Military museums on the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy

Saint-Côme-du-Mont: 

The Dead Man’s Corner Museum and the D-Day Experience Hangar. In the building where German paratrooper commander Major von der Heydte had set up the regimental CP of his FJR 6 on D-Day, there is now a small museum on the upper floor that displays only equipment of the German paratroopers. The building also houses a militaria store on the first floor, selling original and replica uniforms, weapons, and other parachute troop utensils and memorabilia. The building and grounds are owned by the Centre Historique des Parachutists du Jour-J, an association whose main goal is to preserve the historic grounds around the museum and provide information about the events of June 1944. In this context, the Centre Historique had set up a historic route with 13 sites of military historical importance that can be visited with the help of GPS coordinates. At each of these sites, a large information panel with detailed explanations, maps, and photos explains the respective battles in June 1944. A leaflet with GPS data is available free of charge at both the museum and the militaria shop.

Also on the ground of the site of the Centre Historique des Parachutistes du Jour-J is a relatively new museum that opened in 2015, the D-Day Experience Hangar. In the hangar, the mission of the men of the 101st Airborne in Normandy is described in detail. The absolute highlight of the Experience Hangar is a virtual Hologram briefing with Lieutenant Colonel Wolverton, preparing you for deployment as a paratrooper of the 3rd Battalion, 506 PIR, in Normandy. After the briefing, you board a spacious flight simulator, which is built out of an original C-47 Skytrain, and take off on the mission. An astonishing experience, whether it is realistic, only contemporary witnesses will be able to judge.

Please note that the admission fee for the Experience Hangar also includes admission to the Dead Man’s Corner

Museum.

Donville: 

The Musée Mémorial de Bloody Gulch/The Manoir de Donville is an old Norman manor house, first mentioned in the late 11th century and rebuilt to its present form at the end of the 18th century. The listed property has military-historical relevance, as it was here in the house, on the compound and the terrain to the east, that a fierce battle took place between American paratroopers and paratroopers of the FJR 6 and grenadiers of the

17th SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Götz von Berlichingen" on June 12-13, 1944. The proud owner of the house and the surrounding garden, Franck Feuardent, who bought the property in 1999, offers two guided tours in English and French.

The subjects of the tours are: "The Mansion, its History, its Architecture" and "The Battle of Bloody Gulch and Hill 30 in Donville in 1944 and its vestiges". For the visitor interested in military history, the latter tour is probably of main interest. The approximately 75-minute tour includes a visit to the Chapelle de Donville cemetery, where several civilians who were victims of the battle are buried, as well as the battlefield and its archaeological vestiges. Franck will also give a tour of his museum, which houses interesting exhibits. A walk through the mansion, where the traces of close combat are preserved, concludes this tour.

Azeville: 

Ticket sales and access to the Musée de la Batterie d’Azeville are through the museum’s visitor center, located between casemates No. 2 and No. 3 opposite the entrance to the parking lot. The museum itself has the usual exhibits such as weapons, uniforms, documents, and equipment of all kinds. A 20-minute film describes the construction of the Atlantic Wall and the multifaceted relationships between the German occupation forces and the French population during the four-year occupation.

The highlight of the museum, which has been opened in 1994, is a tour (either audio-guided or guided) through a 350-meter tunnel that once connected the four casemates and a series of smaller concrete bunkers.

Crisbecq: 

The Musée Batterie de Crisbecq is located on the site of the former MKB Marcouf. On the nearly four hectare site, one can visit several well-preserved shelters such as the battery’s kitchen, ammunition depot, sanitary rooms and infirmary. All dioramas are depicted with original equipment and uniforms and give a vivid impression of the life of the German soldier in a coastal battery.

The highlight of the museum is certainly a huge R683 gun casemate, from which a replica barrel of a 210-mm gun protrudes menacingly under camouflage netting. 

In 2016, the battery’s former command and fire control bunker, located directly opposite the museum site, was also made accessible and converted into a small museum by a local enthusiast, the Musée Marcouf 44. From the platform on top of the observation bunker, one can enjoy a panoramic view of the sea. 

Sainte-Mère-Église: 

Dedicated to the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, Le Musée Airborne Museum can almost be described as a shrine of sorts to American paratroopers.

The former assistant commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, Brigadier General James M. Gavin, laid the cornerstone for the museum on June 6, 1961. The design of the buildings, whose roof structure symbolizes a parachute and a delta wing, was commissioned to the French architect Francois Carpentier, who was also responsible for the design of the Musée du Débarquement at Arromanches-les-Bains.

Since June 2014, the museum has presented a new building where you can relive the experiences of a U.S. paratrooper from D-Day to V-Day in Berlin. Other highlights

include a walk-through CG-4A Waco glider and the Douglas Dakota C-47 "Argonia", the lead aircraft of the 439th Troup Carrier Group in Mission ALBANY.

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont: 

The Musée du Débarquement Utah Beach was built in 1962 on the ruins of a bunker of resistance nest WN-5 and opened that same year. Interestingly, well-preserved parts of the bunker were integrated into the building during construction. In 2010 and 2011, the museum was expanded and the exhibition space was significantly enlarged. The two-storey museum describes and explains the U.S. landing at UTAH Beach by means of numerous photos, information panels, dioramas, and a film. Weapons and vehicles are displayed on the lower floor of the museum. Of particular interest are a remote-controlled German Goliath miniature tank, an LVT-2 (Landing Vehicle Tracked), an LCVP, and, most notably, a Martin B-26 Marauder bomber in a purpose-built hangar. Bombers of this type bombed the defenses of UTAH Beach with high accuracy on the morning of June 6 and were instrumental in the success of the amphibious landing. In a room at the entrance of the museum there are also some German artifacts on display.

Quinneville: 

The World War II Museum, which opened in May 2017, shows the chronology of the four years of German occupation on an area of around 1,000 square meters. What is remarkable here is that there is no presentation of weapons at all. Numerous panels and 75 mannequins explain the various aspects of the occupation. A reconstructed alley offers fascinating insights into the domestic life of the French under German occupation. Numerous dioramas with miniature vehicles and tank models also delight the visitor's eye. On the short walk to the museum entrance, you will pass a kilometer stone of the Voie De La Liberté (Road of Freedom) and a memorial in honor of the 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, which liberated Quinéville on June 14, 1944. 

Carquebut: 

The Château de Carquebut is home to the D Day Collins Museum that opened in April 2023. The grounds of the Château de Carquebut served as headquarters of the commanding general of the U.S. VII Army Corps, Major General Joe Collins, during July 1944. It was here that the Americans planned and prepared Operation Cobra. The museum is one of only two military museums in Normandy located in a historic building that played a significant role during the Battle of Normandy. Everything remained as the Americans left it in 1944 when they left the furniture and the equipment.

Cherbourg: 

The Musée de la Libération is situated on the north-western end of the famous Fort du Roule, which in turn is located on the western end of the Montagne du Roule hill. The museum commemorates the Battle of the Normandy and the Battle of Cherbourg. The view that is offered from the fort and the museum down to the city and the harbor is breathtaking. So, a visit to the Fort du Roule is recommended for that reason alone.