The Sands of Time: Normandy's Historic D-Day Shores
On the 80th anniversary od D-Day, there's still much to see and experience on the Normandy beaches that saw the tide of war turn in 1944.
Sarah Baxter - 21 May 2024
On a bright spring day, it’s a beguiling spot. Lush fields fall gently to a flaxen beach; the sea shimmers blue-green beyond; birds sing, breezes rustle the trees. But looks can be deceiving. Out in those waters lurk huge concrete hulks, half-sunk remnants of war. And, in the foreground, a temporary army of 1,475 has amassed.
The 80th anniversary of D-Day is approaching, and this week and next the TV schedules are packed with programmes documenting, dissecting, dramatising and remembering what remains the largest seaborne invasion in history.
On 6 June 1944 an estimated 156,000 Allied soldiers crossed the Channel, many landing on one of five beaches – Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah – along a 70km stretch of the Normandy coast. The scale, terror, tragedy and triumph of the operation beats anything that Hollywood could imagine – even Steven Spielberg’s 1998 movie Saving Private Ryan, which packed a pretty visceral punch. But visiting the British Normandy Memorial, close to the town of Ver-sur-Mer, overlooking Gold Beach, you can at least stand with the spirits of those who experienced it first-hand.
The Memorial only opened in 2021, a striking limestone colossus on which are recorded the names of the 22,442 soldiers who died under British command during the Battle of Normandy. This year, for the 80th commemorations, the hill in front of the monument has been enhanced by the powerful black-painted steel figures of the “For Your Tomorrow” installation (until 31 August; standingwithgiants.co.uk). To receive emails with our latest news and offers, visit radiotimes.com/email There is a silhouette for every serviceman under British command who died on D-Day itself; an ageless phalanx, briefly resurrected.
If Normandy’s salty gusts haven’t already brought a tear to your eye, this surely will. It’s impossible to visit this area and not be moved. It’s empirically beautiful, with soft-sand strands variously backed by elegant villas, bistros and boulangeries, carefree cycle paths and fields of waving wheat. But every inch also bears the scars of the Second World War: leftover tanks and bunkers, proud statues, plaques to the dead.
Image: Remains of the Mulberry harbour on the beach, Arromanches-les-Bains, Normandy, France
There are many fascinating museums, and all are hosting anniversary events. But they are also looking ahead. D-Day 80 is being seen as the end of an era and will likely be the last big anniversary any surviving veterans will be alive to attend. Going forward, commemorations will be about passing the baton to future generations, to ensure such horrors never happen again.
This is especially noticeable at the Juno Beach Centre (junobeach.org), built in Courseulles-sur-Mer behind the heavily defended stretch on which Canadian forces landed on D-Day. The mission of the centre is to pay tribute to the 45,000 Canadians who lost their lives during the Second World War, and to preserve their legacy through education and remembrance, so it has been designed with families in mind. Some of the concepts and stories told are specifically suited to children and teenagers: technology is used to create interactive and sensitively gamified exhibits, and tours of the well-preserved German bunkers are led by Canadian student guides – young people are learning from, and being inspired by, other young people.
There are numerous different ways to engage with the area’s heavy history. At “Bloody Omaha”, where the Americans suffered huge losses – nearly 2,500 men on D-Day alone – you can visit the vast hilltop cemetery (abmc.gov/normandy), with its rows upon rows upon rows of white crosses. And you can visit the Overlord Museum (overlordmuseum.com) for an excellent in-depth look at the Battle of Normandy.
But you can also join an electric fat-bike tour (velomaha.fr) to explore the full length of this enormous sweep of sand. The bikes’ thick tyres and powerful motors make light work of the beach – anyone from 14 to 80-plus can do it – while a local expert explains everything. You’ll receive a D-Day lesson, drawn with a stick in the sand, then visit sites such as the striking silver shards of Anilore Banon’s Les Braves memorial and the German Widerstandsnest 65 bunker, its anti-tank gun still corroding inside; you might even pedal past the wreck of an LCT (landing craft, tank), sometimes revealed by the shifting sands.
The most striking wrecks lie off the charming little town of Arromanches. It was here that the Allies built the temporary harbour of Mulberry B. From 6 June, its huge component parts were towed across the Channel at three miles per hour. By 18 June it was operational. By March 1945 it was closed. Now, bits and pieces lie marooned, some still big as apartment blocks, others rotten and crumbling. The Arromanches Museum (musee-arromanches.fr), founded in 1954, was the first ever D-Day museum along the coast; in 2023 it was totally rebuilt, doubling the space and better telling the Mulberry story. You can explore the exhibits, including a virtual reality map that explains how this astonishing harbour worked. Then walk outside: at low tide there are ruins exposed right on the beach – encrusted with seaweed, barnacles and 80 years of history.
