Normandy D-Day 2024 – Part 2 1

Day 3 and 4 – Barneville-Carteret

We were very lucky to get so close to the D-Day beaches for at least a couple of days and given that the official ceremony this year was at the American Cemetery / Omaha Beach and pretty much a “no go” zone for cars across a wide area it was always going to be difficult trying to move around in that area on D-Day itself.

And finding accommodation – well, reasonably priced anyway – was a tough ask anywhere within cooee of any of the main towns.

But leaving this part of Normandy, our first target today was planned to be a parachute drop at Azeville Battery – a field near an old German artillery post. We had been following various social media accounts detailing when the drops would happen however the information was constantly changing – and also weather dependent.

One thing we have found is that French planning is very disconnected and/or uncoordinated. The social media we have followed is generally based on information they have gleaned from past years and experiences or from contacts they have through other social media or official connections.

So when we first planned to see these parachute drops the “program” indicated they were scheduled for 11am with the drop area opening at 10am. Then that was changed to the first drop being at 1pm, so that was the target for our initial plan. At breakfast, Adrienne was checking the particular group she was following and it had suddenly now indicated the first drop was scheduled for 10am. Consequently we sped up our plans to get on the road to make sure we were there in plenty of time.

We had a drive of about an hour and all ran smoothly till we reached a back road leading to the parking area – some farmers field in the back of nowhere. We then came to a complete stop. From Google maps we knew we weren’t far from the carpark (field) but after waiting for 5 to 10 minutes, people in some of the cars started walking up the road ahead to see what was going on. After another 5 minutes or so the line started to move slowly and eventually we reached an intersection leading to the parking lot.

“Officially” there should have been no cars coming along that road from the right at this intersection as that road had supposedly been closed. Someone had forgotten to tell the cars ! Luckily, a couple of the people we had seen getting out of the cars ahead of us had taken it upon themselves to do “point duty” and were alternating cars from each road to get things moving.

We finally got parked and made it to the Battery area in plenty of time. What we had expected to be an open paddock around the battery as the drop area had actually been turned in to one area of food and merchandise stalls behind the battery museum which bordered a viewing area for the drop zone in the next field.

We picked out a spot and waited for the planes to arrive. Pretty much on time, 4 Douglas C-47’s arrived overhead and did a loop around the site. On the next loop around the first group of parachutes released and probably 20 or so came down in the fields around us.

As I said, either the language barrier or the lack of information, gave us (and others) little idea on what was going on and so we slowly started back toward the parking lot. We then realised the C-47’s were coming around again and sure enough another drop of parachutes appeared.

This time that was the end of this drop, although another was scheduled for later in the afternoon. So we started to leave and on our way we stopped in to one of the many “re-enactor” camps which have been setup around Normandy – this one called Camp US.
These camps are serious stuff. There are military vehicles and personnel with authentic WWII scenarios set up – hospital tents, camp sites, foxholes etc set up, with numerous people in authentic to the periodv”role play” costumes – soldiers, nurses, resistance fighters etc.

After strolling around here for a while, and taking in the nearby display of military vehicles we walked back to the car to move on. Even getting out of the carpark was a challenge but that was nothing to what ensued over the next half hour or more.
We were directed out of the carpark in the opposite direction to the way we had come in – which was obviously logical. However along one of these numerous narrow, winding basically single lane roads we eventually ran into cars trying to come the opposite direction . This and the fact that you were already dealing with cars parked on the side of the road and pedestrians and cyclists trying to move in either direction.

Escaping this first challenge to a more “major” road, Adrienne tried to navigate us cross country to our next stop in Carantan. We tried another D road – France is full of them, the equivalent of some small one way back street in Paddington but out in the country between hedges and farmlands – and we reached more cars parked on the roadside.

As I mentioned, French planning seems very disorganised and if it hadn’t been for Adrienne finding out the parachute drop had been moved from 1pm to 10am – which was originally 11am – we would have been trying to get into Azeville around this time as well. But the roads/access is just not able to deal with the numbers we have seen so parking lots fill up and there is nowhere else to go – so they just stop/park on the side of the road and walk. And in this case because they were obviously planning to stay near their cars and look at the sky for the parachutes. Unfortunately they were planning to see them at 1pm when it had already happened at 11am and not due again until at least 4pm – so they were likely standing there for hours not knowing what was going on !

