The Normandy American Cemetery and Monument was established at Colleville-sur-Mer to honor American troops who died in Europe during World War Two. The cemetery covers 172 acres and contains the remains of 9,387 Americans.
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A B-17 comes in over the English Channel before rising up over the cliffs at Omaha Beach. After D-Day, cousin Mike co-piloted a B-17 which had been converted for strafing and carried 13 machine guns all pointed forward, each with 1,000 rounds of ammo. They strafed anything with a swastika on it and this included cars, tanks, trucks, trains, soldiers, planes, bunkers, or anything which looked ‘good’. Of special interest were cars with flags on the fenders. This was how Rommel’s car was strafed.
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RAF Thorpe Abbotts is home to the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum. The 100th came to be known as the “Bloody 100th”, after losing 12+ aircraft each on 8 missions over Germany. The 100th flew its last mission over Germany on April 10, 1945. About 5 acres near the control tower have been preserved, but the runways have been returned to farming. The 100th Bomb Group Museum looks like no other airfield I visited as it gets thoroughly policed daily and the buildings have been restored and kept in mint condition.
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RAF Lavenham was home to the 487th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and flew B-24 Liberators and B-17 Flying Fortresses of the Mighty Eighth Air Force. It began operations in May 1944 in preparation for D-Day, when the 487th BG assisted Allied ground forces. The largest raid of the war was launched from Lavenham as part of a mission with 2,100 bombers and 725 fighters. USAAF Lavenham is entirely returned to farming and the control tower is now a nicely preserved home.
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