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WN 65 Info sign

<< Back to WN 65 - Normandy

Details:

Next to the 2nd Infantry Division Monument.


Marker

A rectangular panel on a concrete base. The info sign tells about the opening of the road and its significance. Various images were also printed on the panel. The info sign is written in French and English.

Monument Text:

Au Ruquet, le 6 juin, premiére route ouverte vers l'interieur - At Ruquet, 6 June, the first open road to the interior

 

 

Left column:

 

Le 6 juin vers 10 heures, des centaines d'hommes étaient bloqués ici sur la plage, parmi des péniches détruites. Devant eux, le vallon du Ruquet, protégé par deux points fortifiés. Aujourd'hui, seul est encore visible un canon dans son blockhaus. Touché par le tir d'un navire qui s'approcha à 1 km, il a été définitivement détruit par un "half-track".

   Aussitôt après, le Génie américain a ouvert cette route vers le plateau et, vers 15 heures, le gros matériel américain empruntait ce premier et unique dégagement du site d'Omaha. Le blockhaus a servi de PC pour la 1re Division "Big Red One" et bientôt des milliers de Gls ont emprunté cette route de la liberté.

   Le Génie a poursuivi son travail, aménagé rapidement le port artificiel et, sur le plateau, un aérodrome qui a permis d'évacuer 11 030 blessés en juin et juillet 1944.

 

 

Right column:

 

On 6 June, at around 10am, hundreds of men were stuck on this beach amongst the destroyed landing crafts. In front of them was the small Ruquet valley, protected by two fortified points. Today, all that is visible is one large gun in its blockhouse. It was hit by fire from an approaching vessel 1 km (1,000 yards) away, and was destroyed for good by a "half-track". 

 

The U.S. Engineers immediately opened this road towards the plateau, and at around 3pm, the heavy U.S. equipment took this first, and only, cleared exit from the Omaha site. The 1st Division "Big Red One" used the blockhouse as a command post, and soon, thousands of GIs took this road to liberty. The Engineers continued their work. They quickly built the artificial harbor and, on the plateau, an airfield, which allowed the evacuation of 11,030 injured men in June and July 1944.

Commemorates:

Units:

1st Infantry Division

Provisional Engineer Special Brigade

United States Army

Wars:

WWII

Other images :