Some images of Colleville before the war and in June 1943
You can seeother old photos of Colleville-sur-Mer on the Bray farm site
The history of Colleville at the time of the 1944 landing was collected on the website http://omahabeach.vierville.free.fr, on pages 70 and following.
A map of Colleville, around 1855, with a description of rivers and mills
(details)A postcard from Colleville, probably dating from the 1930s, providing for a seaside subdivision
The church in 1944
The church rebuilt in 1980
1952, rebuilt church
Church of Colleville before the war
12th century, Romanesque
(details)Saint-Siméon Farm
(details) Farm courtyard in Colleville
(details) Route de la mar
(details) Route de la mar
The downhill road in its part cashed in the heavily supplied hedges (1945)
The Town Hall
The town hall-school of Colleville before the war
(details) notice the importance of the pebble slope
(details) the beach (east), view to the west
At the bottom left, the villas on the beach west of Colleville, the one on the right is in Le Ruquet: "Les Saines Vacances"
(details) East of the beach, cabins, east view
In the foreground the cabins identified V, W, X
Assembly of the cavalry views below, dated June 30, 43
(Led by Thierry Nicolle)
Constructions on Colleville beach before the war (from a plan and study by Thierry Nicolle)
On the ridge, the villa Ua, the eastmost.
And also the villas H,G,V,W,X
Villa D and the small villa E
Villa H (La Rabellière)
Villas I, D, E, J, H, G, Ua
Villas J, H, G, B
Setting the villas in the east of the beach
(Following Thierry Nicolle study)
Villas A and B ("St-Clair")
Villas B?, and I?
The villa F is visible in front of the H
Villa I,
Villas J, K (dependency of I)
And H (La Rabellière)
Villa B (St-Clair), villa E
Villas C and D, built the first
Villa G behind the villa H
Small villas (wooden cabins?) V,W, X, the westernmost of the East group
(details) villa St-Clair (B) on the left and villas C, D, E
(details) Villa La Rabellière (H), on the beach of Colleville, visible in the middle of the aerial cavalry photo below (from June 30, 1943), WN61Est N°12. It was destroyed by the Germans like many other beach villas before the landing
The villas of the east, from d to g: A, B, C, D, I, E, K, J, F, H, G
A postcard commented by a German veteran (Fr. Gockel)
Photo taken from the villa that will serve as a guard post on the WN62. We can see from left to right: 1 villa (I, dynamite in 43) with its annex pavilion K + a beach cabin below, further on the left, an annex pavilion J part of the villa H "La Rabeliere", The villa la Rabeliere itself, another villa (G) that was not dynamited by the Germans in June 43, and further on the right one of the dynamite villas (B) going towards the WN60
Villas located on the west side, towards Le Ruquet
(details) villas of the West, T, S (Les Bosquets), R (annex of Q?), Q (Les Mouettes, or villa Maud Gonne)
(details) Some villas, the one on the left above, "L", was kept by the Germans as a guard post of the WN62, and disappeared after the fighting. The other villas were destroyed before the landing by the Germans (M, N, O, P, Q)
(details) villas Q, R, S, T
(details) villas of the West, Q, R, S, T
(details) West villas, Q, R, S, T
(details) On the left the western villas: Q, S, T
On the right Villas B and J, villa U,villas H, G, P, O, M,N
(details) The large villa Q, would be "Les Mouettes", the villa in which lived Maud Gonne around 1911 and from which she would have written some of her letters)
See also about Maud Gonne(1866-1953) actress, activist of the Irish cause and famous feminist:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Gonne
(details) western villas Q, S, T
(details) western villas
The villa on the left (Q or Les Mouettes) has a Mansart roof that seems to cover an added floor probably between the 2 wars, replacing the terrace roof that we see in other photos above.
The villa L, not destroyed by the Germans, it served them as a guard post and canteen. disappeared after June 6, 44
Villa Q (The Seagulls or Molgone?) On 1 floor
And villa R (Molgone?)
Setting the villas west of the beach
(Following Thierry Nicolle study)
Villas M, N, O, P, and Q
Villa Q renovated (addition of a floor with roof "à la Mansart)
And villa R (Molgon??)
Villas B and J, Villa U, villas H, G, P, O, M,N
villas S (Les Bosquets) and T
And Villa R
In the middle, "Les Saines Vacances", a children's home in Le Ruquet
Series of cavalry photos of the beach, taken on June 30, 1943, when the Germans had begun to destroy the villas on the beach
(details) towards Colleville, from the Ruquet, 3
(details) to Colleville, from the Ruquet, 6
(details) Collevile, WN62 is, 9
(details) Colleville, WN61 is, 12
