The weather today followed the tremendous thunderstorms of last night. Although dry in the morning, more thunderstorms were due in the afternoon.
Isigny-sur-Mer, the town I am staying in, is famous for its milk products, such as cream, butter and caramels. It is very well known in Normandy for Ice Cream and has a factory outlet which I had to try today. The factory ice cream shop opened at 1pm and there was a large queue. I can confirm they do make fantastic ice cream.
I visited a couple of landmarks today, in the American sector.
The church at Angoville-du-Plain was the scene of an intense battle on D-Day. The 101st US Airborne were tasked to cut an important route near the small hamlet of Angoville. Two US Army medics from the 501st regiment, Bob Wright and Ken Moore, set up an aid station in the church. They treated over 80 soldiers, both American and German, as well as one child. The pews were used as makeshift beds and the bloodstains from the wounded can still be seen today. The two medics scoured the battlefield for wounded and would not allow any weapons in the church. Two days after the battle, two Germans appeared from hiding in the belfry and promptly surrendered.
The church at Sainte Marie du Mont was used by the Germans as an observation point. From the tower they could see to the beach of Utah. In the early hours of D-Day, the 101st Airborne fought to take the village and skirmishes lasted all day. At 6pm the local priest heard a sneeze from the confession box, he quickly found one of the American soldiers who emptied his magazine into the wooden box. Two hiding German’s quickly surrendered.
I hope the weather is slightly better tomorrow and will update my travels around the battlefield
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog entries. Keep up the good work.
What an interesting experience you are having. Well done Callum