The almost deserted Utah beach on the eastern coast of the Cotentin Peninsula is overlooked by the remnants of war. Massive concrete gun emplacements protrude from the grassy dunes and provide a distinct reminder of the significance the area played towards ending World War 11.

Once named Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, it is now more widely known as Utah in memory of the American 4th Division (7th Corps) who landed on the shores near Madeleine and the Dunes de Varreville under heavy fire from the German coastal batteries on the 6th June 1944. Their objective was to link with airborne troops of the 82nd and 101st Divisions being dropped around the town of Ste-Mère-Église. As the world now knows, this mission was successful and three weeks later the enemy had been taken.

Ste-Mère-Église, a small country town in the heart of a livestock breeding area was the centre of much fighting on the nights of 5th and 6th June 1944 when the American airborne troops were parachuted to clear the Utah beach exits. The town was liberated on 6th June and today its story is told in the Airborne Troops Museum. Tributes abound throughout the town and particularly in the glass of the main door of the church which suffered severe damage in the battle to rid the belfry of German snipers.

In the late afternoon of my visit, American tourists were much in evidence gazing up at the church tower and the parachutist who became entangled during his descent. It seemed a colourful and atmospheric little town, never wishing to forget the moment of liberation on what has always been regarded as the 'longest day'. In fact, the town featured in the film of the same title.