D-DAY – JUNE 6, 1944
« Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you… I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! » — General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Such were the words of General Eisenhower as the troops headed off for the greatest amphibian landing ever. FUSAC remembers their sacrifice on the 80th anniversary. Thank you veterans.
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For 2024 a town in Montana, renowned for blue ribbon trout streams, pays a special tribute to General Eisenhower who was an avid fly fisherman.
June 6th, 2024 is the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. In Bayeux town a few kilometers from the Normandy beaches there stands a bronze statue honoring General Dwight Eisenhower, chief of the Allied armies and orchestrator of the D-Day landings.
Ike was also an avid fly fisherman.
Commemorations around the Eisenhower statue in Bayeux 2023
John Vandenbos (aka Mr FUSAC) spends time in both Bozeman, Montana and in the Normandy region of France, particularly the town of Bayeux. When he’s there he honors Ike, fisherman to fisherman, by tying a dry fly to the wrist of the General’s bronze statue. These honorific shenanigans have hit a nerve with the locals who sometimes ask if the General still has his fly. « Le Général a-t-il toujours sa mouche ? » they ask when driving by. If the wind breaks it off they ask that John return to Bayeux to tie on a fresh fly, previously dipped in the Yellowstone River, naturellement, to his arm.
John Erdmann, on the right, with his flies and colleagues at Faar Automotive Bozeman, Montana
It’s a fun story that John wanted to elaborate on for the big commemorations of D-Day in 2024. He collaborated with another John, John Erdmann, a fly tyer (and mechanic at Faar Automotive) in Bozeman. Erdmann created 8 special flies in honor of the General for the 80th anniversary. It’s a small Montana city’s contribution to a world event! John V. carried the flies to France in February where they have begun their adventure. On June 6th they’ll be laid at the base of Ike’s statue alongside the many official commemorative wreaths the time to take souvenir photos. Then, who knows where they’ll end up?
The flies created by John Erdmann at the foot of the Eisenhower Statue in Bayeux
The flies’ new home could be in city hall, the local library, in a local baker’s shop window, in a display case of the association of Normand fly fishers, or at home with Susan Eisenhower, Ike’s granddaughter, who will be in Bayeux to mark the event.
In France one soon learns that it is next to impossible to plan these things in advance and better not to do so. You rely on instinct and opportunity and you fly by the seat of Ike’s pants.
Listen to Bozeman KSKY morning radio host talk about the Eisenhower Flies.
Once all the hullabaloo of the 80th anniversary dies down and the dignitaries leave we reccommend you visit the D-Day beaches with a base in Bayeux. It’s a sort of pilgrimage and a moving experience even if you don’t have a direct connection to the event. It is one of those places you have to visit at least once in your life. This place and this event changed the world.
General Christopher Cavoli appreciates the flies as a tribute to Eisenhower’s human side.
US soldiers retie the annual fly on the general’s statue’s wrist.
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The sites we find the most moving include the Point du Hoc, Arromanches and Omaha Beach.
The relatively new British Normandy Memorial coupled with the silhouettes of Standing with Giants makes this space the most moving, poignant and inspiring spot on the coast. It is also very windy. The view of the port of Arromanches in the distance is lovely as well.
The memorial records the names of the 22,442 servicemen and women under British command who fell on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944. These includes people from more than 30 different countries. Inscribed in stone, their names have never, until now, been brought together. The site also includes a French Memorial, dedicated to the memory of French civilians. A beautiful opening in the wall looks through to the sea where the soldiers came ashore on June 6, 1944 changing the course of history.
“TO US IS GIVEN THE HONOUR OF STRIKING A BLOW FOR FREEDOM WHICH WILL LIVE IN HISTORY AND IN THE BETTER DAYS THAT LIE AHEAD MEN WILL SPEAK WITH PRIDE OF OUR DOINGS.”
–General Sir Bernard Montgomery Commander in Chief, Allied Land Forces Personal message to all forces 5 June 1944
The soldiers are currently represented by silhouettes placed amongst the wildflower meadows (with a border of crocheted poppies) that surround the memorial. Both the silhouettes and poppies are provided by the British grassroots Standing with Giants project.
Standing with Giants have installed a staggering 1,475 silhouettes in an installation titles ‘For Your Tomorrow’. The 1,475 giants reflect the number of servicemen who died serving under British command on D-Day itself. The public will be able to see this installation at The British Normandy Memorial , 13 Av. Paul Poret, 14114 Ver-sur-Mer, France as part of the D-Day 80 commemorations until 31st August 2024.
