A bit of a short update this time. Most of the time has gone into a new visitor guide to Sainte-Mère-Église and a new then and now image viewer, plus plenty more work going on behind the scenes on some new tools and features.
Guide to Sainte-Mère-Église
After my most recent visit to Normandy where I was based in Sainte-Mère-Église I decided to write a little guide to the town. It covers the church and its famous parachute effigy for Sergeant John Steele, the stained glass D-Day window inside, the Musée Airborne with its C-47 and Waco glider, and the town square, where the railings around the edge still carry bullet damage from the fighting on 6 June 1944. Along with some then and now from 1944 and the current day to help visualise what the town would have been like just after the invasion. If you're planning your own visit, it's all there with practical details on timing and parking too.
Read the Sainte-Mère-Église guide
21st Beach Recovery Section REME War Diary
The June 1944 war diary for the 21st Beach Recovery Section REME, is now on the site. Without units like this, the beaches would have ground to a halt within days. The section was responsible for recovery on Queen Red Beach, with operations extending to Roger Green as well, recovering vehicles that broke down, drowned, or were knocked out under fire.
They embarked from Gosport Hards and crossed the Channel on 6 June, disembarking over the following two days and settling into a bivouac area at Riva Bella. The rest of the month was a running battle against the sea and the enemy both. Persistent shelling and a storm mid-month between them cost the section two BARVs, a Scammell, and a D8 dozer, all drowned or damaged while trying to keep the beach clear.
Read the 21st Beach Recovery Section REME, June 1944 diary
A New Memorial at Buron
There's also a new place page for the memorial to the fallen of Buron, close to where fighting on 8 July 1944 saw the village fought over street by street. It's a photographic memorial, portraits of the men who died in and around the village, and it sits near the existing memorials to the Sherbrooke Fusiliers, the Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada, and the Highland Light Infantry, whose regiments bore the brunt of that day.
View the Fallen of Buron memorial
What's Coming
I'm continuing through the rest of the 21st Beach Recovery Section's diaries, so more of that story to come soon. The map archive has been on the back burner the last few weeks while I've been working on some new tools and resources for people researching WW2 history. Nothing to share on that yet, but I'm hoping to have more news soon.
As ever, thank you for supporting the site. It's what lets me keep adding more to the archive and keep the servers running.
Phil