RHH's photos with the keyword: paratroops

This church window, dedicated on the 25th anniversary of the D-Day landings, commemorates the liberation of the town of Ste. Mere Eglise by troops of 505th Regiment of the 82nd Airborne, who held the town until troops from Utah Beach joined up with them. When the window was dedicated many of the troops who liberated the town were there for the dedication.

This church window was dedicated on June 6, 1969, the 25th anniversary of the D-Day landings. It commemorates the liberation of Ste. Mere Eglise by the troops of the505th Division of 82nd Airborne, many of the troops present for the commemoration.

This restored Dakota C-47 transport took part in the D-Day landings, towing a paratroop glider to Normandy. The plane was rescued from an airfield in Bosnia in 2007 and restored to its original D-Day colors and is on display at the Merville Museum. The propeller in the foreground is from a Dakota that crashed on D-Day killing all aboard.

One of our reasons for visiting Normandy was to see the D-Day sites, a very appropriate time to do so since it was the eightieth anniversary of the landings on June 6, 1944. After a weekend in the Etretat area we drove down and started our tour in Benouville at the Pegasus Bridge, a vital link over the Caen Canal, taken by British airborne troops early on D-Day. Benouville was the first French village liberated on D-Day. We had coffee at the nearby Cafe Gondree and then explored the area. We learned that the present bridge is a replacement and saw the original bridge on the grounds of a nearby museum.

One of the reasons for visiting Normandy was to see the D-Day sites and our visit took place, fittingly, on the eightieth anniversary of the D-Day landings. The Cafe Gondree and the nearby Pegasus Bridge were the location of the first combat on D-Day and Benouville, the village in which the cafe is located, was the first village liberated by the Thirteenth British Paratroop Battalion. We had coffee at the cafe before exploring the village and the nearby memorial and museum.