Monument to the Royal Engineers at Arromanches Saint-Combe-de-Fresne France
N 49° 20.351 W 000° 36.977
30U E 673156 N 5467895
This granite monument honors the Royal Engineers and their efforts during World War II, but in particular the D-Day Invasions.
Waymark Code: WMMQDJ
Location: Normandie, France
Date Posted: 10/25/2014
Views: 22
Gold Beach is one of five beaches involved in the D-Day invasions of Normandy that occurred early in the morning of June 6, 1944 when about 156,000 Allied soldiers landed on 5 beaches on the coast of Normandy, France.
The 5 beaches were Gold Beach, Juno Beach, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, and Sword Beach, these being the locations of two American, one Canadian and two British landing points.
At this location at Arromanches, you are able to look down at a stretch of Gold Beach and the site of the Mulberry Harbour; the Germans were well entrenched on top of the bluffs, in fact the the large base from one of the German radar stations is just a few thousand yards from this monument. The Allied forces developed a multi-pronged invasion for 6 June 1944, which included bringing a huge amount of supplies into the invading troups from Mulberry harbour. This required the building of a port, so the Allied engineers built concrete pontoons (caissons) which were towed across the channel and sunk to provide the outer perimeter of a port. Of the 115 pontoons that were used in the invasion, 20 can still be seen when looking down at Gold Beach from here.
This monument honors the work and dedication of the Royal Engineers and the incredible job they provided.
SOURCES:
www.engineering-timelines.com/who/Maunsell_G/maunsellGuy5.asp
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www.haworth-village.org.uk/360/1940/arromanches-002.asp
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wikitravel.org/en/D-Day_beaches
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en.tracesofwar.com/article/23548/Memorial-Royal-Engineers.htm
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visit link)