Anyway, we struggled along to reach one crossroad only to be told by some of the pedestrians the road was closed ahead. We turned and headed the opposite direction but soon realised with the number of cars already parked on the side of the road and the flood of bikes and pedestrians on the roadway that wasn’t going to get us far. So we decided to go back the way we had come and deal with the challenges we had already maneuvered past – parked cars, pedestrians and cars trying to come the opposite direction. This we did eventually and with Adrienne’s navigation we took a more “main road” route toward Carantan.

Whilst there are gendarmes on bikes everywhere, unless it is a more “official function” it seems they have no interest in anything else other than riding fast in and out of the chaos, leaving it to the seemingly inexperienced volunteers, if there are any, or you sort it out yourself ! And there are very few indications where roads might be closed – it is just pot luck !

We eventually made it to the Normandy Victory Museum – which was surprisingly easy to get to – and thankfully it was a big place with lots of parking. We visited the museum and after had hot dogs at one of the food trucks outside. Again the area was full of military vehicles and many dressup / roll playing enthusiasts.

Finally as we made our way across country to our next couple of nights in Barneville-Carteret, we stopped into another small “camp” – the “Purple Heart Lane Camp” to have a look. Very small but full of autheticity – right down to the sound of machine guns and bombs exploding in the background.

With a way to go to our accommodation – and little chance of trying to get anywhere else with any success – we headed toward or stay for the next couple of nights. We are staying in a nice hotel across from the river in Barneville-Cartaret, called Les Ormes. Very comfortable with a lovely big garden in the back with tables and chairs to use. Only downside is no lift – so carting the luggage up two floors is fun ! We had expected a restaurant but the lovely lady on the desk advised they no longer ran it. However, she had a cook who did prepared meals we could order. When we told her we were from Australia she sort of adopted us as we were her first visitors from Australia. She was French however she had spent 21 years living in Bali – also spending 5 months obviously doing the “backpacker thing” between Sydney and Darwin.

Anyway, we sat in the garden enjoying drinks and then the dinner was very tasty – basically had the place to ourselves – and she gave us plenty of information about the local area. We were both pretty tired and had an early night as we had an early start next morning.

D- Day 2024 arrived and we had an early start to get to Utah Beach before dawn, knowing to expect, or at least planning for, traffic and parking chaos. It was not long after 4am when we left and we had about a 50 minute drive to get there. We got fairly close before the traffic started to bank up and as cars in front were starting to jump into parking spots beside the road we decided to follow. It was pretty close to the beach at this stage so it was not much of a walk.

We walked past the main memorial area out onto Utah Beach. Here we were just before dawn, basically in the same spot 80 years on from one of the most historic events of the twentieth century, and it felt quite surreal. The crowd was swelling, many on the beach, some remaining on the higher sand dunes around the area where it was planned to have a small reenactment of troops landing on the beach at dawn. There were many re-enactors, so meticulously dressed in period uniforms and many just like us. It was so bizarre to see those dressed in US Army uniform with so many different accents – predominantly French but also Czech, British and even Germans !

A number of jeeps and military vehicles assembled on the beach nearby and the crowd continued to swell. Dawn came and you could just see and feel the assembled crowd gravitate toward the shoreline, all quiet and reflecting – how different to the atmosphere 80 years ago.

Shortly after the vehicles all started to move further along the beach. By instinct the crowd followed and we followed, and followed, and followed. We seemed to walk for ages, well past the expected time of the landing re-enactment. More jeeps, troop trucks, re-enactors and even current day army personnel continued coming on to the beach but all still going who knows where.

Eventually we decided that there was no sign of an end to where we were headed and at this point, with daylight well and truely upon us, there just wouldn’t be a “dawn landing” re-enactment. And we wanted to be ahead of the crowds getting to St Mere-Eglise, our next target. So we started back along the beach to our car. We walked past streams of people still coming along the beach and in some ways the confusion and lack of information was not that dissimilar to 80 years ago !

We made it back to the car and there were still people heading toward Utah Beach. As we drove out there at least seemed to be some gendarme along the road and they only appeared to be letting in “official” vehicles. But the parked cars stretched on for miles !

We made it to St Mere Eglise and parked in one of the main carpark areas – St Mere Eglise at least seemed to be a little organised for the crowd numbers expected. We were still very early probably around 8am by the time we got there – but the crowds were already coming in. We managed to find coffee and croissants for breakfast – and the little cafe was going flat out keeping up the demand !

