2004 D-Day International Ceremony in Arromanches
60th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings
Sunday, June 6, 2004
Location – Time:
Caen, Côte de Nacre shopping center parking lot, 8:30 a.m.
A thick, fair-weather fog hangs over the Normandy countryside early on the morning of Sunday, June 6, 2004, a day eagerly awaited by many Normandy landing enthusiasts. The French Ministry of Defense, which has been responsible for distributing accreditations for the various international ceremonies for nearly three months, has given me a “pass,” which I wear around my neck. All guests to the international ceremony with a pass must report to the Côte de Nacre shopping center parking lot, north of Caen. There, several dozen coaches await veterans and guests to take them to the Arromanches-les-Bains site. Only vehicles with a pass (for cars, it’s a red identification badge) are then allowed to travel in Normandy.
After waiting a few hours in the parking lot, the sun appears, promising a beautiful day. Around 10:30 a.m., the gendarmes invite us to board the buses. At 11:00 a.m., the first convoy of four buses sets off. Two gendarmes on their motorcycles precede the convoy and take us onto the Caen-Bayeux highway, which is then closed to motorists from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. On each bridge over the highway, gendarmes or soldiers from the French Army, armed and equipped with radios, ensure the smooth running of operations. Because the security services are on edge: the personalities attending the Arromanches ceremony include none other than Her Majesty the Queen of England, the presidents of states George Bush, Jacques Chirac, Vladimir Putin…
Arromanches, orientation table, 11:35 a.m.
We arrive at the site where the long-awaited ceremony will take place a few hours later. At sea, we can already see the nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which also plays a role in ensuring the security of the activities. In the air, numerous Super Frelon, Puma, Super-Puma, Cougar, and Gazelle helicopters patrol throughout Calvados and Cotentin. On board are members of the GIGN, the elite French unit of the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, ready to intervene if necessary. On board each bus are a cadet from Saint-Cyr (a total of 85 cadets were present) and a cadet from the Naval Academy (whose 2003 class was fully represented, i.e., 80 cadets). Their duties will include accompanying and assisting the veterans.
The site where the Arromanches International Ceremony took place was being prepared for nearly two months before June 6, 2004. The tarmac surface was laid over a layer of rubber, which would be removed after the ceremony to allow the ground, rented from a local farmer for the occasion, to breathe again. A “parade square” was created, with three giant stands around its circumference, facing the artificial “Mulberry” harbor of Arromanches.
Veterans and guests were asked to sit on the stands provided for this purpose. Opposite us were three groups of interactive panels displaying the flags of the Allied countries. Each spectator received a bag containing snacks: sandwiches, biscuits, and yogurts. The French veterans in the stands are largely infantrymen who fought alongside the Allied armies after the landings in Provence on August 15, 1944. The arrival of the heads of state and government is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
Arromanches, orientation table, 1:00 p.m.
Between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., military bands from ten countries that took part in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, paraded on the parade ground. These bands allowed spectators to wait for the arrival of the officials. The Greek soldiers opened the ball, soon followed by military musicians from Czechoslovakia, then Belgian military musicians, and so on. Poland and Norway each sent a detachment of their honor guard to accompany the musicians. These men (remember that the vast majority of the Norwegian soldiers present on site were conscripts) performed a meticulous and impressive choreography that was loudly applauded by the ever-growing audience.
Arromanches, orientation table, 3:25 p.m.
The officials arrived at the ceremony site with the usual delay, in three coaches that stopped in front of the officials’ stands. Then, five minutes later, at 3:30 p.m., the heads of state arrived at the same location in their respective cars, each flanked by several dozen security vehicles. The officials immediately took their seats and awaited the President of the United States. At 3:45 p.m., George Bush arrived in front of the presidential podium, accompanied by the First Lady of the United States of America, Laura Bush.
Arromanches, orientation table, 3:50 p.m.
The French anti-aircraft frigate Cassard approaches the town of Arromanches, as musicians from the French Army and Air Force prepare to play their national anthem, the “Marseillaise.” This marks the beginning of the international ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of D-Day. All guests in the three officials’ stands are asked to stand, and the military musicians begin to play, while the Frigate Cassard, then in position, fires 21 gun salutes. The ceremony is officially open.
