U.S. Airborne and La Haye du Puits

Today we continued looking at the American sector and the continued slow, deadly progress in the Cherbourg peninsula. Over the course of the first weeks of the Normandy campaign, the Americans took on tactics which were more lethal for the Germans, but also, unfortunately, for the French civilians. We spent some time in St. Lo where the pictures show the entire town was leveled. The decisions to change tactics was not one of haste or indifference, but of a measured choice which produced the least awful consequences.

Finally, we visited a chapel in Angoville-au-Plain where two medicss saved more than 80 lives. The story was told by our tour guide, Paul Woodadge, who wrote a book about this highly emotional story. “Angels of Mercy” is a story with many heartbreaking aspects, but there is also a lot of bravery, love and faith in it.