Today the Allies, who banded together to stand against the threat of the Nazism of Hitler, marked the eightieth anniversary of D-Day and the counter invasion of Normandy. It was to prove a decisive, but costly battle on the road to the final victory.

The American commemoration took place at the cemetery at Colleville, just above the Omaha beaches where so many US service personnel lost their lives. I took the photos in this blog over the two occasions we visited as a family while on this historic coast of France. These were moving occasions even without the pomp and circumstance of today’s commemorations. Today, some vivid memories came to mind, and I want to share them.

The cemetery is an impressive place, and it seems as if its purpose had developed over the years. It is a resting place for the human remains of thousands of those who perished in the horrors of that day and afterwards. Graves are laid out in serried ranks, row after row. There are people of different ages, although so many are young, different faiths, and different races. The grounds of the cemetery are meticulously kept as a sign of the honour in which these heroes are held. But there is also an educational aim, in part to explain in stone and story the strategy of the invasion and how the different armies pierced the strong defences, creating a bridgehead then moving inland. There is also a museum, an addition from our first visit, with artefacts and explanations that not only give the big picture but tell the stories of individuals who took part in this momentous event.

A visit to Colleville is not complete without walking beyond the confines of the cemetery to the beach below. On a calm and sunny day, as it was for us, it is beautiful with golden sand and rolling dunes. Eighty years ago, the water was not calm. and the sand was stained with the blood of the wounded and dying. We were there shortly after one of the major commemorations and I remember walking across the dunes, where I came upon a small wooden cross with a picture attached to it. Here had fallen a soldier whose relatives had travelled thousands of miles to lay that cross in memory of one who was still loved, remembered, and missed within the family circle.

Back among the memorials I stood and looked around. Bells were ringing out a tune. I have no idea how many people would recognise the tune, but as a Presbyterian minister to me it sounded familiar. Then it dawned. It was the Old 124^th from the Scottish Psalter, not only bearing witness to the influence of Scotland on the religious history of the US, but also recognising that on that day something took place that was not possible beyond the good providence of God. Those who designed and created this memorial drew on Psalm 124 to understand what had happened.

1 Now Israel
may say, and that truly,
If that the Lord
had not our cause maintain’d;
2 If that the Lord
had not our right sustain’d,
When cruel men
against us furiously
Rose up in wrath,
to make of us their prey;

3 Then certainly
they had devour’d us all,
And swallow’d quick,
for ought that we could deem;
Such was their rage,
as we might well esteem.
4 And as fierce floods
before them all things drown,
So had they brought
our soul to death quite down.

5 The raging streams,
with their proud swelling waves,
Had then our soul
o’erwhelmed in the deep.
6 But bless’d be God,
who doth us safely keep,
And hath not giv’n
us for a living prey
Unto their teeth,
and bloody cruelty.

7 Ev’n as a bird
out of the fowler’s snare
Escapes away,
so is our soul set free:
Broke are their nets,
and thus escaped we.
8 Therefore our help
is in the Lord’s great name,
Who heav’n and earth
by his great pow’r did frame.

 The language is ancient, but the meaning is clear. While it is perilous to claim that in conflict God is on our side – in The Great War so many chaplains on both sides claimed that – yet there is something about this particular event (the weather window, the poor decisions made by Hitler and his commanders, and the like) that made people think that this victory could not have been achieved without divine intervention. Only God knows.

What we do know is that this historic battle was not the last battle of WWII, but it was probably decisive in rolling back Hitler’s forces until they were forced to surrender. D-Day saw the beginning of the end of a nightmare that we hope and pray the world will never see again. But that can never be taken for granted.