Day Three: today we planned to look into the US breakout from Normandy, Operation Cobra. The weather was mixed but as we were tootling around in the car quite a bit, we by and large stayed dry. On our travels we saw where Gen. Lesley McNair was blown up by his own bombers and where the most senior German General (Marcks) to be killed in Normandy, was buried. We saw a bombed bridge that was never rebuilt before we had an excellent 3 course lunch for just 13€! Moving on we visited a railway marshalling yard that was bombed more than 20 times before we saw the Patton memorial in Avranches. We then followed in the footsteps of Patton’s third army over the Pontaubault bridge to Mortain. Here we visited Hill 314 where 700 US troops were surrounded during Operation Luttich, the German counterattack. Finally on our way home we went to see where Cpl Sidney Bates won his VC and where he is buried, in Bayeaux.
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| Marigny German Cemetery |
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| Highest ranked German to die in Normandy |
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| Killed in an allied bombing raid |
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| Follingny Railway station – bombed marshaling yard ruins |
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| Bomb Shelter |
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| Entrance to the bomb shelter |
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| Avranches - Place Patton |
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| Sherman in Creighton Abrams' colours |
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| The man himself! |
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| Nice example of a Cullin Hedge Cutter |
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| Pontaubault Bridge |
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| Hill 314 memorial |
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| The view towards Avranches from Hill 314 |
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| Chapel at Hill 314 |
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| Scene of bitter fighting, the disused railway station at Abbaye Blanches |
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| Memorial to the Nor-Mons & Sidney Bates VC |
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| Jack Banks 16 years old in Jerusalem Cemetery |
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| Sidney Bates VC |
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