Presentation report of June 2004, Regional Directorate of the Environment of Basse-Normandie.
Presentation note of the Grand Site of Omaha Beach
Department of Calvados
OMAHA BEACH SITE
Municipalities of Colleville sur mer, Saint Laurent sur mer and Vierville sur mer
CLASSIFY PROPOSAL
Presentation report
June 2004
Regional Directorate of the Environment of Basse-Normandie
Nature Landscape and Living Environment Service
Cover photo: WN 60 de Colleville (Cl. Agency YO 50100 Cherbourg-Octeville)
Summary
1) OMAHA BEACH, A HISTORIC SITE OF NOTORIETY
INTERNATIONAL...
Privilege a continuous front...
A space conducive to defense...
Setbacks and difficulties...
The first wave of assault is decimated...
Perforced towards heights
BLOODY OMAHA.
The artificial port: MULBERRY A
A 21-C: the advanced airfield
2) THE LANDSCAPE CHARACTERS OF THE SITE HAVE PLAYED A ROLE
DETERMINING
A wide beach of blond sand
A cordon of pebbles and dunes
A marsus behind the dunes
The dead cliff
The tray
The valleys
3) WHAT SPACE TO INTEGRATE INTO THE NATIONAL HERITAGE?
3.1 Existing protections
3.2 Land control
3.3 Ecological interest
3.4 Urban planning documents
3.6 The space to be integrated into the national heritage
4) MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES
Orthophotoplan of the site project
OMAHA BEACH is one of the most famous landing sites of June 6, 1944. This is why it is one of the 11 major sites of the Battle of Normandy that are intended to enter the national heritage as a classified site for their historical importance.
Here, as in the 10 other sites witnessing this battle, the elements of the landscape played a decisive role in the harshness of the fighting that earned this beach to enter history under the name of "Bloody OMAHA".
Seated in the heart of the cliffs of Bessin which extend over more than 30 kilometers, Omaha has a punctual retreat of the cliff front that allowed the formation of a sandy space. The sandy beach, popular with tourists, rests on a coastal dune cordon which itself encloses a small swampy area blocked along the dead cliff. The plateau slightly inclined from east to west varies from an altitude of 60m to 45m. The streams that descend from it have dug wide valleys that provide connections between the beach and the heights. The three municipalities that share this territory: Colleville sur mer to the east, Saint Laurent sur mer to the center and Vierville sur mer to the west have planted their ancient villages on the plateau at the top of these valleys.
This configuration of the site was a major element in the organization and conduct of American landing operations on this part of the Lower Norman coast.
1) OMAHA BEACH, A HISTORIC SITE OF INTERNATIONAL NOTORIE...
Privilege a continuous front...
The sectors of UTAH to the west, and to the east of GOLD, JUNO, SWORD planned as part of the "OVERLORD" operation for the landing of the Allied troops, exploited beaches with topographic characteristics a priori favorable to an amphibious landing operation.
Between these two sectors, the cliffs of the Bessin constituted an obstacle of about thirty kilometers creating a breach in the assault device that could prove detrimental to the constitution of a solid bridgehead on the evening of D-day.
As a result, it became essential to use the only sector offering within the cliffs of the Bessin over 6 km a beach and accesses allowing an outlet for troops to the interior of the land on the municipalities of VIERVILLE, St LAURENT, and COLLEVILLE. Thus the link between the VIIth
US corps in the west and the second British army in the east would be assured. The troops landed in the Cotentin would thus be less vulnerable to German counterattacks and the objective of taking the port of Cherbourg as quickly as possible preserved.
In this sector, whose code name was OMAHA, the landing mission would be entrusted to the Fifth Corps including the 1st American Infantry Division: "The BIG RED ONE" and the 29th DI "BLUE AND GREY" as well as the 2nd and 5th RANGERS battalions. It was up to them to land their assault regiments (116th RCT, 16th RCT, and the Rangers units) on the 4 sectors of beaches that were devolved to them (Fox, Easy, Dog, Charlie) and then to clear 5 exits allowing them to enter the interior (F1 valley of Cabourg, E3 valley of Colleville, E1 valley of Ruquet, D3 valley of the mills, D1 valley of VIERVILLE).
A space conducive to defense...
