Hi folks!
The airborne troops are one of the units most often reenacted.
Today we are visiting the "D-Day Experience" in Saint-Côme-du-Mont.
We want to know everything about the American paratroopers.
The museum includes the flight simulator and the "Dead Man's Corner Museum",
a section devoted to the Germans.
The visit has two aspects.
On the one hand, the general public will get a clear idea of how American paratroopers
were equipped in Normandy.
On the other hand, the museum will delight
101st Division enthusiasts.
They'll enjoy its huge collection.
- Hello Oscar. - Emmanuel, how are you?
I'd like to introduce you to the co-founder and co-director of the museum.
This showcase is great.
Do you like this showcase? It's true that it is very educational.
It displays almost everything
a paratrooper carried on the early morning of June 6.
The uniform, the equipment.
Yes, but I see...
What do you have there?
I found this jacket here...
- May I wear it... - No problem!
during the visit?
It's appropriate because I'm going to take you to our flight simulator
on board a real C-47.
That way you'll get an idea what it was like for the paratroopers.
That's fine by me, let's go.
Let's go!
This museum has
what is considered to be the biggest collection
on American airborne troops in Normandy.
It has thousands of items.
We know who many of them belonged to.
Each item has its' own story.
We're lucky to have pictures from that period
in which we can see those same items in use.
Uniforms, helmets, equipment, etc.
I'd like to to point out that movies and series
such as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers"
succeeded in getting everyone interested in paratroopers.
That's right.
And speaking of this series
we're lucky to display here
items that belonged to the famous Lieutenant Winters who led
the "Easy" Company of the 506th Regiment in Normandy.
I'm sure that this will interest people.
How did Winters' things get to the museum?
Actually it is a long, old story.
We were lucky to meet Winters long before
the book and the series were put out.
We went to meet him and he sold us everything he had kept.
Both uniforms and personal belongings that he used during the war.
This was well before he became famous.
It's good that they ended up here.
Another famous member of the Easy Company of the 506th
was Forrest Guth.
This is a model made to look like him.
Of note among his possessions
the sweatshirt that his mother sent him
to keep him warm during the war.
In another exhibit case,
the fans of "Band of Brothers"
will be moved by the remains of the airplane
that carried the company commander that night.
Lieutenant Meehan.
We have his dog tags.
Each item in the museum tells a little story.
Because nearly all of them are identified.
Here we have a good example.
All these belonged to a C-47 copilot
named Knopp.
During his mission to Normandy, his plane was hit
by anti-aircraft artillery.
A shell fragment hit him in the chest
and penetrated his jacket.
Fortunately for him, he was carrying his knife
in a pocket of his jacket.
That saved his life.
We can see the fragment of the shell he kept as a souvenir
as well as the knife that saved his life.
They are little stories which are part of the history
and which attract the attention of visitors.
Many people will ask what these markings are on the sides of the helmets.
The 101st Airborne Division was made up of three parachute regiments
recognizable by a system of symbols.
We can tell by the playing card symbols
whether a helmet belonged to the 501st, the 502nd or the 506th regiments.
Clubs represented the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment.
The airborne artillery unit,
the anti-aircraft battalion,
the engineers, the medical company
and other units had their own symbols.
Each regiment was divided into three battalions.
A "tick" on the right represented the first battalion.
A tick below, the second battalion.
And on the left, the third battalion.
To finish this jigsaw puzzle, each battalion was divided into three companies
named alphabetically.
The famous Easy Company commanded by Winters
had an ace of spades with a tick underneath.
That's all for our parachute experience in the museum.
Well…
We still have one detail to talk about.
As you can see it is a genuine C-47 aircraft
built in 1943.
It took part in the battle of Normandy.
After the war it remained in England
operating in various British air transport companies.
Until one day Steven Spielberg purchased it
to restore it as a June 1944 aircraft.
It was used in the famous series "Band of Brothers".
As we were lucky to participate in the series
as historical and uniform consultants
we were able to buy it in 2004 to turn it into this.
What a historic piece!
Yes.
That's all for today's episode.
I want to ask you one last thing.
Can I try out the plane again?
No problem.
Can I? Thank you!
See you on the next episode.
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