Sword Beach [Hermanville sur Mer / Ouistreham

[skysurfin09]

The God of VW's willing this summer I'm going with my youngest lad and a mate to visit where my dad came ashore on D-Day and then up to Arnhem. Does anyone have any tips or stop-overs that they would recommend. On the way home we're going via Ypres where my Grandad got lost so any info on hostelries and stuff please send this way. It'll be my 60th and I've promised myself this trip for a long time and I know that there are some world travellers on this forum. Rob

[sarran1955]

Hello,

This is a part of France that I know well.

I imagine that you will be coming over via Boulogne, as its the cheapest.

You will have about 5 hours driving to reach the Normandy coast, either by the pont de normandy or the pont de tancarville (toll).

If you are looking for a convenient campsite for visiting the beaches, I would suggest the Camping municipale 4* at Luc sur Mer. This is a little seaside town, unspoilt, about 20 mins from Caen (capital of Calvados).

Here is the link: http://www.campinglacapricieuse.com/site/index.php

Drive down the coast roads (south) from luc, and you will pass all the landing beaches, Torch, Juno, Sword, and so on. If memory serves Sword beach is Courseulles, with a Sherman tank on the war memorial.

Further down, another hour, is Arromanches, where there is the main D-day landing museum. Worth a whole day visit, including walking along the cliffs to see the remains of the mulberry harbour.

Lots of good food, pork, cream sauces, cider....

As a child on Juno beach on summer hols, I had to wear rope soled shoes in case of shell fragments. You could dig up ammunition clips, and there were still gun emplacements in the cliffs.

Also to visit time permitting, Bayeux tapestry,(good for a rainy day) and the Mt St Michel monastery in the bay.

Enjoy....

Cordialement,

[dubdogs]

I was over that way on the motorbike last summer, a bit further down from Arnhem is Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. That to me was worth a visit, a real peaceful beautiful place where around 7,000-8,000 graves are really well looked after. Certainly was a thought provoking place.

Have a good trip

[Ian Hulley]

The LD Lines Dover>Boulogne ferry service has gone, see 2011 Ferry thread.

Can't help with 'Sword' beach but there's a nice car park just inland from 'Omaha' beach, near the 2nd Infantry Memorial where you can stay overnight and down the coast at Grandcamp Maisy (sp?) there's a large D Day museum with vehicles etc on display. There's also a number of official Aires in that area.

Ian

[skysurfin09]

Thank you both for your advice and Sarran I will certainly be heading to Arromanches. Dubdogs, my dad told me some horror stories about the Reichwald. Ian thanks for taking the time for the info, I will definitely be looking at the invasion beaches and especially Pegasus Bridge. Rob

[Doctor Foster]

http://www.arromanches.com/uk/camping_accueil.htm

We stopped here last year when doing the d-day beaches. Lovely campsite, loads of pitches and good facilities. We just turned up and paid at the desk. Located right by the town of arromanches within a 2 minute walk out the back of the site and its bang in the middle of all the landing beaches so easy access.

Will definately stay there again.

reviews....http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/revie ... revid=6683

[tetleysid]

Rob, I have done many visits to Normandy. My particular interest is airborne warfare. I have been all along the coast from the British east flank to the American west flank. Arramanches is like the epicentre, one time I visited the town (the 60th commemoration) it was dusk and a lone piper was marching up and down playing moving laments as the sun went down ... it was a magic moment. There is still a lot of the Mulberry harbour there. Another museum worth a visit is Port en Bassin. Here you will find a lot of interesting artifacts that have been retreived from the seabed, stuff like aircraft engines and guns, bits of ships and complete vehicles etc. All along the coast are gun emplacements that you can explore and get inside to get a real feel of things. The huge US cemetary at Omaha (Grand camp Maisy) is thought provoking and not far from here is Point d'hoc, look over the cliffs at this big gun position and try and imagine what it must have been like to scale those sheer cliffs to destroy that position, how could it be done?
St Mere Eglise, one of the first French towns liberated is a centre for airborne enthusiasts especially between 4th - 8th June, it gets mobbed, another good museum with a Waco glider and an actual Dakota that overflew the town dropping US para's on the morning of 6th June 1944.
On the British eastern flank Pegasus Bridge and the Merville battery nearby are must visits, again another great museum here and the original bridge stands nearby its later repacement complete with bullet scars and a plaque to one of paras who was killed going back to rescue a comrade.
There are many excellent campsites and also some wild camping opportunities. Have fun, might even come up again myself
PS I just discovered a relative who was killed in July 1944 serving with the Durham Light infantry as they pushed towards the Siene. He is actually buried in the cemetary at Bayeux, I have visited the cemetary and was a mere few yards from his resting place and did not even know he was there

[tetleysid]

I lost a lot of photos from earlier visits due to hard drive crash of 2009 but here's a couple from the Normandy area to whet your appetite ...

[Doctor Foster]

Le grand bunker at Ouistreham is a must. You even get to climb into a landing craft outside the museum.

http://www.le-grand-bunker-musee.com/englishversion.asp