The charge of defending this sector gradually passed in March-April 1944 from the 716 German Infantry Division to the 352nd composed mostly of seasoned soldiers on the eastern front, reinforced by young recruits of the 1926 class. According to the principles enacted by Marshal Rommel, obstacles had been placed on the beach to hinder a landing operation (wooden piles equipped with explosive devices, metal tetrahedrs...).
The coastline had been equipped with 14 "nests" of resistance (wiederstandnest) arranged so as to be able to sweep or take the beach in a row. These defenses were installed either on the ledges of the dead cliff (WN 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70), or at the outlets of the valleys (WN 61, 65, 72) or set back in the valleys (WN 63, 67, 69). Anti-tank ditches, minefields and barbed nets completed the device on land.
A carefully prepared landing...
On June 6 at dawn, the operations were to take place according to a precise and timed sequence from the H time set at 6:30 a.m., at low tide:
H –30 : aerial bombardment of defenses
H-5 and H0 : arrival of amphibious tanks (Duplex Drive) and landing of tanks and tankdozers. The former will engage and neutralize the ground defenses and cover the first infantry assault; the tankdozers will have the mission of supporting the teams of sappers who will open breaches in the beach defenses before the tide rises,
H+1 : landing of the first wave of assault, intended to focus the attention of the defenses and thus cover the demolition teams
H+3 and H+8 : the teams of sappers will be landed in turn to practice 50-meter chuns in the defenses installed on the beach, allowing the grounding of reinforcements that will arrive with the rising tide 30 minutes later,
H+30, then every 30 minutes : landing of 5 successive waves of assault
H+180 : opening of the 5 planned beach exits and assault inland towards Ste Honorine des Pertes, Formigny, junction with the Rangers in charge of storming the German battery of the Pointe du Hoc.
H+240 : grounding of cranes, trucks, etc.
Setbacks and difficulties...
In reality, it will be quite different.
The aerial bombardment is too "long". It touches the interior of the land and consequently leaves the resistance points intact.
The sea remained quite large from the storm of the previous days. The hollows thus formed will considerably hinder operations. Launched 18 km from the coast in the landing barges, the assault troops will be severely mistreated by the swell. The strong lateral currents further aggravate the difficulties and generate drifts to the east of a kilometer or more. A morning fog and the smoke of the fires triggered by the artillery of
Marine or on board in the barges hinder the recognition of orientation landmarks to reach the different assigned beach areas.
The first wave of assault is decimated...
Dranged offshore, the DD tanks will sink almost entirely.
The scheduling of the arrival of the landing barges of the first wave of assault is completely disorganized. Some sink, many drift and scatter outside the beaches that are assigned to them, in the face of objectives for which their sections have not been prepared.
Intact, the defense points fire with all their weapons on the machines that land. Many tanks and tankdozers that have touched the ground are immediately destroyed. Soldiers who progress with great difficulty, sometimes with water up to the neck, are mowed down by the shots. Many of the weapons and heavy equipment are lost, fallen to the bottom of the water.
The assault companies are disorganized. In a few minutes, they suffer terrible losses. Some see their workforce reduced by half or 2/3. Others lose all their officers. With a few exceptions, they are blocked on the different beach sectors.
Soldiers, who desperately seek shelter behind obstacles, hinder the work of sappers' teams, who are also very affected. Yet these severely diminished teams of sappers have only half an hour to open breaches in the beach defenses, before the landing
Waves of assault that will follow.
Survivors will take up to 45 minutes to reach the foot of the pebble cord that borders the beach where they take refuge. They remained nailed to the ground, while the initial plan provided that they had to progress beyond.
Apart from the Rangers who climbed the cliffs west of Vierville, no company escaped. The sappers were disorganized. Only a few breaches were opened in the beach defenses. Obstacles that have not been destroyed will be covered by the rising tide. The second part of the landing will be engaged....
The second wave is coming....
It must bring in successive waves the troops and equipment necessary to reinforce the first elements landed, as well as the command units in order to constitute complete battalions.
It is faced with the same difficulties as the first wave: lack of visibility, drift, breaches in the few beach obstacles, scarpillement, nourished fires of the WN. It is chaos in certain sectors: mixed units, disorganized command, non-existent or difficult communications. As the tide rises, survivors, injuries, corpses, barges and destroyed machinery, debris of all kinds will pile up on the beach. Confusion and
Anxiety reigns. Morale is at its lowest.
