Nearly two million people visit sites linked to the history of the landings and the Battle of Normandy each year. A tourism of memory which highlights a renewed interest in these significant events of the Second World War, which led to the liberation of France from the Nazi yoke.
In the heart of the small town of Arromanches, on the Normandy coast, the Landing Museum, facing the sea, is brand new. It was opened last year after a major construction and redevelopment project to replace the old museum, which, opened in 1954, was the first of its kind in the region.
Tourists who come to visit take the opportunity to browse the souvenir shops dedicated to D-Day or to take a photo near a Sherman tank typical of the period. Many stroll along the beach, which was codenamed “Gold” on June 6, 1944, to get a closer look at the remains of Mulberry Harbor, imposing infrastructure brought from England after June 6, 1944 to build a floating port. It was through it that Allied supplies and the thousands of soldiers needed to stand up to German troops during the Battle of Normandy passed.
In this year of the 80e anniversary of the landing, the museum is more popular than ever, like the dozens of other sites which are part of this memory tourism circuit which stretches along the coast, which saw 155,000 soldiers land at first day of the campaign to liberate France, but also inland, where deadly and destructive fighting raged for nearly three months.
“The enthusiasm is there and there are more and more people,” says Emmanuel Allain, manager of the D-Day Expérience museum, located in Saint-Côme-du-Mont. “To give you an example: with the historic house museum alone which served as a command post for a German regiment during the war, we barely had 20,000 entries around 2009. Since then, we have added two buildings, with the simulator flight which allows you to discover what crossing the Channel was like for the parachutists and the cinema room where two documentaries are shown in 3D and in five languages. And last year we had 170,000 visitors. »
The memory of the war against the Hitler regime in Normandy did not always attract crowds, underlines Mr. Allain. “I remember the 40e anniversary, where very few of us celebrated the date. But for the 50e anniversary, there had been huge international media hype and awareness of what the Allies had done in Normandy. And since then, things have continued to progress. The 75e birthday was very big and we expect it to be even bigger this year. We see reservations constantly increasing. »
Vice-president for tourism and attractiveness for the Normandy region, Nathalie Porte agrees. “The figures show very clearly that this theme is not about to die out. There is a craze which is accentuated this year by the 80e anniversary, which will be the last in the presence of veterans. But there is also a desire on the part of the local population and communities to make this history known, to introduce it in particular to young people. »
“The Second World War is very present, with numerous films and a plethora of documentaries,” adds Emmanuel Allain to explain the enthusiasm which continues, even if the veterans disappear. “Normandy is very well known for this, and younger generations have had a lot of contact with video games which depicted this war. All this makes people want to come to Normandy, especially since there are still several vestiges and testimonies from this period. »
UNESCO beaches?
According to data provided by Mme Porte, around two million tourists visit sites linked to the landings and the Battle of Normandy each year. It must be said that they are spoiled for choice, with no less than 44 museums, 21 memorials and 29 cemeteries in this region alone.
The most visited site is the American cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer, located very close to the infamous Omaha beach, nicknamed “Bloody Omaha”, where 9,387 soldiers killed in Normandy rest. It is ahead of Pointe du Hoc, this rocky cape on the coast which was taken by American soldiers who managed to climb along the cliff on the morning of June 6, at the cost of heavy losses. Many bunkers can be visited and the landscape is still dotted with craters having been created by the bombing of the site.
In addition to the multiple museums which recount different phases of Operation Overlord and which present a panoply of military equipment from the Allies and the Germans, tanks from both camps and even landing craft – like the one we see at start of the movie We have to save the soldier Ryan —, other less known sites can be visited. This is the case of the Pegasus Bridge, which spans the Caen Canal and which was the scene of the first clash on D-Day, around midnight on the night of June 5 to 6. It was taken by British soldiers who arrived in gliders.
Director of exhibitions at the Juno Beach Center, Marie-Ève Vaillancourt hopes that the five landing beaches (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword) can be listed as UNESCO world heritage sites. The process, launched in 2008, has still not been successful, despite a recent report from the UN institution raising the possibility of classifying sites “associated with memories of recent conflicts”. “This recognition would attract even more visitors, but it would also be important in terms of protecting the sites,” explains Emmanuel Allain. It is true that pressures have emerged in recent years in the Juno Beach sector, where 15,000 Canadians landed on D-Day and where 340 of them were killed (more than 5,000 during the Battle of Normandy, on the some 37,000 deaths among the Allies). A private real estate project has been blocked in the area in 2022.
Certain symbols of the Normandy military campaign have also become real trademarks. This is the case in the small town of Sainte-Mère-Église, where the tourist economy revolves around the symbol of the paratroopers who were sent into combat in the hours preceding the landing, as we can see in the series Brothers in arms. You can even buy parachute-shaped biscuits there, created by the local biscuit factory.
It must be said that this is where, on the night of June 6, American paratroopers were dropped in order to take control. One of them, John Steele, even hung from the church bell tower for a few hours. And today, in tribute to this soldier featured in the film The longest day, a mannequin representing a parachutist is permanently hung from the bell tower. The souvenir shops also take up this theme and the war museum, which has just been renovated, is dedicated to airborne operations.
The overall objective, whatever the site, is to ensure that this important part of history does not fall into oblivion, underlines Nathalie Porte. “Each site has its purpose and we ensure the quality of the content presented there. We must not forget that there are visitors today who know nothing about this period of history. There is an economic issue, but also the need to make this event known and not to forget this history, in particular the memory of those who came to die on the beaches of Normandy to liberate France. Without being too crude, we don’t want to sugarcoat it either. We must therefore transmit this message to remember what war is, especially in the current global context. »