Normandy

Sun setting behind a bunker at Gold Beach, Normandy

Gold Beach was one of the British landing sites on D-day in World War 2, just along the coast from Omaha beach portrayed in Saving Private Ryan.  Although they took significant casualties, thankfully the British managed to land their tanks onto the beach and the RAF had accurately bombed the German defences, no doubt making a big difference.  Many defensive ruins still remain along the coast, the top photo is a beach front bunker, the second are some blocks of the British artificial harbour constructed opposite Arromanches, codename Mulberry.  Designed to avoid the need to capture the heavily defended ports, the huge blocks were floated across the channel, before being formed into a massive temporary port to unload troops and supplies.  Note:  the block in this shot, although huge, are some of the smaller support blocks!  Amazing engineering. 

We camped right next to the beach at Arromanches and took advantage of the summery weather to photograph a Sunset.  Thankfully a very peaceful place to be these days and cameras are the only things shooting. 

The bottom two shots were taken, with the utmost respect, at the American cemetery at Colleville.  Always a very emotional place to visit, my second visit and no less inspiring and thought provoking.  Pristine white marble headstones stretch to the horizon to, hopefully, help future generations realise how luck they are.

ISO100, 16mm, f/16, 1/13s, bracketed composite, tripod, shutter lockup, cable release, circ polariser  

Blocks of the Mulberry Harbour, Arromanches.
Great texture, pattern, interesting sky and diffuse Sun was begging for a mono conversion

Grave of an unknown soldier (of which there are many) at the American cemetery, Colleville-Sur-Mer