The losses of human life are very impressive, both in the assault infantry and within the naval units in charge of landing barges.
Horror show! Omaha becomes "Bloody OMAHA".
General Bradley is considering re-embarkation.
Perforced towards heights
Yet, here and there, staffs have grouped units and organized the action. Because the defense is less strong, the slopes of the dead cliff, a priori yet a good natural obstacle, will prove to be the weak point that will allow you to break into the plateau. And from there, make movements to take backwards the WNs that prohibit access to the various exits. In the crash of the fighting, Colonel Taylor of the 16th Regiment launches this sentence since immortalized:
"There are only two kinds of guys who will stay on this beach: the dead and those who will die; so let's get out of here quickly! »
From 8:30 a.m., between WN 68 and 70, elements of the Rangers and the 116th RCT are firmly established on the set. At the same time, between WN 62 and 64, two breakthroughs allow you to reach the top of the dead cliff. At 9 a.m., at the eastern end of the landing sector, the WN 60 is in the hands of elements of the 16th RCT. This is the first point of resistance that falls and the F1 exit is clear, but it is difficult to work for vehicles.
However, the situation remains critical. Many WNs are still resisting and hindering operations. The grounding operations of the reinforcements remain difficult and exposed to fire. Many artillery pieces flow with their landing gear.
Despite everything, more and more soldiers are being landed. The same is true for the equipment that accumulates on the beaches while waiting for the exits to be cleared.
Little by little, the resistance of German troops will be initiated by combined actions of the landed troops and naval artillery.
The bridgehead is specified...
The troops reorganized, bypassed the strong points and advanced south.
The surroundings of Colleville are reached around 10 a.m., those of Vierville at 11 a.m., then at 12 p.m. those of St Laurent.
From 10 a.m. naval artillery fire will be able to be directed more and more effectively on WNs that resist.
At 10:30 a.m. the E1 exit of the Ruquet valley is released and the engineer immediately gets to work to develop it. But on the evening of the 6th, the WN 69 still resists the outskirts of St Laurent preventing any breakthrough in depth.
Between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., WN 71 and 72 are crushed under navy shells, then neutralized by the infantry. The anti-tank wall that bars the D1 exit can finally be destroyed at 2 p.m.
The E3 exit leading to Colleville is forced but the WN 62 resists until 2:30 p.m.
As for D3, the WN 66 that dominates it still prohibits access and prevents the demolition of the concrete anti-tank wall.
On the evening of D.DAY the bridgehead is fragile, deep from a few hundred meters to 2 km, interspersed with pockets of resistance.
On the beaches and exits, the genius works hard to open breaches in the defenses, the pebble cord and the minefields, traces the routes and begins to strengthen them. By the end of the evening, 34,000 men and 3,000 vehicles could have been put on the ground. The flow of troops and the
Material will not begin to flow inwardly from June 7th.
BLOODY OMAHA.
The establishment of this bridgehead will have been paid at a high price by the troops of the 1st and 29thth infantry divisions, the 2nd and 5th ranger battalions and the navy units that were in charge of it. For this day of D.Day alone, the losses were dramatic. Nearly 3900 men of the various weapons engaged were put out of combat, killed, disappeared or injured. That is 20 times more than in UTAH BEACH and 40% of the total losses on D-day. Sixty years later, the number of people killed and missing on June 6 in Omaha is still not known exactly, but it is likely to be well over a thousand.
At the same time, German losses amounted to 1,200 men out of action, including 400 killed.
From June 7, a cemetery was improvised in Vierville on the dune flat at the foot of the dead cliff below the Hamel aux Prêtres. It welcomes the bodies of the soldiers killed on D.Day before they go to join from June 10 another cemetery open on the plateau near the Ruquet valley. On June 26, 1500 American and 600 German soldiers will have been buried there.
The current memorial cemetery was created in 1956 on an area of 70 ha, acquired by the French state and made available to the American government. The Normandy cemetery brings together the remains of 9,387 American soldiers killed during the Battle of Normandy. 14,000 bodies were repatriated to the United States and returned to their families. On the wall of the garden of the missing are engraved the names of 1557 soldiers.
The artificial port: MULBERRY A
In order to facilitate the landing of reinforcements in men and equipment, the clearing and development of the beaches are undertaken without delay by the engineer. A prefabricated artificial port in England must be assembled to take over by facilitating the access of boats in deep water.
