01 The landings
On 6 June 1944, American forces landed on the beaches of Vierville, Saint-Laurent and Colleville, collectively known as Omaha Beach. These documents follow the preparations, the course of the operations and their consequences for local people.
Life under the Occupation, German defences, aerial reconnaissance and Allied plans provide the background to the events. Maps and photographs show how the coast was developed before the landings.
The Channel crossing, the approach to the coast, bombardments and successive landing waves preceded the advance inland. The account focuses particularly on events at Vierville, from dawn to evening.
The landings did not bring the fighting to an end. The following chapters describe troop movements, reinforcements, bombardments and the gradual organisation of the beach for supply operations.
02 Places
Photographs, plans and accounts connect the different places. Vierville is at the heart of the collection, with two further groups of documents devoted to Saint-Laurent and Colleville.
The Occupation, the landings, the advance towards the village and the lives of its residents. Eyewitness accounts accompany the study of military units and coastal defences.
View the documentsStrongpoints, attack plans, fighting at Les Moulins and Le Ruquet, and the installations established after the landings.
View the documentsGerman defences, the landings and fighting around the beach exits. The collection includes the recollections of German soldier Franz Gockel.
View the documentsThe appendices cover Pointe du Hoc and Saint-Pierre-du-Mont airfield, the liberation of Trévières, the ports of Grandcamp and Isigny, and the oil installations at Sainte-Honorine and Port-en-Bessin.
03 Witness accounts
The recollections of local people and servicemen describe different experiences of the same events. Each account offers a perspective tied to a particular place and time.
His recollections follow life under the Occupation, 6 and 7 June, and the days that followed. Spread across several chapters, they form a continuous thread through the collection.
View the documentsAccounts from the Piprel, de Loÿs and Coliboeuf families, Fernand Olard and other residents describe the waiting, the bombardments and the arrival of the soldiers.
Related documentsEyewitness accounts and reports describe the landings, the difficulties faced by the units and the fighting. German recollections provide another perspective on the same places.
Related documents04 Maps & archives
Maps locate sectors, defences and troop movements. Photographs and reports provide further reference points. Their dates and captions are essential to interpreting them.
05 After D-Day
Reinforcements and supplies continued to arrive after the initial landings. A substantial part of the collection covers the organisation of the beachhead and harbour operations.
Plans, photographs and technical documents explain the construction of the harbour, its piers and floating roadways. The June storm damaged the installations and changed how supplies were brought ashore.
These chapters also cover operations ashore, the vessels and equipment used, and what became of the installations after the war.
The collection preserves documents about care for the wounded, prisoners and temporary cemeteries. Letters and photographs describe the damage to the villages and conditions after the troops left.
The appendices continue this history with mine clearance, the explosion at Asnières in 1945 and views of Omaha Beach after the war.