The 73rd anniversary D-Day celebrations in Normandy
Published Saturday, April 29, 2017 | 
FRIDAY JUNE 2ND
Foucarville
8.30,pm to 10.30 pm
Concert near the sea “Foucarville Bunker” , the longest jazz day
(fyi : just look for a group of jazz players by the sea near Fourcarville!)
The 73rd anniversary D-Day celebrations in Normandy
Published Thursday, April 27, 2017 | FRIDAY JUNE 2ND
Sainte Mere Eglise
10 a.m.
Flowering of monument in memory of
Generals Gavin and Ridgway,
at the townhall
Orgnasization: C-47 Club Normandy Chapter
For information about the ceremony please email us at :
c-47clubnormandychapter@hotmail.fr
Normandy, D-Day landings and the 73rd anniversary celebrations
Published Tuesday, April 25, 2017 | FRIDAY JUNE 2ND
Sainte Mère Eglise
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Military fair, in front and in the hall market
Organization : Association Timberwolves
Phone : 0033 608 45 24 65
Email : ballesterbarth@aol.com
Normandy, D-Day landings and the 73rd anniversary celebrations
Published Sunday, April 23, 2017 | FRIDAY JUNE 2ND
Sainte Marie du Mont
Liberation evening with concerts
Organization: Club du Souvenir Militaire
Phone : 0033 233 71 56 54
WW2 Normandy D-Day landing beaches stories rarely heard
Published Friday, April 21, 2017 | The Taking of Marcouf
In the ungodly predawn hours of June 6, 1944, well before the Germans were fully aware that their Fortress Europe was about to be assaulted, 2 rubber rafts covertly approached the shore of one of the two tracts of land that make up the St. Marcouf Islands off Normandy, France, 4 miles east of the coast of the Cotentin peninsula. The 4 UDT’s (underwater demolition team) manning the rafts, who were attached to the 4th Cavalry Group, were armed with nothing more than their fighting knives and flashlights. Their mission was to eliminate the threat that was believed to be on the island to help clear the way for the main invasion force.
One of the UDT’s was twenty-four year old CPL Harvey Sigurd Olson of Lake Bronson, Minnesota. CPL Olson and the other men navigated their black and musty smelling rafts over choppy waters and large swells until they were about a hundred yards from their objective when they scuttled them with their knives and swam the rest of the way to the shore. The expectation of finding at least a small garrison on the island made their adrenaline pump with each step they took further onto the lightless island.
In England, CPL Olson and his fellow the UDT’s trained extensively for this assault. Time after time they were taken out into the English Channel by Navy boats, deposited in the water and left to swim back to shore. It made sound military sense to assume that the Germans would occupy the Island as a defensive outpost which would give advance warning in the event of an invasion. This is why there was an emphasis put on this mission and the men whose shoulders it fell upon all volunteered for the job.
The sound of the surf crashing onto the beach filled the air as the landing party explored the island. It quickly became clear that St. Marcouf was uninhabited but not without danger. The Germans placed hundreds, if not, thousands of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines throughout the small island. CPL Olson, Troop A, 4th Cavalry, and the other men, PVT Thomas C. Elleran, Troop A, 4th Cavalry, SGT John Zanders. Troop B, 4th Cavalry, and CPL Melvin F. Kenzie, Troop B, 4th Cavalry, signaled the rest of their group, consisting of one-hundred-thirty-two men from the 4th and 24th Squadrons of the 4th Cavalry, and marked the beach with lamps so they could join the 4 UDT’s on shore. The island was fully secured by 0530, a full hour prior to the main seaborne invasion.
Although St. Marcouf was not occupied by the Germans, Corporal Harvey Olson was awarded the Silver Star for his bravery. Harvey Olson’s Silver Star citation reads, The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to Harvey Sigurd Olson (37023123), Sergeant, U.S. Army, for gallantry in action against the enemy while serving with Troop A, 4th Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized), on 6 June 1944, in France. On that date Sergeant Olson with one companion, displaying the highest courage in the face of unknown dangers, became one of the first American Soldiers of the ground forces to land on French soil. He volunteered for the mission of the landing on D-DAY on the Iles De St Marcouf, a strategically placed island commanding the beach where assault was to be made. Sergeant Olson and his companion paddled through heavy surf and mined waters in a small two-man rubber boat to within 100 yards of the island. Sergeant Olson then destroyed his craft by slashing it open, and swam the remaining distance armed only with a knife. Once on the island, which was heavily covered with anti-tank and anti- personnel mines, Sergeant Olson and his companion signaled the assault forces and marked the beach with lights.
Headquarters, VII Corps, General Orders No. 43 (1944).
Harvey Olson served twenty-two years in the service including during the Korean conflict. He died on September 6, 2002 in Hallock, MN at the age of eighty-one. Currently, the fortifications on St. Marcaouf that were believed to have been occupied by the Germans are falling into ruins. The association “les Amis de l’île du Large Saint-Marcouf” (Friends of Saint-Marcouf), has been preserving the island and is seeking donations to keep the project going. The association’s website is www.ilesaintmarcouf.com however, the site is in French. Thank you to Danielle Duboscq (mother of Trevor Standefer D-Day battlefield guide) for bringing this story to our attention.
Article submitted by :
James Oliveri, WW2 Legacy Keepers
D-Day & the Airborne Museum
Published Saturday, March 11, 2017 | New in Sainte Mere Eglise …at the Airborne Museum
On April 1st 2017 the Airborne Museum in Sainte Mere Eglise will inaugurate an new interactive touch screen desk, where you will be able to find out all the names of the American soldiers who were buried in the 3 (temporary) American gravesites where over 12000 to 15000 soldiers were layed to rest between 1944 and 1948.
French Normand lady putting flowers on a grave
Information at :
Airborne Museum
14, rue Eisenhower 50480 Sainte-Mère-Eglise
www.airborne-museum.org
communication@airborne-museum.
02 33 41 78 03
Normandy, D-Day landings and the 73rd anniversary celebrations
Published Friday, March 3, 2017 | June 2nd to June 8th
Quinéville
7 p.m.-22 p.m.: Late-night opening at World War II Museum.
Enjoy the evening and visit a reconstructed 1940’s street,
several vehicles and equipment and also
WW2 scale display with figurines and vehicles.
Organization: World War 2 Museum
phone : 0033 233 95 95 95
email : memorial.quineville@wanadoo.fr
What’s happening in Normandy with the D-Day celebrations
Published Wednesday, March 1, 2017 | Sunday June 4th
Near the “La Fière” bridge there’s a monument called Iron Mike,
it represents the spirt of the airborne paratrooper.
The same statue can be found at the entrance
of the airborne military base in Fayetteville NC
Iron Mike
2:15 p.m.: Ceremony at Iron Mike Monument
Organization: Townhall – 0033 233 41 31 18
Normandy, D-Day landings and the 73rd anniversary celebrations
Published Tuesday, February 28, 2017 | La Fière
Parachute drops at La Fière
(2 miles west of Sainte Mère Eglise, direction Picauville)
Sunday June 4th
11 a.m.: Great military and historic parachute drops
The roads will be closed to vehicles so get there early
by going either on foot or with your bicycle.
Information at the town hall of Sainte mere Eglise
Phone : 00 33 2 33 41 31 18
Email : mairie-sme@wanadoo.fr
The 73rd D-Day anniversary celebrations in Normandy
Published Friday, February 24, 2017 | Carentan
WW2 era vehicles military & civilian