Education & Reference Then and Now - D-Day Landing

[exe ex machina]

D-Day Landing Sites Then and Now: Normandy Beaches in 1944 and 70 Years Later

On June 6, 1944, Allied soldiers descended on the beaches of Normandy for D-Day, an operation that turned the tide of the Second World War against the Nazis, marking the beginning of the end of the conflict.

Today, as many around the world prepare to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the landings, pictures of tourists soaking up the sun on Normandy's beaches stand in stark contrast to images taken around the time of the invasion.

Reuters photographer Chris Helgren compiled archive pictures taken during the invasion and went back to the same places to photograph them as they appear today.

June 5, 1944: The 2nd Battalion US Army Rangers march to their landing craft in Weymouth, England. They were tasked with capturing the German heavy coastal defence battery at Pointe du Hoc to the west of the D-Day landing zone of Omaha BeachReuters

Tourists walk along the beach-front in the Dorset holiday town of Weymouth. The port was the departure point for thousands of Allied troops who took part in the D-Day landingsReuters

June 6, 1944: US reinforcements land on Omaha beach during the Normandy D-Day landings near Vierville sur Mer, FranceReuters

Holidaymakers enjoy the sunshine on the former D-Day landing zone of Omaha beach near Vierville sur Mer, FranceReuters

June 6, 1944: Members of an American landing party assist troops whose landing craft was sunk by enemy fire off Omaha beach, near Colleville sur Mer, FranceReuters

A tourist carries a bucket and spade to her child on the former D-Day landing zone of Omaha beach, near Colleville sur Mer, FranceReuters

June 6, 1944: US Army soldiers of the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, move out over the seawall on Utah Beach after coming ashore in front of a concrete wall near La Madeleine, FranceReuters

Children walk over the remains of a concrete wall on the former Utah Beach D-Day landing zone near La Madeleine, FranceReuters

June 6, 1944: A Cromwell tank leads a British Army column from the 4th County of London Yeomanry, 7th Armoured Division, after landing on Gold Beach on D-Day in Ver-sur-Mer, FranceReuters

A couple walk inland from the former D-Day landing zone of Gold Beach where British forces came ashore in 1944, in Ver-sur-Mer, FranceReuters

June 194: A crashed US fighter plane is seen on the waterfront some time after Canadian forces came ashore on a Juno Beach D-Day landing zone in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, FranceReuters

Tourists enjoy the sunshine on the former Juno Beach D-Day landing zone, where Canadian forces came ashore, in Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, FranceReuters

June 6, 1944: US Army troops make a battle plan in a farmyard amid cattle, killed by artillery bursts, near the D-Day landing zone of Utah Beach in Les Dunes de Varreville, FranceReuters

Farmer Raymond Bertot, who was 19 when allied troops came ashore in 1944, poses on his property near the former D-Day landing zone of Utah Beach in Les Dunes de Varreville, FranceReuters

June 7, 1944: US Army troops congregate around a signal post used by engineers on the site of a captured German bunker overlooking Omaha Beach after the D-Day landings near Saint Laurent sur MerReuters

Tourists walk past a former German bunker overlooking the D-Day landing zone on Omaha Beach near Saint Laurent sur Mer, FranceReuters

 

[exe ex machina]

June 18, 1944: US Army reinforcements march up a hill past a German bunker overlooking Omaha Beach after the D-Day landings near Colleville sur Mer, FranceReuters

Youths hike up a hill past an old German bunker overlooking the former D-Day landing zone of Omaha Beach near Colleville sur Mer, FranceReuters

June 8, 1944: A US flag lies as a marker on a destroyed bunker two days after the strategic site overlooking D-Day beaches was captured by US Army Rangers at Pointe du Hoc, FranceReuters

An Italian tourist views a bunker at a strategic site overlooking the D-Day beaches which had been captured by US Army Rangers at Pointe du Hoc, FranceReuters

July 1944: Canadian troops patrol along the destroyed Rue Saint-Pierre after German forces were dislodged from CaenReuters

Shoppers walk along the rebuilt Rue Saint-Pierre in Caen, which was destroyed following the D-Day landingsReuters

June 15, 1944: The body of a dead German soldier lies in the main square of Place Du Marche in Trevieres after the town was taken by US troops who landed at nearby Omaha BeachReuters

Tourists walk across the main square of Place Du Marche in Trevieres, near the former D-Day landing zone of Omaha BeachReuters

