Probably the most well known of the five landing beaches is Omaha. The depiction in the 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan", gave it widespread notoriety for the carnage that ensued on the 6th June 1944.
Those in the know say it is one of the most realistic portrayals of warfare ever captured on film. It's hard to comprehend this nowadays as the scene is largely that of any European coastal town. When you make it to the top of the rising landscape it's very different to any other resort.

The American cemetery in Normandy is right at the top of the climb and is an amazing sight. Row upon row of pristine gravestones in a sea of immaculate grass meet the eye. There are less burials here than at the German cemetery in La Cambe, but the effect is much more striking due to every soldier having an individual marker. There are over 9,300 graves, with a memorial containing the carved names of over 1500 men of whom no trace could be found. The whole site is vast. It took us a good 20 minutes to walk down and back along the paths around the perimeter.

Colleville-sur-Mer American Cemetery

Colleville-sur-Mer American Cemetery

The view from the edge of the cemetery

At the summit of the bluffs

At the base of the bluffs

The view from the sea

The Atlantic Wall

At the summit of the bluffs

At the summit of the bluffs