O/T Normandy

[Led Zeppelin]

Last week-end, I was in Normandy with my Grand Parents. They are now more than 80 year old, they were both in Paris during the summer of 1944 but none of them ever visited the Normandy beaches. It was an emotional trip for all of us.


Bénouville (Pegasus Bridge, British paratroops)
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[Led Zeppelin]

The famous bocage

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[Led Zeppelin]

Arromanches (Gold Beach, British)
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[rocketred]

you lucky dog , id love if you ever do create a photo/ bucket love to see the historcial imaginery , how did you feel ,

[Led Zeppelin]

American war cemetry

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[Led Zeppelin]

Colleville-sur-Mer (Omaha beach, American)
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[Human Drone]

I cannot imagine what it would be like to be in Paris in 1944, much less to have had to storm those beaches! Better men than I have trod those shores, and we little realize that thanks we owe them.

Good pictures, sir, thank you.

[Led Zeppelin]

Pointe du Hoc (American Rangers)

The craters were really impressive, some of them were about 3 meters in depth! It is not possible to show this in a picture.

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[Led Zeppelin]

German war cemetry

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[Led Zeppelin]

Sainte-Mère-Eglise (American paratroops)


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[Led Zeppelin]

Mémorial de Caen

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[hairyspin]

Thanks for these LZ, it's a long time since I saw them myself. Some time I've got to take a camera to a certain spot and get some photos of original Mulberry Harbour components which didn't sail in '44 - they've been sitting there since and are mostly intact.

I still remember the German cemetery and one of the Pegasus Bridge veterans who's not with us any more. :salute:

[Led Zeppelin]

British war cemetry

There were also numerous German graves in this cemetry, only the British have accepted to have German soldiers in their own war cemetries.

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[Led Zeppelin]

Canadian war cemetry

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[Led Zeppelin]

Courseulles-sur-Mer (Juno beach, Canadian)

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[Led Zeppelin]

Longues-sur-Mer battery

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[rocketred]

wow.... speechless tks for the juno beach ,,,my late father in law was on it .... survived , died 10 years ago natural causes ....never wanted to speak of it .....after his death i got interested , hooked , better word on ww2 and this board

[Pat Pattle]

Great pics Loic. A memorable visit for you all.

Have never been their myself, have always wanted to go but never had the opportunity.

[BeauBrummie]

Thank you Loic, especially poignant as June 6th rapidly approaches!

[italflyer]

Very impressive pictures, thanks a lot Led!

[Led Zeppelin]

thanks all for your comments!

[gecko]

Very nice photos! One day I hope to pay those beaches a visit, must have been a moving experience...

[HouseHobbit]

Thanks for the Great shots..WOW!!:applause:

[Cuttles]

Is that an orinal glider that is preserved , or a mock-up?

[Led Zeppelin]

a mock-up scale 1, build from original plans.

From what I understood, there are only 3 surviving Horsa's:
- 1 complete in England
- 1, don't remember if it is a complete one or only remaining parts of it. Also, don't remember where it is.
- 1 fuselage section in quite bad condition preserved at the Pegasus Bridge museum (I didn't took any pictures). This one was never used in WWII, it was kept outside somewhere in England for a long time and this is the reason why it is in bad condition.

[gecko]

There is a Horsa undergoing a full restoration at the Silent Wings Museum in Lubbock, Texas. It's a good little museum documenting US glider operations in WWII located at what was once one of the main training locations for glider pilots. They also have a Waco and a C-47.

[Led Zeppelin]

ok so this must be the second Horsa.