In the centre of the square they had an area blocked off where they were doing live TV, with some re-enanctors and also interviewing what appeared to be some veterans. There was an elderly lady who did one interview, another elderly man – who also seemed to be wearing a suit from 1944 ! – and then later in the day other veterans, one Alan Shapiro stopped just nearby to us. From what I can find, he is 99 years old and is in France thanks to an association called “Veterans Back to Normandy” originally set up by a Normandy local. He and his wife are staying with a local family for a week – to visit memorial sites, interact with elderly people and schoolchildren, and of course attend D-Day celebrations.

We wandered around taking in the atmosphere – and the crowds continued to build. We had planned to see the Airborne Museum but the queues were a mile long when we arrived and only got longer during the day ! Luckily we had been there when we visited in 2011.

Not far from the town square was by far the largest “re-enactor camp” – Camp Geronimo. It too was very popular and we spent some time wandering around the various exhibitions – outposts, foxholes, weaponry, medic tents, communication posts and lots and lots of military vehicles, large and small.

After our early start it was still only late morning and we had been on the go so we sat in the square for a while just watching the various people coming and going – news people, many re-enactors (not just soldiers but civilians dressed in 1940’s clothes), tour groups and others just like us – there to take in the atmosphere. Many of the shops around the square were packed, any cafe or boulangerie had queues out the door and up the street, there was a section of food trucks getting busier and busier, some selling souveniers and a few dealing in memorabilia and costumes.

We decided we had seen everything we wanted to and with our chances of getting to another site nearby – with the traffic etc – we decided we would go further out on our way back to Barneville-Carteret. So we headed to Cherbourg. Although not a specific target itself on D-Day, Cherbourg itself was a primary target for the troops landing at Utah Beach as it was a deep water port and had been heavily fortified by the Germans. The US Army made their way there and attacked on 21 June and after firce fighting the Germans surrendered the port on 26 June. Having been flattened by bombing, the Allies took a month to de-mine the town and carry out repairs and from then until the end of the war it became the busiest port in the world.

There is a fortified castle on a hill overlooking the town dating back to the 10th century – unfortunately they close for a long lunch and it was closing time as we arrived. We instead headed into the town and found a cafe for lunch and walked around the harbour a little before starting back to Barneville-Carteret.

Back at our hotel we sat in the sunny garden again and had a drink then walked into town for dinner. Even from our hotel we occasionally had C-47’s flying past on their way somewhere !

We had heard the lady who checked us in talking about food trucks located via an entrance out the back of the hotel. So we thought we would try it out. And, yes, not far up the road was the “Terminus” located in the old railway station precinct. There were about 6 or so foodtruck options as well as a bar so we had tasty burgers and a couple of drinks for an easy dinner before walking back to our hotel.

Our visit to the 80th Anniversary D-Day celebrations has been such a remarkable experience – I didn’t really know what to expect however it has more than exceeded any expectations I may have had. It is just a humbling experience to witness not only these remaining veterans treated like royalty, themselves from average backgrounds and even in someways awestruck themselves by the experience, but also the passionate enthusiasm of all these re-enactors from so many countries coming together to keep their memory alive.

Some veterans seem to relish in it – at the Omaha Beach ceremony one of the US veterans, in a wheelchair, accosted every world leader as he was wheeleed along the front row. Others less so, one shook hands with those that offered but further along shouted with surprise ” hey, you’re Prince William” when he reached the future king in the line.

I would have to say that despite our enjoyment of our days in Normandy, for whatever reason the organisation let down the occasion. Whether it is logistics or unco-ordinated organisation we have experienced and heard numerous stories of poor planning which has resulted in delays and disappointments along the way. Early on, a band performance had to be cancelled in Arromanches after the scheduled start, with a large crowd waiting, because the performers were caught up in traffic elsewhere. Or, as we experienced, scheduled times and/or locations were changed with little notice or advice. And we have seen various social media posts about people being caught in locations for hours because roads have suddenly been closed or traffic was in gridlock.

I can’t thank Adrienne enough for all her organisation and planning, who took on my limited planning and research and came up with a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C which all proved invaluable and resulted in us pretty much covering everything we had hoped to see.

It has been truly a memorable few days !