Arromanches-les-Bains: 272km (169 miles) NW of Paris, 11km (6 3/4 miles) NW of Bayeux; Grandcamp-Maisy (near Omaha Beach): 299km (186 miles) NW of Paris, 56km (35 miles) NW of Caen
During a rainy week in June 1944, the greatest armada ever -- soldiers and sailors, warships, landing craft, tugboats, jeeps -- assembled along the southern coast of England. At 9:15pm on June 5, the BBC announced to the French Resistance that the invasion was imminent, signaling the underground to start dynamiting the railways. Before midnight, Allied planes began bombing the Norman coast. By 1:30am on June 6 ("the Longest Day"), members of the 101st Airborne were parachuting to the ground on German-occupied French soil. At 6:30am, the Americans began landing on the beaches, code-named Utah and Omaha. An hour later, British and Canadian forces made beachheads at Juno, Gold, and Sword.
The Nazis had mocked Churchill's promise in 1943 to liberate France "before the fall of the autumn leaves." When the invasion did come, it was swift, sudden, and a surprise to the formidable "Atlantic wall." Today, veterans walk with their children and grandchildren across the beaches where "Czech hedgehogs," "Belgian grills," pillboxes, and "Rommel asparagus" (all military barriers or structures) once stood.
