Controversy surrounds the creation of the mythical sector of the D-Day landing beaches.
- 8 April 2013
The facts: On 8 April 2013, six tourist offices in Normandy took the initiative to create the “Mythical D-Day Landing Beaches Sector,” relying on tourist numbers and figures from tour operators. As a result, some of the landing beaches and airborne sectors are not included, notably the eastern part of Juno Beach, Sword Beach, and the sector of the 6th Airborne Division north of Caen.
This initiative was undertaken without consulting either the Lower Normandy Regional Council or the Normandy Memory and D-Day Committee associations, which are already involved in tourism and commemoration issues for all the municipalities affected by the landings and the Battle of Normandy.
Reactions: Léon Gautier, president of the Kieffer Commando Veterans Association, has already protested against this initiative, as has Admiral Brac de La Perrière, president of the Normandy-Memory Association and the D-Day Commemoration Committee.
The “forgotten” municipalities have expressed their strong dissatisfaction in the regional press with this poorly planned and disrespectful decision. The affected tourist offices maintain, in their defense, that they are simply promoting tourism, not history.
Marc Laurenceau, webmaster of the D-Day Overlord website, comments: With this initiative, the six tourist offices (Bayeux Intercom, Bessin Seulles et Mer Tourisme, Carentan Marshes Tourist Office, Isigny-Grandcamp-Intercom, Omaha Beach Tourist Office, and Sainte-Mère-Église Tourist Office) are developing memorial tourism without regard for historical accuracy, focusing primarily on the financial aspect.
The American sector and the town of Arromanches attract more than 85% of tourists interested in the history of the Battle of Normandy. Instead of focusing on other, less touristy areas, the municipalities are now only interested in the most frequented zones. What do the British and French veterans who landed at the Brèche-d’Hermanville, those who parachuted in northeast of Ranville, and their comrades who fell for a land that today is not considered “mythical” by six tourist offices think?
I am sounding the alarm and demanding that those in charge of the “Mythical Sector of the D-Day Landing Beaches” reconsider their decision so that the memory of D-Day, and especially that of the soldiers who fell for freedom, is not trampled upon in the name of profit.
Remembrance tourism is an excellent thing, but we must not forget to respect history. Furthermore, the Normandie-Mémoire association and the D-Day Committee are perfectly capable of organizing commemorations and guiding remembrance tourism in Normandy; in fact, that is what they do every year, without forgetting anyone.
A petition has been launched online, aiming both to alert the population (and in particular that of the countries involved during the Battle of Normandy) and to ensure that the “mythical sector” will soon be nothing more than a bad memory.
- 22 April 2013
- 7 June 2013
The “Mythical Sector” project will not see the light of day. Following repeated appeals, relayed by the French and international press, and the success of the petition, the six tourist offices abandoned their project. In total, the petition garnered 3,714 signatures in just two months.
This controversy, largely fueled by the D-Day Overlord website, reached the highest levels of the French government. Consequently, an important decision was made just days before the 69th anniversary of D-Day and was officially announced on June 6, 2013, by the Minister Delegate for Veterans Affairs, Kader Arif: the international ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings will take place at Sword Beach!
And so, in the most fitting way, this campaign for the preservation of Normandy’s historical sites comes to a close. But vigilance is needed to ensure that other projects of this kind are not revived in the future.
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