While waiting for its elements to arrive, towed over 130 km across the English Channel, a blade breaker called "Wooseberry" - consists of several dozen old boats sunk 1500m from the coast in front of St Laurent.
From June 16, as they arrive, the huge concrete boxes "PHOENIX" are arranged in front of Vierville. They are filled with water, and cast to form a pier to the west extending the alignment already made with the Gooseberry.
Inside the harbor thus made, the docks and 3 floating metal jetties are installed, also towed from England. In total, for the construction of the artificial ports, it will be convoys carrying 1.5 million tons that will have been hauled by 97 tugboats from the east of Southsea. On June 18, Mulberry A is the first European port (3.2 km long, 1.6 km wide).
Between June 19 and 22, a storm will completely destroy the barely consolidated port of Omaha in 72 hours. The docks but especially the jetts are largely demolished. Given the extent of the damage, the decision not to repair is made. Elements of the destroyed port will be taken to consolidate the Mulberry B of Arromanches also affected by the storm.
For a week 1500 soldiers of the engineer will clear the heaps of pontoons, barges, boats and debris of all kinds thrown away on the coast and which hinder the landing operations of supplies and equipment. However, the landings of troops and equipment will continue by all possible means in Omaha and finally the tonnage put on the ground (10,000t/day) will be higher than that of the Winston Churchill port in Arromanches.
The port of Omaha will cease operations on November 22, 1944.
A 21-C: the advanced airfield
From June 7, construction work on an airstrip was undertaken on the plateau between the Moulin and Ruquet valleys. It is operational the same evening.
Emergency landing ground, it will be mainly used for the evacuation of the wounded and the transport of medical equipment. About a hundred Dakota C-47s landed there every day until the end of August 1944.
2) THE LANDSCAPE CHARACTERS OF THE SITE HAVE PLAYED A ROLE
DETERMINING
Segment of dead cliff within all the living cliffs of the Bessin, the OMAHA site has topographical and landscape peculiarities that were as many difficulties to overcome in the course of landing operations.
However, these peculiarities are now the charm and interest of these peaceful landscapes.
A wide beach of blond sand.
The only sandy crescent in the hollow of the cliffs, this area is appreciated by summer visitors since before the war.
It offers, depending on the moments of the tide, an infinity of mobile, contrasting landscapes, which the variations of time and light make more changeable. The estran is crossed by parallel canals to the coastline, dug by lateral tide currents, temporarily trapping vast bodies of water.
This superb landscape was, at the nascent dawn of D.DAY, at low tide, the scene of the most dramatic events of all landing operations. From water to the shoulders, trapped by the ducts, then having to progress in the open, the American GIS suffered terrible losses there. The obstacles placed on the beach, if they were once a salutary refuge for the infantry, made the barges and landing barges pay a heavy tribute.
This space, peaceful today, was on June 6 an infernal place of death and destruction.
A cordon of pebbles and dunes
Located at the top of the beach, with a few exceptions, it has almost disappeared since 1944. A providential refuge for survivors of the assault waves, it has also proven to be a deadly trap for many of them. Projected in all directions by the explosions of mortar or cannon shells, pebbles and shards turned into deadly projectiles. This cord of pebbles was also a major obstacle to the progress of tanks and all motorized vehicles that, as and
As they landed, they accumulated at the foot, unable to cross it. That's why the Genius opened breaches as quickly as possible. Then he found, in this resource of materials opportunely offered, enough to strengthen routes and paths that had to face an intense traffic of machines of all sizes and all tonnages. Erased in part of the landscape, this cord nevertheless remains very present in the memory of veterans. Refuge and at the same time a deadly trap, it was necessary to rush there and then snatch from it and cross in a momentum the mined dune cord, covered with barbed wire that succeeded it. It is not uncommon for a veteran on an official visit to the Memorial Cemetery to go back to the United States with 2 small American and French flags that adorn the graves during Memorial DAY... and a pebble from the beach that are offered to him as a sign of recognition.
Life has resumed its rights since then. The seaside urbanism initiated before the war as well. He conquered most of the dune space. And where the dune remains, at the foot of the military cemetery, nothing suggests, by contemplating this space of nature, the harshness of the fighting.
