Along Sword And Gold Beaches
Friday, June 14, 2013
At times it seemed you could not walk or drive 100 meters without coming across a monumnet of some sort. In some stretches, walking was the only way you didn't miss any. They are well worth seeking out, because each can unlock stories not well known.
Some really don't need much in the way of translation, or explanation. Walking down the beach one evening, a memorial caught my eye.
I realized that there was a larger group there, and went to explore.
The entire group can be seen below
This was where a major push had come ashore, and the monuments tell the tale. Being that this was in the Sword/Gold area, it is no surprise that there were several memorials to British units.
And the centerpiece is fairly plain
But one part told a bit more, a different tale, and a bit of history that I would venture is not well known to many Americans.
I don't think many Americans understand just how large D-Day truly was, and how many nations took part. It wasn't just the Americans and British, Canadian and Free French. It was troops from Poland, Greece, and even Norway. The fight for the beaches took place not only on land, but at sea as well. The bombers may not have come, nor was there a major fleet action, but those at sea fought too and control of the sea area was not guaranteed.
The Germans sent in torpedo boats, their equivalent of PT boats, and they did much more damage than most know. One bit of that damage was the Norwegian destroyer Svenner. It was sunk by torpedo attack that day. The anchor was found and recovered in 2003.
Just a bit of history to be found walking down the beach in Normandy
LW
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