Passing Thru - For the Curious and Thoughtful Traveler

For the Curious and Thoughtful Traveler

  • Home
  • About
    • About PassingThru: Travel Resources and Inspiring Insights
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure Policy
  • Blog
  • Places
    • Africa
      • South Africa
    • Asia
      • China
      • India
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Australia & Oceania
      • Australia
      • Fiji Islands
      • The Philippines
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Bosnia and Herzegovina
      • Bulgaria
      • Croatia
      • Czech Republic
      • England
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Hungary
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Latvia
      • Liechtenstein
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Serbia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Turkey
    • North America
      • Alaska
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Florida
      • Hawaii
      • Illinois
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Missouri
      • Montana
      • Nebraska
      • Nevada
      • North Carolina
      • North Dakota
      • Pennsylvania
      • South Dakota
      • Wisconsin
      • Wyoming
    • General Travel
  • Resources and Tools
    • Gift Guides
    • Luggage and Packing
      • Luggage Tags
      • Passport Security
    • Technology
  • Contact
  • Opt-out preferences

Sainte Mere Eglise: Our Normandy D-Day Tour, Part 2

By Betsy Wuebker 4 Comments

(Last Updated On: March 2, 2020)

If you’ve ever watched The Longest Day, then you know the D-Day story of Sainte Mere Eglise in Normandy. Our visit, 70 years later, transported us back in time.

The Longest Day with John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Robert Mitchum, Rod Steiger, and Bill Millim, bagpiper, as himself.

The Longest Day with John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Red Buttons, Robert Mitchum, Rod Steiger, and Bill Millim, bagpiper, as himself.

The Longest Day, written by Cornelius Ryan, is well known as the gold standard of D-Day accounts. The classic movie based upon the book, was directed by Daryl Zanuck in 1962. It is filled with famous names and faithful to its source. Movie or book, we’d recommend this as a must prior to visiting Normandy D-Day sites like Sainte Mere Eglise.

Our Normandy D-Day tour guide, Colin McGarry, drove us to Sainte Mere Eglise after our visit to Utah Beach and Ste Marie du Mont. We can’t speak highly enough of Colin’s knowledge and expertise. It was truly a lifetime experience to visit these sites with his insightful guidance.

For do-it-yourselfers, a new GPS self-guided tour device, called Open Sky Museum, has been developed by Office de Tourisme Sainte Marie Eglise. It leads visitors toward strategic and little known points of interest in a 50 km sector. The visio-guide contains personal testimonies, archives and videos.

Sainte Mere Eglise can claim the title of first village liberated on D-Day by air. The 82nd Airborne’s mission to capture Sainte Mere Eglise was strategically important. The village was located on the main road between Carentan and Cherbourg, a supply and communications route for German defenders. Thus, it was vital to gain early control.

Landings the night of June 5-6th, 1944 were dispersed all over Normandy’s Cotentin Peninsula. Uncertain weather conditions and changed orders had created confusion over drop zones. Paratroopers who managed to land safely lost valuable time in isolation and reconnoitering. Equipment and teams were separated from each other.

sainte mere eglise the longest day

However, there was corresponding confusion on the German side; because American units were dispersed it was impossible to determine where they were concentrated. Thus, the Germans could not properly assess whether this was a full-scale invasion, or a diversionary maneuver. Because German strategists mistakenly believed the invasion would occur at Calais, at the narrowest part of the English Channel, Normandy was left relatively undefended by comparison.

Sainte Mere Eglise was to become point zero for a group of F-Company, 505 Parachute Infantry of the 82nd Airborne. Townspeople in the village had formed a bucket brigade to save an important house which had caught fire from flares dropped by the initial Pathfinder squadron. F-Company parachutists who dropped directly over Sainte Mere Eglise were illuminated in the glare, and shot down during descent. Today, the Airborne Museum is on the site of the fire, across from the Sainte Mere Eglise parish church.

This YouTube video focuses on Sainte Mere Eglise, juxtaposing footage from The Longest Day movie with photos of the actual paratroopers:

Today, the church maintains an effigy of paratrooper John Steele, whose parachute was caught on the steeple, leaving him to dangle helplessly for several hours while the ground fight raged below.

ste mere eglise
Effigy of Paratrooper John Steele
ste mere eglise
Effigy of Paratrooper John Steele

St-Mere-Eglise-John-SteeleThis photo shows John Steele visiting Sainte Mere Eglise on the 20th anniversary of D-Day. Steele managed to survive by pretending to be dead. He was cut down by the Germans and remained in captivity for several days thereafter.

The church’s stained glass windows show the Virgin Mary with paratroopers, and St. Michael, their patron saint, with their insignias. The window with the Virgin Mary was designed by the son of the mayor, whose house was burning that night.

