NI Photowalk - Airborne Museum

The Airborne Museum is located in St. Mere Eglise because of the role that the 101st and 82nd Airborne units played in securing the town.

This sculpture, with desperate hands reaching out to catch the paratroopers from the country of France, sits near the entrance.

Elements around the base include a paratroopers rifle, a model of the church at St. Mere Eglise with the parachute caught on the steeple, the German beach fortifications, and a ladder propped against a steep cliff to represent the rangers scaling Pont du Hoc.

A Sherman tank, a transport truck, and an anti-aircraft cannon were some of the items displayed outside the three buildings that comprise the museum.

The first building contained display cases with artifacts that soldiers would have carried.

This one was my favorite.  It has a box of Rice Krispies in it.

A model of a Liberty Ship, the boats that carried American troops across the Atlantic to England.

The building also included an airplane that you could walk through and see how the soldiers would have been seated as they prepared to make their drop.

Regimental patches of D-Day participants, including the Ivy patch of the Fourth Division (IV Division), Eston's Division.

As I moved through various museums, I took pictures of pictures of the 4th Division in action leading up to their capture of Cherbourg, which is where Eston died.

I forget what this little vehicle is called.

The second building included another airplane, uniforms, and more information about the landings.  This was the building that had the cemetery pictures that I shared in the St. Mere Eglise Photowalk.

There were also flags representing the homes of the participating troops, including Tennessee.

The third, and newest building, is the Operation Neptune building, which was the code name of the entire D-Day operation.

A parachute was laid out in the floor as you entered the building.

You then walked through a mock-up of a dark airplane.  You could hear and feel the thrum of the aircraft engine.

When you stepped out of the airplane, you were over an aerial view of the French countryside, with bombs exploding and lighting up the air around you.  Wind hit you as you stepped out, and you were in the point of view of a paratrooper as they rushed toward the earth.

Continuing through the building, there were several dioramas that recreated life for the soldiers as they moved through Normandy.

This one was a representation of the bocage, or hedgerow, country.

The final exhibit highlighted the press coverage of the Invasion.