Big Red One Assault Museum

The Big Red One Assault Museum commemorates and records the actions of the United States’ 1st Infantry Division in the Battle of Normandy, following its landing at nearby Omaha Beach in 1944. The 1st Infantry Division, known as ‘Big Red One’ in reference to its large, red numeral ‘1’ combat service identification badge or shoulder patch, is a longstanding infantry unit organized in 1917 for service in France in response to American participation in the First World War. Big Red One joined the Second World War first in North Africa, landing in Algeria in 1942 as part of Operation Torch; in 1943, it was employed in the invasion of Sicily. Having completed actions in Sicily, the unit was redeployed; on November 5, 1943, it landed in England to join forces preparing for the cross-channel invasion of France.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the 1st Infantry Division, together with two regiments from the 29th Infantry Division and detachments from the United States Army Rangers, formed the first wave of the American landings at Omaha Beach – one of five beachheads targeted for the Normandy Landings. Facing intense and costly resistance owing largely to heavy defensive fire and difficult terrain, the 1st Infantry Division-led American forces ultimately succeeded in establishing and exploiting small beachheads; following the landings’ success, the division advanced across Normandy through France and the Low Countries towards the Rhine and into Germany. The First Division Museum (Wheaton, Illinois) credits the unit for leading the siege and assault of Aachen, the first German city to be captured by the Western Allies.

Located in the town of Colleville-sur-Mer, a little more than a kilometre inland from Omaha Beach, the Big Red One Assault Museum displays information, records, artifacts, and memorabilia recovered from and relating to this combat, including the landings at Omaha and the subsequent fighting through Normandy and France. The objects displayed are chiefly the personal collection of museum owner Pierre-Louis Gosslin. To this is added some private donations, including the complete military kit belonging to the 1st Infantry Division’s Captain (Chaplain) Fred E. Andrews which Andrews personally supplied.

The museum’s objects are accompanied in English and French by written displays, a documentary film, and guided tours describing the role of the 1st Infantry Division at Omaha and in the broader context of the invasions of Normandy and France. The museum’s archive is available to visitors upon request in advance.