A marsus behind the dunes
Wet depression between the dunes and the foot of the dead cliff, this space has been greatly reduced by the development of constructions. Due to its particularities, it was previously a very marked landscape sequence. Without constituting a major obstacle, this space did not present obvious facilities of use.
The dead cliff
It is this dark hem cutting out on the sky and contrasting with the clarity of the lively cliffs that frame it that American troops gradually discovered at the first light of D-day.
Long abandoned by the assaults of the sea, perceived a priori as a natural obstacle for a military assault, this slope of 30 to 40 meters of amplitude will finally prove to be an opportunity to pierce and circumvent the German defenses. Paradoxical situation of a natural obstacle, reinforced by minefields, which finally becomes a path of penetration...
This dead cliff is one of the strong and determining landscape elements of the site. This is the landscape that the assault troops saw in the natural fog and fire smoke when they arrived on the beaches. It's almost the same today, even if, here and there some constructions break the harmony. And from the top of this cliff the view embraces the beach and the sea at all times.
"They come! ". From this height, the army of Allied ships looming on the horizon at dawn was striking for the Germans.
Even today, the view of these spaces remains remarkable in itself and even more in the memory of the hours of hell that took place there.
Let's also imagine, from the top of this cliff, the formidable show of Goosberry in front of St Laurent, and Mulberry A in front of Vierville. The storm of June 19, 1944, the work of time and scrap dealers erased it. Yet his imprint remains.
On both sides of this dead cliff segment, to the west and east, the sharp cliffs take over kilometers. Steep walls, nearly 40 meters, on the morning of June 6, they would nevertheless be conducive to assault troops. In Vierville, the Rangers, as at the Pointe du Hoc, climb it despite all the difficulties and are the first to reach the plateau and then attack the WN 70 that dominates OMAHA.
To the east, under the WN 60, the survivors of different waves of assault take refuge at the foot of the cliff, sheltered from the gunfire, then storm this point of resistance that they will reduce to silence in the middle of the morning.
Subjected to the slow and inevitable work of erosion, these cliffs are a strong element of the OMAHA landscape, but more broadly characterize a landscape unit specific to Bessin.
The tray
Vast flat space between cliff and Aure valley, several kilometers wide, it extends between Grandcamp and Port-en-Bessin. Raised about sixty meters to the east, it tilts to the west where its altitude is only 45 meters.
In the OMAHA sector, the atmosphere that we discover there is special. Agricultural plain as if suspended above the sea, it opens distant views towards the sea, but also to the south on the villages nestled at the head of valleys, whose roofs and bell towers emerge from the vegetation
Bocagère.
This space takes on particular importance from the day after D-day because it is conducive to the construction of an aviation runway between the Moulin valley and that of the Ruquet.
It is also on the plateau east of the Ruquet valley that, from June 10, the remains of the soldiers killed on D.DAY and some of those who died during the Normandy liberation operations were deposited.
The creation nearby, in 1956, of the Memorial cemetery with 9837 white crosses generated a space full of memory and emotion. A place of pilgrimage, recollection and memory, it is one of the symbolic places of the landing and the Battle of Normandy.
The valleys
Short but deep incisions in the plateau, the valleys are the only practicable places between the beach and the hinterland. Their woody or wooded flanks underline their slopes whose flexibility contrasts with the rigorous organization of the parcel of the plateau.
The only exits leading inland, they were defended by nests of resistance installed on both sides of their openings on the estran, or even behind or near the villages.
A major strategic isue to organize beach sites and allow the deployment of troops, the outlets of the valleys were the subject of long deadly fighting until the resistance of the WNs was annihilated. So it is not surprising that, in the memory of the veterans, the names of the Ruquet valleys, of the Moulins still resonate in a particular way as the confrontation was there.
3) WHAT SPACE TO INTEGRATE INTO THE NATIONAL HERITAGE?
The historical framework and the landscape issues attached to it provide the first information to determine the space to be protected. They must be corroborated by the actions already carried out on this area, the projects of the communities and the parcel limits.
3.1 Existing protections
The site registered by order of November 22, 1946 was delimited on the maritime domain under the right of the three municipalities and includes the northern part of the cemetery and the mouth of the valleys of Colleville, Ruquet and Vierville. This right-of-way remains below the limits of historical spaces and only partially takes into account the landscape. In addition, the limits of the regulatory effects of the registered site have not fully guaranteed the preservation of this space since 1946. The implementation of the coastal law and the land action of the Conservatoire du littoral have given the means to better supervise this urban extension along the coast. However, these measures do not make it possible to treat the landscaped qualitatively outside the acquired spaces.