At 4:00 p.m., the witnesses of D-Day, the heroes we celebrate on this Sunday, June 6, 2004, exactly sixty years after the historic events, march past the guests. They are accompanied by French cadet officers and 14 flag bearers from the French Army, representing the 14 allied countries that took part in Operation Overlord. For several minutes, the crowd of guests rises and applauds these veterans who stand at attention, facing the stands. Veterans wipe away tears of emotion: generations of different origins applaud them because they are aware of living in a world different from what it was sixty years ago. A few minutes of applause later, the 142 veterans representing 14 different countries return to their seats. Only 14 of them remain standing, facing the audience and the cameras. These privileged few will receive, a few moments later, from the hands of the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac, the medal representing France’s highest distinction: the Legion of Honor. France thus honors those who fought for the liberation of its lands. The 14 decorated veterans then took their places of honor in front of the official stands.
Arromanches, orientation table, 4:25 p.m.
The French Head of State headed to the parade ground, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, to deliver France’s address. The parade ground, where the two military bands of the Army and Air Force are still located, then filled with numerous soldiers marching in front of the 6,000 guests from Arromanches. This marked the beginning of the ground military parade, led by American soldiers from the 6th Battalion, 52nd Ground-to-Air Artillery Section, in memory of the veterans of Omaha Beach. They were followed by the Light Dragoons, 13th/18th Royal Hussars of the United Kingdom, as well as other military representatives from the countries that took part in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944. A section of a Marine infantry regiment represented France.
Four American A-10 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers, based in Germany, seemed to close this very impressive parade. But, as the naval military parade began, the Patrouille de France with its Alphajets arrived over the historic site of Arromanches: immediately, the blue, white, and red plumes filled the Normandy sky. They were immediately applauded by the crowd of veterans and guests.
It was while the French bagad of Lann-Bihoué began playing again in front of the stands that the naval parade began, which we could see on the two giant screens in front of us. The images, taken from a helicopter hovering over the remains of the artificial harbor of Arromanches, show warships of various origins: the Canadian frigate Charlottetown leads the naval parade, followed by the British guided-missile destroyer HMS Gloucester, the American frigate USS Ross, the oiler Wave Knight, two Belgian Navy minehunters, two Norwegian minehunters, and a Dutch landing craft transport.
The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, although a few hundred meters from the other ships, did not take part in the naval parade. It was tasked with monitoring the commemorations.
After this parade of the three armies, a show by Daniel Charpentier begins on the parade ground which, through a ballet of actors dressed in black, symbolizes the war years from 1939 to 1945. The giant screens show images of the Second World War. And at the moment when the spectators can see on the screens the aerial bombardments preceding the Normandy landings, a squadron composed of a Douglas C-47, a B-24 Liberator, a P-51 Mustang and a Spitfire, flies over the official stands. The synchronization is very impressive.
During the show, the actors regularly stepped aside as the music stopped. They made way for guest speakers such as singer Patricia Kass, who came to perform the Hymn to Love, and the director of the Caen Peace Memorial, Jacques Belin, who came to deliver a message to young people: “They must not forget the feats of arms of their elders.”
At the end of the show, actors presented bouquets of flowers to the 14 veterans who had just been awarded the Legion of Honor. They were deeply touched by this simple but moving gesture.
And it was the Patrouille de France that closed the international ceremony marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy. It performed a magnificent final burst just above the parade ground, leaving long plumes of white smoke in the sky.
Applause rang out from all the official stands, saluting the veterans, the work of the Patrouille de France, and the excellent conduct of the ceremony. The spectators also expressed their joy at having attended one of the most important celebrations of the beginning of the 21st century, in honor of those who, one morning in June 1944, landed in the cold and din of battle to liberate Europe from the yoke of Nazi barbarity. Through the sacrifices of young men from distant horizons, the Allied forces enabled civilian populations to live once again in peace, which we also celebrated this Sunday, June 6, 2004.
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