Utah Beach Museum
D-Day and Battle of Normandy museums
The Utah Beach Landing Museum was built at a locality named La Grande Dune over the remains of the German W5 strongpoint that the US soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division stormed on June 6, 1944, landing on the beach codenamed “Utah”. Michel de Vallavieille, mayor of the municipality of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, decided to create a memorial area in memory of the liberation and to consolidate the Franco-American friendship. On D-Day, when he was a teenager, Michel was mistakenly wounded by American fire, before being treated urgently by military nurses just landed; without retaining any rancor against the Allies, he insisted on creating one of the first museums of the Battle of Normandy. It was inaugurated on June 6, 1962, gathering dozens of collectibles collected over the exchanges with his knowledge from across the Atlantic.
Constantly enlarged, the museum knows its main extension in 1994 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the landing of Normandy, with the construction of a bay window offering an exceptional panorama on the beach of Utah and sheltering vehicles as well as armaments of time. In 2007, a new expansion project was created, with the creation of a glass building housing a B-26 Marauder bomber and a space dedicated to air forces engaged in the bombing of Utah Beach.
The museum now offers more than 3,000 m² of exhibition space to discover the history of the men and women who participated in World War II operations in the area. Vehicles, landing craft, armaments, uniforms, archival films, rare documents and testimonies provide a clear understanding of the history of the Normandy landings. On the occasion of D-Day commemorations, the museum regularly hosts official ceremonies as well as events such as the International Film Festival of the Second World War.
Useful information
Contact
Address: La Madeleine, F-50480 Sainte-Marie-du-Mont
Phone : +33 (0)2 33 71 53 35
Website : Musée du débarquement Utah Beach
Access
Parking:
– Places for coaches near the museum.
– Places for light vehicles near the museum.