282906 10152203617039610 766624271 n
Virgin Mary with paratroopers
1528492 10152203617329610 113700605 n
St. Michael and military insignia

About 300 feet from the church, a plaque commemorates the actions of paratrooper Clifford A. Maughan. Maughan landed in the garden of another large house where a German officer was billeted. Taking Maughan prisoner initially, the German surrendered to him as the morning wore on and Sainte Mere Eglise was liberated.

1511345 10152203618934610 1868288917 n
7554 10152203618679610 422707670 n

We enjoyed our guide Colin’s approach. As we encountered a certain site, he’d show us photographs from the war taken where we were standing. It was very moving to realize where we were. I found a superimposed photograph from the Ghosts of History site, and a contemporary photo of the church, both of which capture this feeling.

ghostsofhistorydotuk1
https://www.ghostsofhistory.co.uk/products/airborne-in-sainte-mere-eglise
bunker68dotcanalblog
Photo: bunker68.canalblog.com

The church’s facade still displays the bullet holes from the fighting. Today, the Airborne Museum stands on the site of the burning house.

999959 10152203617604610 776303358 n
Bullet holes in the church facade
1526780 10152203618309610 894108273 n
Airborne Museum

Sainte Mere Eglise was secured by American troops between 4:30 and 6AM on the morning of June 6th, 1944, cutting the Germans’ communication and access from Cherbourg to the rest of their units.

Today, the center of Sainte Mere Eglise is still dominated by the church, the Airborne Museum, and other commemorative sites. We lunched at a pleasant little sandwich shop across from the church, amid the laughter of schoolchildren. If you plan to visit, there are several restaurants and inns from which you can choose. Click here for details.

Sainte Mere Eglise is more than three hours by car from Paris. If you are taking the train, you will need to hire a taxi from the train station in Carentan. The train from Paris St Lazare station to Carentan takes about 2-1/2 hours, details here. We had purchased a Global Eurail pass prior to this trip, which we used in place of separate train fare.

 

Tips for Trip Success

Book Your Flight
Find an inexpensive flight by using CheapOAir, a favorite of ours because it regularly returns less expensive flight options from a variety of airlines.

Book Your Hotel or Special Accommodation
We are big fans of Booking.com. We like their review system and photos. If we want to see more reviews and additional booking options, we go to TripAdvisor.

You Need Travel Insurance!
Good travel insurance means having total peace of mind. Travel insurance protects you when your medical insurance often will not and better than what you get from your credit card. It will provide comprehensive coverage should you need medical treatment or return to the United States, compensation for trip interruption, baggage loss, and other situations.

PassingThru is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

To view PassingThru’s privacy policy, click here.

Filed Under: Travel, France, History Tagged With: D-Day, Normandy, Normandy landings, Sainte-Mère-Église

Comments

  1. Suzanne Fluhr says

    June 6, 2015 at 11:24 pm

    We did a 2 day small group tour of the landing areas with a tour group known as the Battle Bus. They closed up shop. I’m glad you found a great guide. It makes a difference there.

    Reply
    • Betsy Wuebker says

      June 10, 2015 at 11:06 pm

      Hi Suzanne – It does indeed. Colin intuitively knew what would interest us most. Some might balk at the expense, but the experience is priceless.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. D-Day Cemeteries: Remembering the Fallen - Passing Thru says:
    May 23, 2014 at 1:29 pm

    […] Sainte Mere Eglise: Our Normandy D-Day Tour, Part 2 […]

    Reply
  2. Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach: Normandy Landing Sites - Passing Thru says:
    June 6, 2015 at 7:46 pm

    […] Sainte Mere Eglise: Our Normandy D-Day Tour, Part 2 […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

 

Hi, I’m Betsy. I traveled the world full time for close to four years and have visited more than 50 countries. If you’re a curious and thoughtful traveler, you’re in the right place. No matter if you’re new to travel or an old hand, I can help you refine your bucket list!

Here’s to a happier, travel-centered life!

6 Great Places to Visit in Malaysia Besides Kuala Lumpur

Bucket List Ideas

  • Things You Will Learn About Yourself While Walking the Camino de Santiago
  • 10 Unmissable Attractions in Bhutan
  • Biggest and Best Oktoberfest in Germany: Munich 2023

More Bucket List Ideas

Privacy Policy

Click here for PassingThru’s Privacy Policy.

Disclosure

PassingThru is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Click here for PassingThru’s complete Disclosure Policy.

Copyright © 2023 Passing Thru · Designed by Blue Sun Studio, Inc. on Genesis · Log in

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}