The silhouettes of Standing with Giants at the British Normandy Memorial
For an off the beaten track site to include in your visit to the D-Day beaches stop at the Maisy Battery. Discovered and revealed by Brit Gary Sterne who owns the property, Maisy is a story hidden from the usual recounts of D-Day history. Here you can visit and underground hospital and the battery that wreaked so much havoc on D-Day on both Utah and Omaha Beaches. Gary wrote a two volume book about this site that he has researched extensively since 2004. He can also, if you book in advance, give you a personal tour of the site. Learn more.
The Hotel Belle Normandy is a very comfortable place to stay in a historic, renovated school and can help you organize transportation to the beaches, cemeteries and surrounding towns. Even though the main reason to travel to this area is D-Day. There are plenty of non-war-related things to visit too. The medieval city of Bayeux is also the home of the very special Bayeux Tapestry. Bayeux is also home to remarkable trees. « The Weeping Beech of Bayeux » is in the botanical garden. This tree won second place as The European Tree of the Year for 2024. The Liberty Tree in a square at the rear of the cathedral is a symbol of the French Revolution and still stands where it was first planted in 1792. It is the center of a sound and light show in the summer. There is a museum of lace too.
Technology was a huge part of the war. While in Normandy we visited for the first time the Radar Museum on a hill outside the lovely town of Douvres-La Delivrande. We had a very informative tour by Bernard who is a passionate volunteer and researcher. He held his audience rapt (in French) for an hour and a half describing the developments and importance of radar from inside the command post. This museum has some of the best diaramas and models we’ve seen. One shows the building of a bunker.
Alan Turing was another key part of wartime technonogy. Just published this year is the graphic novel Alain Turing. This masterful work (in French) describes the life of the man who solved the Enigma machine by creating his own machine (the first computer?) and shortened the war by at least 2 years. 2024 is the 70th anniversary of his death.
ALAN TURING La vie et les pensées intimes d’un génie des mathématiques. Alan Turing est surtout connu pour avoir réussi à décoder les messages cryptés par la machine nazie Enigma. Mais que sait-on réellement de l’homme derrière le savant ? Élevé loin de ses parents, Alan Turing est peu adapté aux rapports humains. C’est la rencontre à l’adolescence de son premier amour, Chris, qui l’ouvre au monde. Autour de leur passion partagée pour la science se noue une complicité fusionnelle. Mais lorsque Chris disparaît quelques années plus tard, Alan se lance corps et âme dans la recherche et deviendra un atout majeur pour les Alliés pendant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Rythmée par le procès qui finira par condamner son homosexualité, la bande-dessinée Alan Turing retrace de manière intime, dans sa complexité et ses contingences, la vie d’un génie qui a marqué notre Histoire. Auteurs: Maxence Collin, François Rivière, Dessinateur : Aleksi Cavaillez, Publisher: Casterman
For further reading about D-Day we highly recommend the book The Guns at Last Light by Rick Atkinson which came out in 2013. A very readable account of D-Day by a historian including vast details and overviews. Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose, also a series, is another must on your reading list.
Chroniques du Débarquement et de la Libération par Emmanuel Thiébot (Editions Larousse) qui est l’historien au Mémorial de Caen et spécialiste de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Son livre de 350 photos, 30 fac-similiés, des textes clairs et passionnants est une référence absolue pour comprendre et revivre cette période. De cet épisode majeur de l’histoire nous sont parvenus des témoignages bouleversants qui racontent l’atrocité des combats, mais aussi des lettre émouvantes qui disent l’espoir d’un monde nouveau.
Omaha de Norman Ginzberg (editions Héloise d’Ormesson) est un roman; un récit poignant des quelques jours où se scella l’issue des combats, Omaha nous livre sans concession ni manichéisme tous les visages de la guerre, chaque camp ayant sont lot de pleutres et de héros, de monstres et de braves. L’histoire et celle de Walton et Karl Zimmermann qui sont deux frères que tout oppose. Walton, a quitté Chicago, les terrains de base-ball et sa fiancé pour répondre à l’ appel de l’Oncle Sam et débarque sous le feu nourri des Allemands le 6 juin 1944. Karl, enrôlé dans les Jeunesses hitlériennes dès 1938, s’apprête à affronter les troupes alliées à la tête d’un colonne de Panzer SS. L’auteur Norman Ginzberg, longtemps journaliste, est le fils d’un soldat américain qui a débarqué le Jour J à Omaha Beach.
Commemorative Camemberts