Caen Mémorial Museum

Is situated just 10 minutes by bus from Caen University (or 30 minutes on foot from Caen Castle). We pick up here at 09:45 [Mon-Fri], for a full-day D-Day Private Tour. Passengers can specify their tour start time and designated pick-up /drop-off location in our booking system. Private Tour clients also benefit from a Hotel pick-up / drop-off *option (*which can be added at checkout).

1. Angoville-au-Plain: 101st Airborne

Angoville-au-Plain is home to a church that was used by two US Army Medics as an aide station during the Battle of Normandy. It was in this church that Robert Wright and Ken Moore of the 101st Airborne treated 80 injured American and German wounded Soldiers and a young child, Paul Langeard. During this visit you’ll find out more about the events of that day, you’ll see inside the beautiful church and you’ll learn about Robert and Ken’s heroism in the face of certain death – and of the poignant end to this rarely-told miraculous story.

2. Sainte-Marie-du-Mont: 101st Airborne

Paratroopers from largely dispersed 101st US Airborne were greeted in this village square on D-Day + 1 by a jubilant group of villagers. The village’s gothic bell tower was a key reference point for the 101st Airborne and its commander, General Maxwell Taylor, who had landed in the early hours of the Invasion and spent the night regrouping misdropped soldiers. At this stop you’ll find out about how German snipers hiding in French steeples posed an enormous threat to Allied soldiers everywhere in France.

3. Richard Winters Monument

Along the causeway to Utah Beach stands a monument to combat leadership. It was erected June 7th 2012 in memory of Maj. Richard Winters, who led paratroopers from the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, during the D-Day landings. During this stop you’ll learn of the exploits & bravery of Easy Company’s servicemen, about their intensive training at Camp Toccoa and of ‘The Currahee’ Mountain in Stephens County which was so important to each and every one of them.

4. Utah Beach

Utah Beach is one of the two American landing zones in Normandy. Along with Sword Beach it was added to the Beaches of Omaha, Juno & Gold by British General Montgomery during the later stages in the planning of Operation Overlord. The amphibious assault, primarily by the US 4th Infantry Division and 70th Tank Battalion, was supported by airborne landings of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Division. During this visit you’ll learn all about the successful Utah landing on D-Day, led by Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

5. Sainte-Mère-Eglise

This quintessential French Town played a significant part in the World War II Normandy landings. It stood right in the middle of route N13, which the Germans would have most likely used on any significant counterattack on the troops landing on Utah and Omaha Beaches. In the early morning of 6 June 1944, mixed units of 101st and 82nd US Airborne Divisions occupied the town in ‘Mission Boston’, giving it the claim to be one of the first towns liberated in the invasion. Come and find out about the events surrounding the largely botched landings and the paratrooper whose effigy still hangs off the church roof today.

6. Sainte-Mère-Eglise : Airborne Museum

The Airborne Museum is dedicated to the memory of the paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions of the United States Army who parachuted into Normandy on the night of June 5–6, 1944. Opened in 1964 with the help of donations from both residents and veterans, the museum houses an authentic Waco CG-4 glider (the only example in France) and a Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft, which was actually involved in D-Day air-drop operations. On our visit find out about the ill-fated drop; about the Robert Murphy ‘incident’ famously depicted in the movie ‘The longest Day’ and about paratrooper sergeant John P. Ray of the 505th P.I.R, who with his last breath saved the life of paratrooper John Steele, whose own parachute had snagged on the belfry of the church (and which – to help preserve the memory of the 101st & 82nd US paratrooper’s heroic parachute jump – remains there to this day.

7. Pointe-du-Hoc

Pointe-du-Hoc, a 100ft promontory cliff overlooking the English Channel on the coast of Normandy in northern France was heavily fortified with concrete casemates and gun pits and protected by the German 352nd Infantry Division. On D-Day the United States Army Ranger Assault Group under lieutenant colonel James E. Rudder assaulted and captured Pointe du Hoc after scaling the cliffs. Disabling the six 155mm guns there was crucial to the successful completion of the Allied Land Invasion. There was however a cruel surprise in store for Colonel Rudder’s men…

8. Vierville-sur-Mer – Omaha Beach {‘Saving Private Ryan’}

On D-Day at 06:30, the U.S. Army’s 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division, along with units of the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions,  landed on Omaha Beach, below Vierville-sur-Mer. The 29th Division & The Rangers suffered extremely heavy losses in the very first few minutes. On this stop you’ll find out how the courageous soldiers persevered on ‘Bloody Omaha’, and how in the face of all odds and at the prospect of certain death, they finally cut through the formidable German defenses.

9. Saint Laurent-sur-Mer – Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944. Taking Omaha was to be the responsibility of United States Army troops of the First Division nicknamed ‘The Big Red One’. However faced with the 12,020 experienced combat troops of the German 352nd Infantry Division, the battle-hardened 1st Infantry Division had its work cut out. During this memorable visit you’ll find out why nothing here went according to plan on D-Day. Thus we shall discover how ‘Bloody Omaha’ earned its name…

10. Normandy Colleville American Cemetery

On June 8, 1944, the U.S. First Army established the temporary cemetery, the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. After the war, the present-day cemetery was established a short distance to the east of the original site. Come and honour the graves of our fallen Heroes, discover the gold-embossed gravestones of the three Medal of Honour recipients – listen to some stories from their lives – and peruse the wall of the missing upon which are engraved the names of 1557 servicemen never recovered…

We arrive back in central Caen, or at your designated Caen drop-off location at 18:00

We will always depart our last stop on schedule at 17:15 to ensure that we arrive back in Caen on time. During our relaxing drive back to Caen you will have 35 minutes to reflect on the day’s touring and have a casual chat with your Guide. We always appreciate feedback about your D-Day experience and welcome any last-minute questions. Please do not hesitate to let your driver know if we can be of any further assistance. Thank you for choosing NormandyONtour.