Normandy Military Museums
A quick guide to some of the major Normandy Museums – from the beaches, through the breakout to the final rout of the Germans in Normandy.
BAYEUX
Musée Mémorial de la Bataille de Normandie
Boulevard Fabian Ware14400 Bayeux
Tel. (33) 2 31 92 93 41 - Fax. (33) 2 31 21 85 11
Located in the first French town to be liberated, this museum offers the visitor a wide variety of material, weapons and uniforms, together with films souvenirs and dioramas.
ARROMANCHES
Musée du Débarquement
Place du 6 Juin14117 Arromanches
Tel. (33) 2 31 22 34 31 - Fax. (33) 2 31 92 68 83
Located right in front of the actual vestiges of the artificial harbour (Mulberry B), this museum is devoted to the incredible feat of technology achieved by the British in building and setting up the artificial harbour. Models, a diorama, video show⋅
Arromanches 360
Chemin du calvaire - BP 914117 Arromanches
Tel. (33) 2 31 22 30 30 - Fax. (33) 2 31 22 33 55
A 18 minute film, "The Price of Freedom", presented on 9 screens in a round theatre over looking Arromanches, mixes archive footage and presentday pictures, plunging the visitor into the thick of the action.
LONGUES-SUR-MER
Batterie de Longues
14400 Longues-sur-MerTel. (33) 2 31 06 06 45
This German artillery battery, which gave the Allied ships a pounding on the morning of 6th June, is the only coastal battery to have kept its guns, giving an impressive picture of what an Atlantic Wall gun emplacement was really like.
PORT-EN-BESSIN
Musée des Epaves sous-marines du Débarquement
Route de BayeuxCommes
14520 Port-en-Bessin
Tel. (33) 2 31 21 17 06
Twenty-five years of underwater operations have brought up from the sea bed some impressive remains and personal items found in the great warships sunk on or around 6th June 1944.
SAINT-MARTIN-DES-BESACES
Musée de la Percée du Bocage
Route Nationale 17514350 Saint-Martin-des-Besaces
Tel. (33) 2 31 67 52 78
The museum shows how the area around the Vire was liberated and documents this all important battle known as "the bocage breakthrough". An excellent museum – don’t miss it.
TILLY-SUR-SEULLES
Musée de la Bataille de Tilly
Chapelle Notre Dame du Val14250 Tilly-sur-Seulles
Tel. (33) 2 31 80 80 26
This museum bears testimony to the violent fight which took place around Tilly, taken and retaken 23 times before its final liberation.
VER-SUR-MER
Musée America-Gold Beach
Place Amiral Byrd14114 Ver-sur-Mer
Tel. (33) 2 31 22 58 58
As well as D Day on Gold Beach, this museum retraces great moments of the history of the airmail service and the adventures of its pilots from the 1st short hops to transatlantic flights.
SAINT-LAURENT-SUR-MER
Musée Omaha - 6 Juin 1944
Rue de la Mer14710 Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
Tel. (33) 2 31 21 97 44 Fax. (33) 2 31 92 72 80
Just a few yards from Omaha Beach, this museum offers a collection of vehicles, weapons, uniforms and insignia found on the actual battlefield.
LA CAMBE
Cimetière militaire Allemand
14230 La CambeTel. (33) 2 31 22 70 76
An impressive necropolis of over 5 acres where lie, in groups of 5 black crosses, the bodies of 21,500 German soldiers who fell during the fighting in 1944. Memorial chapel at the entrance.
COLLEVILLE SUR MER
Cimetière Américain (Omaha Beach)
14710 Colleville-sur-MerTel. (33) 2 31 51 62 00 - Fax. (33) 2 31 51 62 09
Overlooking Omaha Beach, the American cemetery contains over 9,000 perfectly aligned white crosses on a 170-acre plot which is conducive to meditation and remembrance. A chapel and a memorial add the finishing touch to this moving scene.
La Pointe Du Hoc
The symbol of the gallantry of the young American soldiers and one of the strongpoints of the German fortifications, the famous Pointe du Hoc was taken by storm by Colonel Rudder's Rangers on the morning of 6th June.