Four protected historical monuments are present in the study area, three of which generate a protection perimeter that interferes with the right of way to be protected:
· The church of Colleville classified as a historical monument on the 1840 list
· The 16th century door of the Manoir de St Laurent sur mer registered on June 15, 1927
· The church of Vierville classified on October 1, 1913
· The Vaumicel mansion registered on June 15, 1927 in the commune of Vierville is for its part further south and has no influence.
3.2 Land control
The right of way of the American cemetery as well as the land separating it from the sea were acquired by the French Government (owned by the Department of Veterans Affairs) to be made available to the American Government so that it can build the cemetery and the associated commemorative constructions. This space covers an approximate area of 70 hectares.
The Conservatoire du littoral has conducted an ambitious acquisition policy on the land surrounding the cemetery and its properties are currently the largest one-piece set in the region (nearly 200 hectares). In conjunction with the CEL, the mixed union Calvados Littoral Espace Naturel ensures the management of these lands
3.3 Ecological interest
If historical and landscape interests are indisputable, ecological quality is not left behind.
The inventory of natural areas of ecological, faunistic and floristic interest (ZNIEFF) highlighted the ecological qualities of this territory. On the rocky estran as well as on the dune and the marsh, the inventory showed a great botanical variety with the presence of rare species. On the ornithological level, the cliffs to the east and west of the historical site are a particularly interesting nesting place for seabirds and the thickets are home to many passerines. Finally, the mosaic of different environments (dune, marsh, thickets, meadows, woods) favors a great diversity of insects.
Three areas are identified in ZNIEFF:
O The cliffs and rocky estran of the western Bessin at the western limit of the site (N° 0000-0016)
O The cliffs and rocky estran of the western Bessin to the east (N° 0000-0017)
O The Omaha Beach sector, which includes a set of communities fragmented on Colleville and Saint Laurent (N° 0000-0213)
3.4 Urban planning documents
Two of the three municipalities concerned have an approved local urban plan: Vierville sur mer in 1995 then modified in 2001 and Saint Laurent sur mer in 1980 modified in 1984. The municipality of Colleville sur mer has just resumed the procedure that had been abandoned.
The two municipalities with a PLU have affirmed their objective of preserving the edge of the plateau and the hillside by delimiting a protection zone for sites and landscapes. The villages and their extensions (U and NA zones) will constitute strong visual limits on the plateau on which the draft classification is based. The UD zone delimits the seaside part by limiting it to the spaces already built. The Vierville campsite, in the UT zone, is the only urbanization on the edge of the plateau.
3.6 The space to be integrated into the national heritage
By corroborating all this data, it is possible to define a site project covering the fundamental historical spaces, the scene of the landing in June 1944. This project determines a landscape set including the dune, the marsh, the hillside and the edge of the plateau. It integrates the valleys and, on the plateau, is based on the urban boundaries of the villages by encompassing the American military cemetery and its entrance.
Description of limits
On the maritime domain, the classification project is based on the right of the artificial port to the right of the three municipalities, which determines a non-parallel limit to the coastline. To the east, the proposed limit for the classified site is located in the axis of the municipal limit between Colleville and Sainte Honorine des Pertes, perpendicular to the coast over a distance of 500 meters; to the west, at the limit between Vierville and Louvières it is the same over a distance of 1500 meters.
Municipality of Vierville sur mer
On the terrestrial space to the west of the municipality of Vierville, the site project integrates the open landscape space on the edge of the plateau to reach and along the limit of the urban areas of the village by encompassing the top of the Vierville valley to the departmental road N°514. To the southeast of the village, it takes up the limit of the open agricultural space and relies on the limits of the bocage to the urban space of the village of Saint Laurent, which it follows, however, integrating the bottom of the parcels of the rue du Val registered in NB in the local urban plan.
To the east of the village of Saint Laurent, it joins the Ruquet valley that it follows to the south to its wooded end. On Colleville, the site project connects to the north of the urbanized part of the hamlet of Bray and then to the entrance to the American cemetery.