Image: Memorial on Omaha Beach commemorating the D-Day battle
The 80th anniversary of D-Day is approaching, and this week and next the TV schedules are packed with programmes documenting, dissecting, dramatising and remembering what remains the largest seaborne invasion in history.
On 6 June 1944 an estimated 156,000 Allied soldiers crossed the Channel, many landing on one of five beaches – Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah – along a 70km stretch of the Normandy coast. The scale, terror, tragedy and triumph of the operation beats anything that Hollywood could imagine – even Steven Spielberg’s 1998 movie Saving Private Ryan, which packed a pretty visceral punch. But visiting the British Normandy Memorial, close to the town of Ver-sur-Mer, overlooking Gold Beach, you can at least stand with the spirits of those who experienced it first-hand.
The Memorial only opened in 2021, a striking limestone colossus on which are recorded the names of the 22,442 soldiers who died under British command during the Battle of Normandy. This year, for the 80th commemorations, the hill in front of the monument has been enhanced by the powerful black-painted steel figures of the “For Your Tomorrow” installation (until 31 August; standingwithgiants.co.uk). To receive emails with our latest news and offers, visit radiotimes.com/email There is a silhouette for every serviceman under British command who died on D-Day itself; an ageless phalanx, briefly resurrected.
If Normandy’s salty gusts haven’t already brought a tear to your eye, this surely will. It’s impossible to visit this area and not be moved. It’s empirically beautiful, with soft-sand strands variously backed by elegant villas, bistros and boulangeries, carefree cycle paths and fields of waving wheat. But every inch also bears the scars of the Second World War: leftover tanks and bunkers, proud statues, plaques to the dead.
Image: Remains of the Mulberry harbour on the beach, Arromanches-les-Bains, Normandy, France
There are many fascinating museums, and all are hosting anniversary events. But they are also looking ahead. D-Day 80 is being seen as the end of an era and will likely be the last big anniversary any surviving veterans will be alive to attend. Going forward, commemorations will be about passing the baton to future generations, to ensure such horrors never happen again.
This is especially noticeable at the Juno Beach Centre (junobeach.org), built in Courseulles-sur-Mer behind the heavily defended stretch on which Canadian forces landed on D-Day. The mission of the centre is to pay tribute to the 45,000 Canadians who lost their lives during the Second World War, and to preserve their legacy through education and remembrance, so it has been designed with families in mind. Some of the concepts and stories told are specifically suited to children and teenagers: technology is used to create interactive and sensitively gamified exhibits, and tours of the well-preserved German bunkers are led by Canadian student guides – young people are learning from, and being inspired by, other young people.
There are numerous different ways to engage with the area’s heavy history. At “Bloody Omaha”, where the Americans suffered huge losses – nearly 2,500 men on D-Day alone – you can visit the vast hilltop cemetery (abmc.gov/normandy), with its rows upon rows upon rows of white crosses. And you can visit the Overlord Museum (overlordmuseum.com) for an excellent in-depth look at the Battle of Normandy.
But you can also join an electric fat-bike tour (velomaha.fr) to explore the full length of this enormous sweep of sand. The bikes’ thick tyres and powerful motors make light work of the beach – anyone from 14 to 80-plus can do it – while a local expert explains everything. You’ll receive a D-Day lesson, drawn with a stick in the sand, then visit sites such as the striking silver shards of Anilore Banon’s Les Braves memorial and the German Widerstandsnest 65 bunker, its anti-tank gun still corroding inside; you might even pedal past the wreck of an LCT (landing craft, tank), sometimes revealed by the shifting sands.
The most striking wrecks lie off the charming little town of Arromanches. It was here that the Allies built the temporary harbour of Mulberry B. From 6 June, its huge component parts were towed across the Channel at three miles per hour. By 18 June it was operational. By March 1945 it was closed. Now, bits and pieces lie marooned, some still big as apartment blocks, others rotten and crumbling. The Arromanches Museum (musee-arromanches.fr), founded in 1954, was the first ever D-Day museum along the coast; in 2023 it was totally rebuilt, doubling the space and better telling the Mulberry story. You can explore the exhibits, including a virtual reality map that explains how this astonishing harbour worked. Then walk outside: at low tide there are ruins exposed right on the beach – encrusted with seaweed, barnacles and 80 years of history.
Image: Memorial on Omaha Beach commemorating the D-Day battle