The Answer my Friend is Blowin’ in the Wind

June 6th, 2009
The 65th anniversary of the Normandy D-Day Landings. Today there is a special, almost light-hearted atmosphere amongst the Normandy peoples and attendees, no matter what nationality. There is a calm, peaceful feeling with an underlying theme of expectant happiness, like a child about to receive an award. Everyone is happy. Strangers nod and exchange greetings and although it appears solemn, the feeling is of bon homie. Today the tour guides are resting – no one, unless invited, can visit the main sites of Normandy Landing Beaches on June 6th because of the security provisions preceding the visits of high level politicians and Heads of State. It is a deep irony that the security guards exclude the presence of the very people who made the occasion possible, unless they have been lucky enough to get a pass.

Preparations had been in progress for several weeks at the Normandy American Cemetery at Colleville-Sur-Mer, above Omaha Beach. Huge trucks curiously bearing license plates from Holland and Germany are seen to arrive to unload their cargoes of marquees, tables, chairs, matting, portaloos by the hundreds and all kinds of gear. Great sections of the car park are covered by hospitality units and roadies rush about, some with fork-lifts. Permanent cemetery signs saying “Silence and respect” are acutely violated. The Reflecting pool is drained and replaced by a raised platform supported by scaffolding. Media camera towers are set up and small groups of important looking people huddle together and run around the Cemetery like so many flocks of geese. The wreaths have arrived. The cost of all of this will be measured in millions.

One wonders what the permanent residents must think of this, if they could see it.

June 6th each year is usually just another day at the German Military Cemetery at La Cambe. No razzmatazz, ceremony or important people visit here. The people of this nation did not win the war and thus no commemoration is appropriate. This cemetery is distinguishable by the almost complete absence of colour. The sombre dark tablets blend with the grass and trees to create parkland. However, for the first time thousands of metal cornets bearing a sea of white flowers are seen in abundance, sporadically placed at the foot of grave tablets. The heart gives a lilt of expectation. This is a scene of great beauty, like a first fall of snow. Why only some, and not all? The answer quickly becomes apparent. Each bunch has been placed against the grave of “Ein Deutcher Soldat” a soldier, only months before a boy, whose life and identity have been removed by war.

The corporate wreath, or the simple posy of flowers?

The ceremonial trappings at the American Military Cemetery at Colleville were removed in a few days leaving the grounds as beautiful as before. The trucks hauled their cargoes away to attend some other festival. Today, as I write three weeks later the flowers still wave in the breeze at the German Military Cemetery at La Cambe.

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Omaha Beach

Aptly named "Bloody Omaha", Omaha Beach was the codename for one of the five principal landing points of the Allied invasion on the early morning of June 6th 1944. It is approximately 4 miles long, embracing and overlooked by the communes of Vierville sur Mer, St Laurent sur Mer and Colleville sur Mer

Fom June 6th 1944 to June 6th 2009 - The 65th Anniversary

The sun rose early on the morning of June 6th 2009 and illuminated the usually sleepy village of Arromanches-les-Bains, burning rays of sea-flecked daylight through the holes in the 65 year old concrete caissons, now resting majestically on the seabed of Gold Beach, and acting as a lasting homage to the once bustling Mulberry Harbour. The local shop-owners arise with a spring in their step, and ready themselves and their wares for the tumult of trade, excitement and festivities that experience assures them will arrive the following day.

As the D-Day and Omaha themed shops overlooking the Normandy Landing Beach begin to open their doors, the die-hard World War II enthusiasts, many even older than John Wayne in The Longest Day, begin to arrive sporting (often tightly fitting) original or replica uniforms. The influx of renovated military vehicles (many of which mysteriously disappeared after the end of the war) are eased out of retirement and begin to clank, grind and chunter their way down the narrow, winding roads eventually creating the largest gathering of World War II vehicles in this area since June 6th 1944, D-Day itself. These are accompanied by columns of motorcycles - most bearing the well known name of Harley Davidson but also many once-proud British producers such as Norton, BSA and Matchless. This procession is accompanied by Tannoy speakers blaring songs by Gracie Fields and rousing de Souza marches.

Later in the day when ambling along the streets and weaving through the crowds, the striking insignia of the Screaming Eagle of the 101st Airborne Division is seen staring up from the epaulette of a 6 year old boy who marches past with a toy gun on his shoulder. But none of this inaccuracy or parody matters when one is submersed in the energy and camaraderie of the occasion. It is a light-hearted celebration of democratic freedom, the luxury of which is often taken for granted today.

If you managed to escape the gridlock of Arromanches and headed westward toward other poignant D-Day landing sites in the American landing sector such as La Pointe-du-Hoc, one would encounter, along the winding Bocage Lanes, groups of veteran vehicles smoking their progress with dignity - like a museum on the move.

The American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-mer above Omaha beach was once again heavily defended - although this time not by the Nazis - but by President Obama’s security retinue. This was to protect President Obama, President Sarkosi, and Prime Minister Brown who would congregate alongside the remaining Veterans at the cemetery, not just for political kudos, but also as symbols of the respect due to the soldiers who so bravely fought for our freedom.

An account from Aline, of the Mulberry Hotel in Arromanches, the evening saw an impressive display of fireworks and lights along the ancient coastline - surely the like of which has not been seen for 65 years.

The Normandy Veterans Association (NVA) has an understandably decreasing membership and decided the 65^th Anniversary was to be their last big occasion. This added an element of finality to the celebrations, the end of an era dominated by a great generation that has a firm foundation in history.