June 6, 1944: US Army paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division drive a captured German Kubelwagen at the junction of Rue Holgate and RN13 in Carentan, FranceReuters

Girls run across the street at the junction of Rue Holgate and RN13 in the Normandy town of Carentan, FranceReuters

June 6, 1944: German prisoners-of-war march along Juno Beach landing area to a ship taking them to England, after they were captured by Canadian troops at Bernieres Sur Mer, FranceReuters

A tourist sunbathes on a former Juno Beach landing area where Canadian troops came ashore on D-Day at Bernieres Sur Mer, FranceReuters

August 21, 1944: German prisoners of war captured after the D-Day landings in Normandy are guarded by US troops at a camp in Nonant-le-Pin, FranceReuters

A farm field remains where German prisoners of war were interned following the D-Day landings in Nonant-le-Pin, NormandyReuters

 

[Gough]

Great pictures. I have cousins in that part of the world, Varengville sur mer, proud Normans. They've taken me round some of the D-Day sights, and they're pretty evocative places. Ridiculous bravery by what were essentially a bunch of kids. So much respect.

 

[exe ex machina]

Great pictures. I have cousins in that part of the world, Varengville sur mer, proud Normans. They've taken me round some of the D-Day sights, and they're pretty evocative places. Ridiculous bravery by what were essentially a bunch of kids. So much respect.

It's also humbling to see a picture of a war-torn moment, and then seeing a picture of tourists gallivanting and cavorting about.

 

[BALKAN]

Very interesting post, thanks GG.
Insanely cool how so many buildings are the same.
Best one was the bloke who was 19 at the time. Can't imagine what it'd be like living through such a huge historical event.

 

[Gough]

Very interesting post, thanks GG.
Insanely cool how so many buildings are the same.
Best one was the bloke who was 19 at the time. Can't imagine what it'd be like living through such a huge historical event.

My old Gran said it was shit. War is hell she'd say. You'd probably have a bit more idea about this sort thing than most of us wouldn't you?

 

[Messenger]

On my last visit I checked out the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches.

 

[BALKAN]

My old Gran said it was shit. War is hell she'd say. You'd probably have a bit more idea about this sort thing than most of us wouldn't you?

Not really. I was a baby during the Yugoslav wars. My old man was in a concentration camp held by the Croats but he's never talked about it much. Likewise I never really grilled anyone over there about the war, especially since everywhere you go is still surrounded by the scars and after-effects.

 

[Gough]

Not really. I was a baby during the Yugoslav wars. My old man was in a concentration camp held by the Croats but he's never talked about it much. Likewise I never really grilled anyone over there about the war, especially since everywhere you go is still surrounded by the scars and after-effects.

Civil wars are f***ing god awful affairs. Having lived through two world wars my grandparents decided to move to Rhodesia where they promtly got caught up in the shit fight over there. A mate of mine served in that war too, the stories he tells are just terrible.

 

[Plugger35]

I completed the D-Day landing stage in Medal of Honor on my Playstation 2 after numerous tries so I can appreciate how tough it was.

In all seriousness though, the bravery of those guys to go in to a battle like that where there is a very good chance you'll be killed is beyond words.

We owe them a huge debt of gratitude like we do with the ANZACS in WW1, massive respect.

The French haven't forgotten the role Australia played in liberating France either, especially Northern France. Australians are very highly regarded there.

 

[BALKAN]

Relevant and interesting video. Recommend watching it. An Air Force pilot recounts his experience on D-day.

 

[bradrowe#32]

The French haven't forgotten the role Australia played in liberating France either, especially Northern France. Australians are very highly regarded there.

Especially at Villers-Bretonneux.

This is this school;

A mate went through there a few years back and was treated like absolute royalty.

 

[bradrowe#32]

And a very interesting OP too.

 

[rdhopkins2]

Very interesting OP. Hard to imagine the horrors of war compared to the free lives we (and tourists pictured) live today in previous war zones.

 

[Tulip]

The amount of blood spilled on that beach...

Something to be said for peace, isn't it.

 

[James_Blues]

Especially at Villers-Bretonneux.

This is this school;

A mate went through there a few years back and was treated like absolute royalty.

I was lucky enough to go there in 2011 with school on an ANZAC music trip to play at the ANZAC dawn service at the Australian war memorial there. The land there is incredible, and we spent an afternoon in Villers-Bretonneux and visited that school and took a photo in front of it. It was very strange seeing the impact Australians have had on the town, with Sherrin's in the window, and of course that big sign. A couple of the streets are named Rue Victoria or Rue de Melbourne and in the front yard of the town hall are these metal cut-out statues of kangaroos and koalas etc.

