Airborne Museum

Description

The Airborne Museum (Musée Airborne) is dedicated to the memory of the troops of 82nd Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division who landed in Normandy, by parachute or glider, on the night of 5–6 June 1944 hours before the Allied landings in Normandy. Its collections have been donated by the townspeople and thanks to gifts from the veterans of 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.It was founded in 1962 and on 6 June that year its first stone was laid by General Gavin, who had liberated the town of Sainte-Mère-Église.

Its first building, built to look like a parachute from the air, was opened on 6 June 1964 (the twentieth anniversary of D-Day) and houses a WACO glider. Its second building opened in 1984, built to look like a billowing parachute and housing a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, one of the aircraft which towed gliders to Sainte-Mère-Église. Its third building is due to open in 2014 and will house (among other things) a reconnaissance kit.