A Museum Devoted to the Normandy Landings

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Our last visit in Bayeux was to the Musee Memorial de la Bataille de Normandie, a museum devoted to the Normandy landings of World War II. Before going through the various rooms, we watched a video about the Normandy landings. During Operation Warlord in 1944, Allied land forces invaded and established themselves in Normandy. Troops were drawn from Canada, the Free French forces, UK and USA. Amphibious craft landed forces on five beaches following overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks and naval bombardments. There were a lot of American citizens at the museum mostly following up relatives who had been involved in the hostilities. The museum was well set out with some impressive dioramas and panels giving information about the D-Day landings. One of the exhibits was an original model milestone, designed by the French artist Francois Cogne, and made of solid concrete. These milestones were sited on the "Freedom Road" on the D999 running from Saint-Lo to Villedieu-les-Poeles. The plaque stated that "Freedom Road" stretched 'from Sainte-Mere Eglise to the Belgian city of Bastogne, taking in Cherbourg, Rennes, Le Mans, Paris, Verdun, Metz and Luxembourg amongst others, along the way'.