The Rosière marshes

Parking is available in the car parks between the church and the town hall on Grande Rue in Hermanville-sur-Mer.

(S/E) With your back to the church, walk past the town hall, the municipal police station, the media library and Rue des Écoles, then follow Grande Rue until you reach the first street on the right. Turn right onto Rue Guy Baudry and follow it to the first street on the left. Turn left onto Rue de la Haie aux Fèves and follow it to the crossroads. Turn left onto Rue de la Délivrande and follow it, using the pavement on the left, to Grande Rue.

(1) Use the pedestrian crossing to cross Grande Rue, turn right and continue to the first street on the left. Turn left into Impasse Vasnier and follow it to the intersection. Cross Rue du Tour de Ville, turn left and follow it to the next crossroads, passing Allée du Verger on your right. Turn right onto Chemin de Calais, which leaves the village, and walk for about 700 metres until you reach a crossroads.

(2) Turn right and then immediately left, leaving the water tower on your right, and walk about 400 m to the outskirts of the village of Colleville-Montgomery. At the intersection, continue straight ahead into Rue du Château d'Eau and follow it to the Colleville crossroads. Turn right onto Grande Rue and follow it for about 50 metres until you reach the Colleville-Montgomery town hall.

(3) Cross Grande Rue, turn left into the town hall garden, walk past the monument and exit onto Rue des Écoles. Cross the street, turn into Rue des Capucines opposite, use the passage between the houses and then cross Rue de Ouistreham. Continue straight ahead, cross Rue de la Fontaine, ignore Impasse des Gravettes on the right and take the path opposite to leave the town.

(4) Follow the winding path through the Colleville marsh, ignoring a first dead-end path on the left and then, also on the left, Allée des Fleurs in Collevillette, until you reach Rue de la Mer at the entrance to Colleville-Montgomery Plage.

(5) Cross Rue de la Mer carefully, turn right, take the pedestrian path and follow it to the edge of the campsite entrance. Use the pedestrian crossing to cross Rue de la Mer, then turn left towards the statue of Montgomery, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Land Forces in Normandy in 1944. Go around the statue on the right, walk along the campsite and continue to Rue de Riva-Bella. Turn right to reach the pedestrian crossing and cross Rue de Riva-Bella.

(6) Follow Avenue du^4e Commando opposite, turn left into Rue de la Redoute (fortification) then go down the steps on the right leading to Rue Vauban, the sea and the^4th Commando monument. Continue along the pedestrian path running alongside the beach and turn left. Walk along the sea on your right for about 1 km until you reach Place de la^3e Division d'Infanterie Britannique.

(7) Turn left, cross Boulevard de la Mer and then Place de la^3e Division d'Infanterie Britannique and walk past the sailing school. Turn right, reach the pedestrian crossing and cross Rue Amiral Wietzel. Keep left, take Boulevard de la^3e Division d'Infanterie Britannique and then, for about 1.2 km, the path along Chemin des Hautes Sentes until you reach the British cemetery.

(8) Turn right onto Rue du Cimetière Anglais, then left onto Rue du Tour de Ville. Turn right onto Rue Verte, then pass between the buildings towards the starting point. Cross Grande Rue and return to the car park. (S/E)

6 June 1944 on Sword Beach
H-hour was set for 7:30 a.m.: the bombardment began 40 minutes before sunrise and lasted three hours. This area was assigned to the British^2nd Army; the^8th Brigade would land in front of Hermanville. The approach seemed easier than in other sectors: no high cliffs, flat terrain, more open countryside. The British and Canadians aimed to take Bayeux and Caen that same day and protect the eastern flank of the invasion. The beaches were defended by the men of the German^716th Infantry Division, composed of 29 companies. The Allies were unaware of one threat: the presence of tanks from the^21st Panzer Division based in Caen.
Twenty minutes before H-hour, frogmen cleared several access points to the beach. Twenty-five special assault tanks landed before the infantry, destroying several enemy strongpoints, but when the British infantry landed at La Brèche and Colleville, they were met with heavy fire from German batteries. Commander Lord Lovat of^{the 4th} Commando landed accompanied by Millin, his piper, who, barely waist-deep in the water, began to play the tune Highland Laddie.
By midday, numerous breaches had been opened: the beach was cleared, allowing new reinforcements to land. The news of the landings was announced on the radio. The takeover of the fortified positions and surrounding villages began: the liberation of Caen remained the main objective. British infantrymen from the^1st South Lancashire Regiment entered Hermanville at around 9.30am and encountered pockets of German resistance: the town was cleared by late morning. The headquarters of the^3rd British Infantry Division was established in the château, and military hospitals were set up in the park and surrounding fields. The landed forces linked up with the airborne troops of the^6th British Division, who had taken the two bridges at Bénouville ("Pegasus Bridge") and Ranville.
The British from Gold and the Canadians from Juno joined forces and established a 19 km front. However, between Juno and Sword there remained a 3 to 6 km corridor that allowed the^21st Panzer Division to counterattack: the Allied front was broken.
By the evening of 6 June, the bridgehead had reached the village of Biéville-Beuville, 5 km from Caen. The Atlantic Wall had been breached, but the initial objectives had not been achieved. On BBC radio, General de Gaulle proclaimed , "The supreme battle has begun!".

The strange fate of the battleship Le Courbet
In 1940, Le Courbet, the flagship during the First World War, returned to service. After the debacle, it was repatriated by the Royal Navy to defend the English coast, thus becoming the first warship of Free France. It flew the tricolour flag and the Cross of Lorraine on the bowsprit. In March 1944, Roger Wietzel took command of the ship for a suicide mission.
To facilitate the landing operations, it was decided to create breakwaters by mooring old ships offshore. The Courbet was scuttled on 7 June. To affirm France's participation in the battle, Wietzel seized the two flags and entrusted them to an English artillery captain who promised to return them after the armistice. The two flags thus made the campaign in France and Germany in the baggage of Montgomery's army. The flag was returned to the town hall of Hermanville and the tricolour flag was donated to the Arromanches museum.