70th anniversary of the Battle of Normandy

The year 2014 will be marked by the celebration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. 

Beyond the official ceremonies June 6, events will remember throughout the year while the importance of this history. Here is a selection of visits not to be missed. 

Essential first step to understand everything about the Second World War and the Allied landings in Normandy, Caen Memorial has very educational exhibits. This year he has also enriched the reconstruction of a German bunker. 

Museums and exhibitions to understand history 

Other places offer insights on specific facts. The Landing Museum, the oldest dedicated to the events of June 6, is located near the site of the old artificial harbor at Arromanches. It helps to understand the building and the importance of this building that played a vital role in the Allied victory. 

This year, two new museums have been added to the evidence in this period. Open since June, the Overlord Museum, located in Colleville-sur-Mer near Omaha Beach, a unique collection of artifacts and historical documents describing the events in Normandy, while the Tank Museum in Normandy Catz in the English Channel meets jeeps, tanks, trucks and motorcycles from the American army. 

The soldiers honored 

To discover the role and equipment of American paratroopers who jumped on the night of June 5 to 6, 1944, the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mère-Eglise (Manche) exposes objects, testimonies, documents and aircraft. In 2014, it will welcome visitors in a larger space. In the same city, in an activity day on June 8, a large drop of civilians and military from various countries on the historic site of La Fiere will honor their 1944 counterparts. 

On 10 and 11 May in the grounds of Castle Coppice Duclair (Seine-Maritime) will be installed replicas of American camps, English, French and German with over 250 extras, to apprehend the everyday lives of troops in the conflict. Carentan (Manche) will host from June 4 to 9 a reconstruction of the Allied camp Arizona with original material.