For unsuspecting tourists, the scene may seem surprising. Along the national 13 which connects Caen to the coasts of Cotentin, in Normandy, military jeeps dating from the Second World War rub shoulders with electric cars and brand new road transport trucks. At the beginning of June 2024, these vehicles filled with soldiers in American military uniforms take motorists eighty years back in time, during the famous Allied Landings on the region’s beaches. As they approach Sainte-Mère-Eglise, one of the first communes in France to be liberated on June 6, 1944, their presence becomes increasingly dense. This Tuesday, June 4, the exit leading to the small village is even completely blocked by a motley line of American halftracks, military cargo ships, private vehicles and tourist buses.
Kilometer after kilometer, dozens of panels invite visitors to discover memorials, museums or immersive experiences around “D-Day”, while in the heart of Norman villages, small local events, commemoration ceremonies and themed balls can be counted by the hundreds. Many residents have, for the occasion, displayed an American flag in their window or on the mirrors of their car, while merchants have, for weeks already, drawn welcoming messages in acrylic on their windows, decorating the “Welcome!” [“Bienvenue !”] sketches of smiling paratroopers or soldiers. For the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the entire Normandy seems to have been adorned with American colors.
But this American-Norman love story is not limited to the months of June or the annual celebrations of this part of history. For eighty years, an unbreakable link has linked the region to the United States, maintained by an impressive network of local associations, cultural events and tourist investments. “The history of the Second World War and this relationship with the United States are very important for our region: remembrance tourism is clearly the locomotive of the territory,” summarizes Amélie Renou, director of the Baies du Tourist Office. Cotentin. With 94 memorial sites and places to visit, including 44 museums, 21 memorials and natural sites and 29 cemeteries, Normandy has been able to capitalize on its history, and has established itself, for eight decades, as a tourist destination “deeply linked to the field of memory”, even underlines a study on the subjectpublished by the region in 2023.
“Very strong relationships”
This work of memory, initiated in 1945 in Normandy, has never ceased to arouse American and international interest. “From the day after the war, very strong relationships were established between certain municipalities in Manche and Cotentin and American towns, particularly through temporary cemeteries,” recalls Christophe Prime, historian specializing in the Second World War and responsible for collections at the Caen Memorial. In certain villages, these tombs hastily erected by the American army become bridges connecting the families of American victims to the inhabitants of French communities. The photo of Simone Renaud, wife of the mayor of Sainte-Mère-Eglise, appears on the cover of the American magazine life, shortly after June 6, 1944. The Frenchwoman, photographed covering the graves of soldiers with flowers, moved America. From then on, Simone Renaud became a symbol of Franco-American friendship, maintaining relations between the inhabitants of her town and the victims’ families until her death through correspondence or pilgrimages.
Same success for the American cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer, opened in 1956, which quickly became a major place of pilgrimage for American veterans or their families. “Over time, associations were formed to continue to welcome Americans, American and French cities were twinned, economic support programs were even put in place, as was the case between the city of Locust Valley, in the suburbs of New York, and Sainte-Mère-Eglise,” says Christophe Prime. But in the first years following D-Day, returns to the site of American veterans remained rare, limited by the cost of the trip and the psychological weight of the war. “Many of these soldiers were very young at the time of the D-Day landings: they resumed their studies in the United States, got married, had children… They neither really wanted nor really had the means to return to these places”, underlines the historian.
“Constant Boiling”
In 1962, an event will considerably popularize the story of the D-Day landings, and unlock the discourse of veterans in France and the United States: the release of the film The longest day, based on the novel by Cornelius Ryan published in 1959, was a huge success on both sides of the Atlantic. In France, the feature film recorded more than 9 million admissions in 1964, two years after its release – and nearly 12 million since. “In the midst of the Cold War, this film has a real propaganda effect. Coupled with the images shot at the time of the D-Day landings by countless war correspondents and the increasingly numerous commemorations, it serves as a real political forum in the United States, particularly on the values of freedom and democracy”, explains Christophe Prime. “There has since been a real use of D-Day by the United States depending on the geopolitical context. In 1984, in the middle of the Star Wars between the United States and Russia, Ronald Reagan, for example, went to the forefront of Hoc climbed by American rangers, and takes up the notions of courage, freedom, democracy… It’s not a coincidence”, he adds.
According to the historian, the world of culture has largely taken over this part of History since the 1960s. “Books, films, series, geopolitical decipherments come out every year on the subject, it is a constant boiling point, we can no longer get through it,” he believes. From the very famous We have to save the soldier Ryan (1998) to the series Band of Brothers (2001) – both by Steven Spielberg -, including hits of French variety like the Made in Normandy of Stone and Charden or the organization of the Deauville American film festival since 1975, popular culture acts like a magnet for French and international tourists. “Some tourists ask to know the true story of the parachutist who fell on the bell tower of Sainte-Mère-Eglise, the main character of the Longest day. Others ask to see the grave of Captain Miller, a character from Spielberg’s film who never existed!” laughs Christophe Prime.
78 million euros invested in 10 years
Beyond the blockbusters, the painstaking work of local associations makes it possible, above all, on the ground, to sustainably safeguard these long-standing links with the families of American veterans and to arouse the interest of tourists from around the world. “What keeps the territory alive are these associations which all have a specific hero, a particular cause, which erect steles, monuments, organize events almost everywhere. It is extremely precious”, argues Aurélie Renou. In her community of communes alone, the director of the Tourist Office identified more than 55 different ceremonies during the ten days of festivity linked to the 80th anniversary of the Landing.
The US Normandy – Memory and Gratitude association, chaired by Eric Labourdette, has tirelessly told tourists, for 25 years, the details of the Battle of Normandy. “We are organizing memory trails to return to the places where the paratroopers of the 101st and 82nd American Airborn landed, we explain what happened in each hedge, in each hamlet,” explains the president, who receives, delighted, many American soldiers, but also British, Dutch, German and Spanish tourists. The deputy mayor of the town of Carentan-les-Marais, Sébastien Lesné, also insists on the need to preserve these links which unite the region with the history of the Landing. Each year, the town supports meeting projects between American soldiers and residents, sports tournaments, international exchanges, etc. As part of D-Day, for example, 400 American soldiers are housed at the town’s racecourse, while 300 families of veterans were welcomed by locals for a memory dinner a few days ago.
“There is also a real institutional relationship between the region and the American army, with very significant availability and logistics on the part of the US Army: soldiers, veterans and generals are present at every ceremony, every year . The link does not break,” adds Aurélie Renou. At the same time, the colossal investment of the territory in the various museums and memorial sites – more than 78 million euros in ten years, according to the study carried out by the Normandy region – allows memory tourism to never run out of steam. In 2022, 5.52 million visits were recorded on the Battle of Normandy visit sites, a level close to that observed before the health crisis… Which constitutes a real economic lifeblood for the region. In 2022, the turnover of operators of memorial sites reached 25.2 million euros, and the total consumption of visitors on site exceeded 700 million euros. In total, the theme of memory tourism in Normandy would generate 8,410 direct and indirect jobs. “It is a driving force, which ensures this passing of memory and gives a second wind to this part of History,” believes Christophe Prime. The bet seems successful: at the Baies du Cotentin Tourist Office alone, Aurélie Renou expects to receive “30 to 50%” additional visitors during the 10 days of festivity for the 80th anniversary of the Landing.
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