He then follows the departmental road 514 to the church he bypasses and then, to the east, along the edge of the valley to the urbanized area of Cabourg that he bypasses. There, it integrates the agricultural area open to the south of WN 60 by following the rural roads to the municipal limit.
4) MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES
The landscape of the historical site, which still has a natural state, must be preserved. To this end, agricultural or forestry users are all activities that guarantee the maintenance of the landscape qualities of the place. Urbanized spaces must be able to evolve by looking for the best adaptation to the landscape setting. The quality of the landscape component of building permits is of particular interest in this respect.
Other more precise orientations could be declined in this territory:
The non-urbanized dune and the edge of the marsh are experiencing intense pedestrian traffic that deserves to be organized.
The urbanized area of the dunes (UD areas of Vierville and St Laurent), with an uneven appearance and architectural quality, still has a few free plots that offer interesting perspectives on the hillside from the coastal road. Some have been identified in the local urban plan of Saint Laurent and others deserve to be preserved. The classification of the site will be, in this urban sector, an opportunity to accompany the qualitative evolution of the building as and when
Individual projects.
The urbanized pole around the VVF of Colleville is being reorganized on the occasion of the repair of the sailing club.
The hill and the edge of the plateau must retain their natural and agricultural character. In this space was set up the Vierville campsite whose external limits would call for careful landscape treatment taking into account the proximity of WN 73.
The landscape of the plateau highlights the urban limits of the villages. The areas of future extensions on which the classification project is based will be a strong issue to be mentioned when reviewing municipal urban plans. The NB zone east of Saint Laurent has a special situation: it has been delimited on large agricultural plots extending up to 250 meters from the track and from the networks. This type of area, which limits the number of new constructions, will necessarily lead to the establishment of them near the existing village and networks. The bottom of these large plots included in the classified site project will therefore be preserved from any urbanization and a new urban limit will be designed in this very open landscape.
Local management
The management of natural and historical spaces, the land action of the Conservatoire de l'Espace Littoral was decisive in ensuring the preservation of areas of strong historical and landscape challenges. A concentrated management has been put in place thanks to a management committee bringing together around the CEL, the various stakeholders (the communities, the American Battle Monument Commission, the Syndicat mixte Calvados-littoral-espace-naturel, the national forest offices,
That of hunting and wildlife...).
The decision taken by the Interministerial Committee for Territorial Planning and Development of July 2001 to launch a Grand Site operation dedicated to the major sites of the Battle of Normandy aims, on the 11 sites selected, to determine an development program that will be implemented by the communities, the State and local partners. In this context, a management committee for the Omaha site was set up in 2003.
Omaha-Beach
Delimitation of the classified site project
Point of origin : Northern limit of the municipality of Vierville-sur-mer on the edge of the maritime public domain. The direction of delimitation is the opposite of the clockwise direction.
Municipality of Vierville-sur-mer
Section C
From the point of origin, northwest limits of parcels 1 and 89,
Southwest limits of parcels 89, 90 and 81,
Northwest limits of parcels 80,
Southwest limits of parcels 80, 27, 120,
Section AI
Southwest limits of parcels 55, 53, 54, 32 and 4,
Southeast limits of parcel 4,
Southwest limit of rural road No. 20 called Herodes,
Southwest limit of parcel 38
West limit of rural road No. 20 called Herod to the right of the west corner of the
Plot 18
Crossing the rural road No. 20 called Herod,
Southern limit of parcel 18,
Crossing the boulevard de Cauvigny (RD N°517),
East limit of parcel 10,
Northern limit of parcel 11,
Crossing the rue de la mer,
Section AB
Southern limit of parcels 104, 193, 177, 183, 189, 170,
Crossing the rural road,
Southern limit of plot 171
Northern limit of parcel 71,
West limit of parcel 72,
Crossing of the rural road N°26 of Mont Olive,
Southern limit of rural road No. 26 of Mount Olive up to the limit of section AC,
