This amazing memorial which pays tribute to the airmen of the 9th Airforce’s Troop Carrier Command as well as paratroopers from the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions – all of which lost men in the surrounding area on June 6, 1944.
Standing next the village church, you can’t miss the small scale replica of a C47 aircraft which stands proud on top of the post overlooking the stone memorial. The original aircraft which stood for many years was replaced by an updated version in 2024, in time for the 80th anniversary commemorations of D-Day.
Below the C47 are six plaques which list the crews of four aircraft which crashed in the area as they delivered their paratroopers. An engine from one of the aircraft is also on display here – a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 with the serial number P133588 – which was recovered from a field near this memorial.
It belonged to C47 number 42-100819 which took off from Upottery airfield in England on June 5 and was hit by German anti-aircraft fire in the early morning. All sixteen paratroopers and the four airmen on board were killed.
In 2024, the village unveiled a new statue at the site in a tribute to the ‘courage and dignity of American women who lost loved ones who fought in World War II’.
Picauville was the location for one of the Allies’ first temporary airfields – known as Advanced Landing Ground A8 - following the liberation of the area and initially supported US P-47D Thunderbolt aircraft and later RAF Mosquito night fighters until the site was closed in September 1944.