imagined - these took 30 men plus pilot.

 

Inevitably there was loss of life - hence the memorial:



From there we went to the first of the beaches, Sword, with a memorial to the Norwegian sailors who were present:

 

The next beach is Juno, where the Canadians landed:



This is a German gun emplacement



On Gold, the second of the British beaches:

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Looks like you had a lovely time! Nice photos!

[smallhobbit]

I had a really good time, very tiring but so worthwhile.

[friendofthejabberwock]

Thanks for sharing the photos! And wow, that is an unexpectedly large glider.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. Yes, it really helped to see the glider. It all makes so much sense now.

[adafrog]

Thanks.

[smallhobbit]

It was very interesting.

[margaret_r]

Very sad memorials but an eye opener to see such an historical area. Lovely photos.

[smallhobbit]

Indeed. But it really helped seeing the region and getting a better feel for what happened.

[rusty_armour]

Oh, wow! What a fabulous coach tour! You got to see some pretty amazing historical sights. Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos with us!

[smallhobbit]

It was really good - I experienced so much.

[debriswoman]

Sad but fascinating:-)

[smallhobbit]

That's just how I felt.