TOUR #13 Omaha-Utah / Mont-Saint-Michel – Two Days Tour

Here we will see many WN’s - (wiederstandnest- meaning German weapons strong point emplacements) from Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to Vierville. We will visit some of these strong points, which were the better-defended German Positions along Omaha. We will stop at WN 62 and WN 65 in Fox Green and Easy Red sectors of the American landing, and WN 73 in Dog Green at Vierville. This beach assault was a difficult assignment, given to US V Corps (General Gerow) whose Force O was made up of the 1st Infantry Division, 29th Infantry Division, the Rangers and several attached Units.

This Cemetery, extends over 172.5 acres, and is one of fourteen permanent American World War II cemeteries constructed on foreign soil. It contains the remains of 9387 servicemen and women killed for our freedom. The American Cemetery of Colleville conveys an unforgettable feeling of honor, peace and serenity.

Located on a cliff 8 miles west of the Cemetery, this monument was created by France to honour elements of the 2nd Rangers Battalion under the command of LTC James E. RUDDER which scaled the 100-foot cliff. Admiral Hall’s Intelligence officer remarked: "It can’t be done. Three old women with brooms could stop the Rangers scaling that cliff!". RUDDER replied to General BRADLEY: “Sir, my Rangers can do the job for you".

Lunch is not included in our fee.

Sainte Mere Eglise is one of the most memorable places depicted in the famous movie: The Longest Day. This tour will show you the famous church tower upon which the American paratrooper John Steele landed and became entangled as he parachuted into Normandy on June 6th. An actual mannequin of Steele has been hung with parachute on the church tower to commemorate his courageous jump. Although Sainte-Mere-Eglise was the area where the 82nd Airborne were schedule to jump and land, the first paratroopers who landed here were instead, members of the 101st Airborne Division. Several groups of the 101st Division, landed here, miles away from their Drop Zone, and instead, mistakenly landed on top of this village. "Easy Company", for the most part was also misdropped southeast of the town with some men landing in the center of the Village. "Dog", "Easy" and "Fox" Companies belonging to 2nd Battalion 506th PIR were also to jump at around 1:00 a.m. on DZ "C", near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Instead, due to all of these missed drops, Sainte-Mere-Eglise was officially the first town liberated at 4:30 AM on the day of the Invasion.

Here you will see an actual CG 4 Waco glider, a C-47 transport plane, and a number of historical military artifacts which have been professionally displayed to commemorate and honor the D-day invasion. A film comprised of archive material is available to visitors retracing the mission and footsteps of the many paratroopers who landed in Norman

Here you will see a clear view of the inland areas that were flooded by the Germans and the marshes of Merderet. This is the place where many of the 82nd Airborne were located under orders of General Gavin to resist the counter attacking Germans and guard two strategic bridges for the defence of the town of Sainte Mere Eglise.

Charles Neilans DeGlopper (November 30, 1921 - June 9, 1944) was a United States Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor , the highest award of the U.S. military, for his heroic actions and sacrifice of life during the World War II Battle of Normandy. A Grand Island, New York native, DeGlopper was the only soldier from the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was also the only World War II soldier from the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army to receive the award for action during the Battle of Normandy campaign.

This is the place where the successful landing of the American Ivy Division (the 4th Infantry Division) occurred under orders of General Barton and General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. with others in the first attack wave at Utah Beach. Utah Beach was the furthest west of the five beaches designated for the D-Day landings in June 1944. Located at the base of the Cotentin Peninsula, it was added by General Dwight Eisenhower to the original D-Day plan to ensure the early capture of the vital port of Cherbourg, at the north of the peninsula. Eisenhower realized that the Allied advance throughout Western Europe would require vast amounts of equipment and that the only major port that could handle this in the initial stages of the war was at Cherbourg.

Today, St. Marie du Mont appears to be a typical Norman village. Here, Marshall Erwin Rommel, who was in charge of the Atlantic defenses, inspected them several times between January and May 1944. While evaluating and inspecting the German defenses, Rommel stayed in a 17th century manor situated at the Western entrance of the village. The gothic bell tower was a key reference point for the 101st Airborne General Maxwell Taylor who landed in the early hours of the Invasion spent the night regrouping misdropped soldiers.

Captain George Lage, surgeon of the second company of the 502nd Parachute Regiment, arrived here at Holdy with 30 other paratroopers on the first day of fighting. Not unlike some of the other men, the Captain had sustained an injury to one of his ankles. Here, slightly on outskirts of a designated drop zone, he quickly mobilized what men he could, and transformed a small farm house here, belonging to Monsieur Auguste Lay, into a critical aid station for the wounded. As you can imagine, the farmhouse was quickly filled with wounded men in need of the Captain’s help, and the life saving measures of those that attempted to assist him. Unbelievably though, while there attending to the wounded here, the Captain and others discovered that the aid station was located literally on top of a nearby German battery, disguised in total cammoflage along a nearby road, and manned by as many as 60 German soldiers, and four 105mm cannons, who were unaware of their presence while busy firing countermeasures to the attack! COME WITH US while we walk you through this site to relive-rediscover the courageous actions of the Captain and his small group of American Paratroopers, who singlehandedly stole this position

The Division Hospital was establish at Château de Colombières, a large country house at Hiseville, a few yards north of General Taylor’s Division Command Post. The owners of the Château moved their personal belongings out and reserved one room for themselves. This was the first Allied Hospital to be in Operation in Normandy. It was under the command of Major Albert J. Crandall, Capt. C.O. Van Gorder, Capt. J.S. Rodda, and Capt. Saul Divorkin, anesthesiologist. This surgical team was the first air

This is the location of the Le Cauday’s farmhouse, which was the first Headquarters of General Maxwell Taylor, Commander of the 101st Airborne. General Taylor kept his Headquarters at this location for 8 days following June 6th, 1944.

General Pratt, 101st Airborne Division, was initially supposed to land and arrive on Utah Beach during the afternoon of D-Day. Prior to General Pratt's jump, however, General Maxwell D. Taylor persuaded Pratt to join the first wave of gliders to land in Normandy, instead. Pratt would have preferred to jump with his men but he had not completed the necessary training to qualify him to make a parachute jump at the time. Unknown to Pratt, his glider had been seriously overloaded and it crashed in a field. A plaque commemorates the crash. He was the first United States General to be killed in action during the D-Day Invasion.

A very moving place! Our tour here will first allow you to enter a 12th/13th Century church where two medics of the 506th, Bob Wright and Kenneth Moore took care of 80 German and American wounded for over 72 consecutive hours following the initial hours of the jump into Normandy. Wright and Moore were honored by the residents of this small village by a Memorial, which you will see, and a recently installed stained glass window in this famous church in commemoration of their life saving efforts. You will enter into the courtyard of the farm where the colonel Sink, Commander of the 506th PIR, established his second CP. The "Easy Company" stayed here from June 7 to the attack of Carentan.

Mont-Saint-Michel Mont Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island located in Normandy, at the mouth of the Couesnon River, near the city of Avranches. The highest point of the island is the spire at the top of the Abbey’s bell tower, 170 meters above sea level. They are currently less than 50 people living on the island. The unique feature of Mont Saint-Michel is that it is completely surrounded by water and can only be accessed at low tide. Victor Hugo described the tides as changing “à la vitesse d’un cheval au galop” (“as swiftly as a galloping horse”). Mont Saint-Michel is one of the most famous French monuments. Approximately 3 million people visit the site each year (3,250,000 in 2006). The Mount and its bay are listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The Brittany American Cemetery, 28 acres (11 ha) in extent, lies among the hedgerows in rolling farm country in Normandy near the border with Brittany in France.