D-Day Landings

Mary Anne Evans has over 35 years' experience writing and editing guidebooks and travel articles. Having started visiting France when she was five, she now owns a house in the Auvergne and runs her own specialist website (Maryannesfrance.com), which outlines suggestions for trips to French regions, previews forthcoming events and offers practical travel advice. Normandy has always been one of her favourite destinations thanks to its proximity, long sandy beaches, great cities and shared history. A visit in 2008 to the newly opened Visitor Centre at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial revealed compelling and emotional stories about ordinary individual soldiers involved in the fighting. It set Evans off on many journeys around the D-Day Landing beaches. New sites like the British Normandy Memorial, which opened in 2021, have revealed fresh insights as she discovers ever more about the history of Operation Overlord. Alastair McKenzie (mechtraveller.com) was a travel editor and presenter in local, national and international radio (Classic FM) for a decade from 1989, before moving online where he became an active member of the travel blogger and content creator community, and a regular speaker at social media travel conferences. A member of the British Guild of Travel Writers since 2002, he now runs a specialist niche blog (mechtraveller.com), which focuses on mechanical, technical and historic points of interest for travellers, including battlefield sites and military museums. Like the Allies, he first came to Normandy as a young man by sea. During the eighties he sailed and skippered yachts around most of the harbours on the European coast from Holland to Spain, including Ouistreham & Cherbourg. Since then he has explored most of Normandy by land and written about its key D-Day sites.

• Introduction PART ONE GENERAL INFORMATION Chapter 1 Background Information Timeline: World War II, Timeline: Operation Overlord - the Battle of Normandy Chapter 2 Practical Information Getting there and around , Tourist information and tour operators, The Big Seven PART TWO THE NORMANDY COAST Chapter 3 Sword Beach and Around Getting there and around, East of the Orne River, Ouistreham and around, Heading west, Douvres-la-Delivrande and around Chapter 4 Juno Beach and Around Getting there and around, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Bernieres-sur-Mer, Courseulles-sur-Mer and Graye-sur-Mer, Beny-sur-Mer and around Chapter 5 Gold Beach and Bayeux Getting there and around, Ver-sur-Mer and around, Asnelles, Arromanches-les-Bains and around, Port-en-Bessin, Bayeux Chapter 6 Omaha Beach and Around Pointe du Hoc Getting there and around, Colleville-sur-Mer and around, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Vierville-sur-Mer, Pointe du Hoc and around Chapter 7 Utah Beach, Cherbourg and Around Getting there and around, Carentan-les-Marais and around, Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and around,Sainte-Mere-Eglise and around, Cherbourg and the central Cotentin Peninsula PART THREE EXPANDING THE BRIDGEHEAD Chapter 8 Saint-Lô and the Bocage Saint-Lo, North and east of Saint-Lo, Heading south Chapter 9 The Falaise Pocket and Gap Falaise, West of Falaise, East of Falaise Chapter 10 Caen and Around 124Caen, North of Caen, West of Caen, South of Caen, East of Caen Appendix 1 Further Reading Appendix 2 Glossary Index