Section AC
Southern limit of rural road No. 26 of Mont Olive to the northwest corner of parcel 54,
West limit of parcel 54,
Northern limit of municipal road No. 3 (rue du Hamel au Prêtre then rue de la campagne)
To the southeast corner of parcel 50,
Crossing the rue de la campagne,
Section D
West limit of parcel 1,
Southern limits of parcels 1 and 2,
Northwest and southwest limit of parcel 73,
Fictitious line crossing parcel 72 and joining the southern corner of parcel 73 to the northern corner of
Plot 71
Southwest limits of parcels 72, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 61, 59, 58, 57,
Southeast limits of parcel 57,
Southwest limits of parcel 29,
Western and southwest limits of parcel 30,
Crossing the municipal road N°3 (rue de la campagne)
West limit of parcel 40,
Municipality of Saint-Laurent-sur-mer
Section AC
West limit of parcel 2,
Southern limits of parcels 2, 3, and 5,
Crossing of the rural path called the Fosse Taillis,
Southeast limit of the rural road called the Fosse Taillis to the west corner of parcel 6,
Southern limits of parcels 6 and 7,
Western and southwest limit of parcel 8,
Crossing the departmental road N°517,
Southern limit of parcel 22,
Crossing the municipal road No. 4,
Northeast limit of municipal road No. 4 to the intersection with RD N°517
East limit of departmental road N°517 to the southwest corner of parcel 28,
South limit then east of parcel 28,
Southern limit of parcel 40,
Southern limit of the rural road called quarries,
Crossing the rural road N°1 called de la Pissotière,
Section A
East limit of rural road No. 1 called from the Pissotière to the southwest corner of parcel 432,
Southern limits of parcels 432 and 431,
West limit of parcel 1044 to the northeast corner of parcel 1057,
Fictitious line joining the northeast corner of parcel 1057 to the southwest corner of parcel 381,
Southern limits of parcels 381 and 380,
Fictitious line, crossing parcels 379, 242, 1050, 250, 1049, 260, 261 and 1046, connecting the southeast corner of parcel 380 to a point located on the west border of parcel 651, at a distance of 110 meters from the edge of municipal road No. 4 called rue du Val,
West then south limit of parcel 651 to the southeast corner of parcel 271,
Crossing of the rural road called rue du Val,
Northern limit of parcel 1064,
West limits of parcels 1065 and 312,
Northern limit of the rural road N°16 called des Vignets du Hamelet to the right of the northeast corner
Of parcel 1048,
Crossing the rural road N°16 called Vignets du Hamelet,
East limit of parcel 1048,
Northern, west and southern limits of parcel 347,
Crossing the Ruquet stream,
Municipality of Colleville-sur-mer
Section A1
Right bank of the Ruquet stream to the southwest corner of parcel 200,
Southern limits of parcels 200, 201 and 202,
Crossing the rural road N°30 called the long Delle,
West limit of parcel 187,
Southern limits of parcels 187 and 189,
West limit of parcel 175,
Southern limits of parcels 175, 158 and 159,
Section A2
Boundary between sections A2 and D2 until its intersection with section B2,
Crossing of the municipal road N°1 called the mills of Colleville in Surain,
Section B2
Southeast limit of the municipal road N°1 called the mills of Colleville to Surain to the crossroads with the rural road No. 15 called the City,
Southern limit of rural road No. 15 called the City to the right of the southwest corner of parcel 474,
Crossing the rural road No. 15 called the City,
Southern limit of parcels 474 and 475,
Limit is of parcel 475,
Section B1
Southern limit of rural road N°16 called from the bottom of the Faudet to the right of the southeast corner of parcel 349,
Crossing the rural road N°16 called the bas du Faudet,
Limit is of parcel 349,
South then east limit of parcel 85,
Southern limit of the rural road N°14 from the costils to the vineyards of Cabourg to the crossroads with the rural road N°19 called fishmongers,
Crossing the rural road N°45 called the Dolland field,
East limit then south of rural road N°19 called fishmongers to the Ne corner of parcel 54,
Crossing the rural road N°19 called fishmongers,
Municipal limit between Colleville-sur-mer and Ste-Honorine-des-Pertes up to the limit of the maritime public domain,
Straight line, perpendicular to the coastline extending into the sea to a point 500 meters away from the coast,
Straight line joining this point to another point on the maritime public domain located perpendicular to the coastline from the point of origin, at a distance of 1500 meters from the coast, connection to the point of origin.
Omaha Beach
Classified site project
Table of surfaces
Municipality
Land surface
Surface area maritime domain 849 ha
Colleville sur mer 316 ha
Saint Laurent sur mer 129 ha
Vierville sur mer 139 ha
Entire site 1433 ha