Gold, Juno and Sword D Day Beaches

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2 October 2010

In continuing changeable weather we started our exploration of the site of the other great conquest associated with this area, the D Day beaches. The British, Canadians and Free French attacked in the east on the beaches named Gold, Juno and Sword and the Americans in the west on Omaha and Utah beaches.

We had camped at the village of Ranville close to the first British parachute raid on D Day when a small force captured the Pegasus Bridge just after midnight on 6 June 1944. The village was the first place to be liberated.

We drove along the 31k of the eastern beaches between Ouistreham and Arromanches. On the way we stopped at some of the many war memorials we passed and visited the Canadian War Cemetery just inland at Beny-sur-Mer. Arromanches was the site of the Mulberry Harbour which was towed across the channel and enabled the Allied armies to be reinforced and provisioned. Parts of the harbour still exist. We went around a very interesting museum which describes this amazing engineering achievement in great detail.

The night was spent at the Municipal camp site in the town.

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