Desperately Seeking Holly.

We have lots of holly bushes around here but few with bright red Christms berries. Found one today.

Norman hedges are more like medieval fortifications with oak and beech towering over, hazel and ash below, and the bottom is lined with holly and blackberry bushes. No wonder the Allies got stuck in the Normandy 'bocage' when they landed in 1944. They'd trained to jump over the English garden hedges, not go through the Norman thickets. One clever American sergeant thought of welding a piece of railing to the front of a Sherman tank, thus giving birth to 'rhinoceros' tanks which rammed and ripped up passing places in the hedges. Ike instantly approved it and the battle was won.

Iron Mike memorial in Normandy

'Iron Mike' memorial to American airborne troops near Utah Beach overlooks the flooded marais in the Cotentin peninsula.

From Barack Obama's inauguration speech:

'For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.'

Photos sent by Susan Lee.

Remembrance Day: 90 years since the end of World War I

A Red Poppy from a field near 'the Corridor of Death' where the Battle of Normandy ended in August 1944.


A Jewish grave in the American Military Cemetery near Omaha Beach.

At a German Military Cemetery near Lisieux.

New D-Day monument at Utah Beach

On Saturday, 27 September 2008, a new D-Day monument will be unveiled at Utah Beach. The ceremony begins at 14:30 near the Utah Beach museum.

The Naval Order of the United States has made it possible to honour 1,068 sailors killed in action and the significant role the Navy played in the success of the greatest amphibious operation in history.

More than 60 monuments and markers in Normandy commemorate the service and sacrifices of all American and Allied services except the U.S. Navy. The 2,000-member Naval Order’s all volunteer organisation raised more than $500,000 from the private sector to erect a tribute that is long overdue.

L’Ordre Naval des Etats-Unis érige un monument dédié à la Marine Américaine, à Utah Beach Normandie. Ce Monument, le seul dédié à l'U.S. Navy dans le monde, commémore la participation de la Marine dans ce qui fut la plus grande opération amphibie de l’Histoire.

Le sculpteur américain Steven Spears a crée un monument avec 3 symboles forts : le commandant, les marins et les unités de combat (les bataillons en charge de nettoyer la plage). Ces trois unités travaillaient dans une même direction avec un objectif unique, libérer la France et l’Europe.

Cette statue de 4,50 m de haut est située sur une base qui a la forme d'un pentagone dont chaque coté rappelle les 5 différentes plages. Les noms de tous les bateaux qui ont pris part à l'opération Overlord sont gravés de façon à ce que toutes les familles de vétérans puissent toucher les noms des bateaux sur lesquels naviguaient leurs pères ou grand-pères.

Sent by Séverine LETOURNEUR,
Musée d’Utah Beach

Read more in the September Rendezvous and at www.normandymonument.org

Arromanches: playing on the beach

Children playing among the remains of the British Mulberry harbour at Arromanches on the last day of the Summer holidays. Isn't it what the D-Day sacrifices were all about?

Omaha Beach today

News has just come in that Jim Gabaree, one of the few surviving American 5th Batallion Rangers, was awarded the French Legion of Honour medal.

5th Rangers successfully attacked the far right flank of Omaha Beach, scaling the cliffs at Vierville and ensuring that the near-failed Allied assault carried on.

John Maslin sent a moving selection of photos taken at Omaha Beach this Summer.
















Check other photos of Omaha Beach and the American Memorial here and here

Red poppies line Normandy fields

Red poppies line the vast fields West of Falaise where fierce fighting took place during the Battle of Normandy in 1944.

Utah Beach 2008

Helmet shaped shells scattered on Utah Beach, the Westernmost of the D-Day landing beaches. Remains of the artificial Mulberry harbour in the background.

The Montormel Memorial

A Polish tank stands over the 'Falaise pocket', a vast valley where the battle of Normandy came to an end in August 1944. Advance Polish troops closed the Falaise gap near Montormel finishing the encirclement of the German Army.

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Four American women who died during the liberation of France are buried at the Military Cemetery near Omaha Beach.


Spring cleaning at the Cemetery.



Bayonet in the ground - a symbol of final peace (installation at the Visitors' Center).

Flower sculptures in Vire

The anticipation is building up... to what or to whom will the flowery roundabout display in Vire be dedicated this summer?


The funniest one so far has to be 'Mozart' with his big grass hair. Sadly, in this photo he has been blown clear off his piano stool by a storm the night before !

Sent by Sarah Page St. Quentin les Chardonnets, 61

Utah Beach in winter 3: Crocodile Bunker

A German bunker at Utah Beach. Heavily bombarded by the Allies on D-Day it now looks like a crocodile.