GRANDCAMP-MAISY
Musée des Rangers
30 Quai Crampon14450 Grandcamp-Maisy
Tel. (33) 2 31 92 33 51
This exhibition retraces the history of the rangers, an elite american unit specially trained for D-Day.
CAEN
Le Mémorial, Un Musée pour la Paix
Esplanade D.D. Eisenhower14066 Caen Cedex
Tel. (33) 2 31 06 06 44 - Fax. (33) 2 31 06 06 70
Through its spectacular display, the Memorial offers the visitor a journey through the history of the 20th century inviting reflection on peace.
Nobel Peace Prize winners Gallery. Garden of Remembrance.
CARENTAN / SAINT-COME-DU-MONT
D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center2, Village de l’Amont
50500 Saint-Côme-du-Mont
Tel. (33) 2 33 42 00 42
www.paratrooper-museum.org
In the heart of the 101st Airborne battelfield the D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center offers a historical trail of the battelfield while Dead Man’s Corner Museum set up in the ancient CP of the German paratroopers offers a wide variety of authentic German and US paratrooper memorabilia.
BENOUVILLE – RANVILLE
Musée Mémorial Pegasus
Avenue du Major Howard14860 Ranville
Tel. (33) 2 31 78 19 44 or (33) 2 31 78 19 42
This site is dedicated to the 6th Airborne Division whose mem were the first to land on Normandy soil during the night of 5th/6th June 1944.
The famous Pegasus bridge is now adjoined by a new museum covering 12.000 m2 with hundred of different exhibits.
DOUVRES LA DELIVRANDE
Musée Radar
14440 Douvres la DelivrandeTel. (33) 2 31 06 06 45 or (33) 2 31 37 74 43
The first museum devoted to the history of radar in the former German radar station at Douvres, where two remarkably preserved bunkers and an original layout help you to understand the role of radar and how the technique was developed.
MERVILLE-FRANCEVILLE
Musée de la Batterie de Merville
14810 Merville-FrancevilleTel. (33) 2 31 24 21 83
This museum situated in the blockaus of the Merville battery relives the conditions and documents the unfolding of the operation led by the 6th British Air Division.
OUISTREHAM
Musée Number 4 Commando
Place Alfred Thomas14150 Ouistreham
Tel. (33) 2 31 96 63 10
The museum retraces the epic story of the first commandos to land on Sword Beach at dawn on 6th June, including the Franco-British commando and French Commandant Philippe Kieffer.
Musée du Mur de l'Atlantique
Avenue du 6 Juin14150 Ouistreham
Tel. (33) 2 31 97 28 69
In a former artillery range-finding post on the Atlantic Wall, the museum houses a large collection of documents and relics, and a range-finding station that provides a fine view over the whole mouth of the Orne.
ALENCON
Musée Leclerc
31/33 rue du Pont Neuf61000 Alençon
Tel. (33) 2 33 26 27 26
Alençon from Occupation to Liberation, this museum, the town's tribute to its liberator, is located in what was General Leclerc's command post on 12th August 1944.
FALAISE
Musée Août 44Chemin des Roches
14700 FALAISE
Tel. (33) 2 31 90 37 19
Located in the town that witnessed the end of the battle, this museum retraces the main phases of the fighting during August 44 an displays a large number of vehicles, uniformed soldiers... its worth a visit but in need of a bit of a re-vamp.
L'AIGLE
Musée "Juin 44"
Place Fulbert de Beina61300 l'Aigle
Tel. (33) 2 33 24 19 44 - Fax. (33) 2 33 84 94 94
This museum comprises twelve historical scenes and presents full-size wax models of the war leaders together with their actual voices (Pétain, De Gaulle, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin etc.).
MONT ORMEL
Mémorial de Montormel
61160 MontormelTel. (33) 2 33 67 38 61 - Fax. (33) 2 33 67 38 72
This memorial overlooking an unusually fine landscape, recalls the bloody battle of the Falaise-Chambois pocket that was fought here and which brought the battle of Normandy to an end. The museum is absolutely stunning and is a “must see” for all who visit Normandy.