 

[Plugger35]

Especially at Villers-Bretonneux.

This is this school;

A mate went through there a few years back and was treated like absolute royalty.

France, Belgium and Turkey the ANZACs are revered as these mythological warriors.

It's so humbling but so heartbreaking at the same time, so many young guys lost their lives to forge the reputation we still have amongst these people.

It blows you away.

 

[Ed_Gein]

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left." - Bertrand Russell

 

[little graham]

D day was really novermber the 19th 1942. The invasion was over a river by the industrial city of Stalingrad. it came down to one thing. The Hungarian second army had been raised in 1942, had six weeks basic training before being sent to assist the German sixth army in its operations to cut ohf Russias oil supply. If it was a fully trained unit (or german) it probably would of held its line. Debate then becomes could the Germans handle shooting any more teenage girls in tanks, artillery and AA guns. How long before these teenage girls were combat soldiers? This had a massive effect on the soldiers.

Have a look at some of these numbers

In addition to combined-arms and tank armies, a number of separate tank, mechanized, and cavalry corps and brigades and separate units took part in the Soviet counteroffensive. In all there were more than 1 million troops, 13,500 guns and infantry mortars, more than 1,000 antiaircraft guns, 115 rocket artillery battalions, about 3000 tanks, and 1,115 aircraft. The main forces of Army Group B, which had operated in the Middle Don-Stalingrad region and areas to the south, included the Italian Eighth Army, Rumanian Third and Fourth armies, and German Sixth Army and Fourth Panzer Army. This grouping had more than 1 million troops, 675 tanks and assault guns, and more than 10,000 guns and infantry mortars. Army Group B was supported by the Fourth Air Fleet and the VIII Air Corps, totaling more than 1,200 aircraft.

These numbers are from Russian sources, probably about half the German equipment neither existed was in fit and proper order after 1 and half years of campaigning without refitting. Most of the German units on paper were about half strength. Some of the Russian units had no guns, there job was to dwindle the Germans ammunition supply and mental strength, they are called 'shock armies".


No one was effectively hurting the German war machine up until here. For the next 18 months the Germans were close to carpet bombed,their cities and factories. Germans probably lost around 1 million men to the Russians between Stalingrad and when the west landed at Normandy. The west landed with 130 thousand men, lost less than 1 in ten. On multiple occasions the Russians lost more men in one day than what the west landed with.

It is pathetic and disgusting how the media and the govs in the west are claiming d day was the turning point. They only landed when they did to stop Russia getting western Europe, as the Germans were about to collapse.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

Unfortunately lg your view of things is just as revisionist as those who claim the US "rescued" everyone.

The actions on both fronts were vital to the overall outcome.

 

[little graham]

The actions on both fronts were vital to the overall outcome.

War should of been over in 43/44 but the americans prolonged it.They wanted Russia as weak as possible at the conclusion.Unfortunately you're just continuing the political spin.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

War should of been over in 43/44 but the americans prolonged it.They wanted Russia as weak as possible at the conclusion.Unfortunately you're just continuing the political spin.

The only delay from the US side was due to not actually having an army ready for the job in 1942.

The war still could have been done in 1944 had Market-Garden not turned into a disaster.

 

[exe ex machina]

Ottoman empire was ended. French and Spanish empires over centuries before. British empire largely showed it was ended during ww2. Germanic empire had made a case but was over soon as it started. It was clear at that point the two strongest nations were USSR and USA to become the next global empire. It was incumbent of the USA and democratic loving christian based nations to back that and celebrate that. World much better off for it than if the USSR (or china today) had assumed control.

Sure both nations helped defeat Germany, and the losses the USSR suffered were astronomical (consider the attention the 6m Jews get) but the REAL war was as General Patton perceived it.

Mid 1940s = Britannia over, Germany dying, USA and USSR the vultures looking to be the next top dog in a power-grab

 

[little graham]

The only delay from the US side was due to not actually having an army ready for the job in 1942.
.

lots of new information is available that shows how much political spin has been put on "history".

lots of really good info in this military lecture.

 

[Silent Alarm]

When you hit or go past the age of the men who were in these wars, it becomes something so meaningful and profound. It's something you just think about for days. You can't even imagine it. The pride and adoration I have for them is pretty intense.