Where to See WW2 Tanks in Normandy (2026 Guide)
Normandy is scattered with WW2 tanks, some of them veterans of the Normandy campaign, recovered from the battlefields or the sea years later. Others were gifted by veteran associations, national armies and governments to stand as memorials to the men who fought here.
This guide covers the tanks I’ve tracked down across Normandy, grouped by type, with their locations and a quick summary of each. Most are outdoors and free to view at any time.
Contents
- Sherman Tanks
- Sherman Tank - Utah Beach Museum
- Sherman Tank - Arromanches
- Sherman Tank - Saint-Martin-de-Varreville
- Sherman Tank - “Massaoua”, Écouché
- Sherman Tank - “Keren”, Saint-Christophe-le-Jajolet
- Sherman Tank - “Valois”, La Ferrière-Béchet
- Sherman Tank - Mémorial de Montormel
- Sherman Tank - Bayeux Museum
- Sherman Tank - Vierville-sur-Mer (Musée D-Day Omaha)
- Sherman DD Tank - “Bold”, Courseulles-sur-Mer
- Sherman Tank - Dozer Wreck, Commes
- Sherman DD Tank - Wreck, Commes
- Sherman Tank - Camp Patton
- Sherman TRV - Colleville-sur-Mer
- Sherman Tank - Colleville-sur-Mer
- Churchill Tanks
- Churchill Tank - Hill 112 Memorial
- Churchill AVRE - Lion-sur-Mer
- Churchill AVRE - Graye-sur-Mer
- Churchill Tank - Hillman Suffolk Regiment
- Centaur Tanks
- Centaur Tank - Hermanville-sur-Mer
- Centaur Tank - Bénouville (Pegasus Bridge Museum)
- Tiger Tanks
- Tiger Tank - Vimoutiers
- M10 Tank Destroyers
- M10 Tank Destroyer - Bayeux
- M10 Tank Destroyer - Colleville-sur-Mer
- Stuart Tanks
- Stuart - World War II Museum, Quineville
Sherman Tanks
The Sherman was the most numerous Allied tank in Normandy, and almost every one below carries a variant code that tells you what you are looking at. An M4A1 has a rounded cast upper hull, obvious once you know to look for it against the flat welded plates of the other marks. An M4A2 ran on twin diesel engines and was built largely for Lend-Lease, which is why four of the tanks here are M4A2s of the French 2nd Armoured Division. An M4A4 had a lengthened hull to house a thirty-cylinder multibank petrol engine, and most went to the British as the Sherman V. A bracketed 75 or 76 is the gun, and a W means wet ammunition stowage, introduced to make the tank less likely to burn when it was hit.
Sherman Tank - Utah Beach Museum
Standing outside the entrance of the Utah Beach Museum at Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, this M4A1(76)W Sherman is staged breaking through a section of defences.
This tank was gifted by the French Army and is a variant which would not have seen service in Europe until later in 1944.
It stands in front of the museum and is free to view at any time, so it’s an easy stop if you’re visiting the Utah Beach area.
Sherman Tank - Arromanches
This Sherman tank stands on a hill overlooking Arromanches, on top of a WW2 casemate from Widerstandsnest 43 (WN43). The position also offers panoramic views over the town and the remains of the Port Winston artificial Mulberry Harbour.
The tank is named after Berry-au-Bac, the village on the Chemin des Dames ridge where the French first used tanks in action in WW1.
Sherman Tank - Saint-Martin-de-Varreville
Forming part of the Leclerc Monument at Saint-Martin-de-Varreville, this Sherman M4A2(75) marks the location on Utah Beach where the French 2nd Armoured Division, led by General Philippe Leclerc, landed in August 1944.
Sherman Tank - “Massaoua”, Écouché
Sherman M4A2 tank “Massaoua” belonged to the 1st Company of the 501st Tank Regiment of the French 2nd Armoured Division.
During the battle for Écouché the tank was hit by enemy fire and remained at the entrance to the town until the end of the war, when the mayor, Monsieur Chable, asked that it stay as a memorial.
Sherman Tank - “Keren”, Saint-Christophe-le-Jajolet
Sherman M4A2 tank “Keren” belonged to the 501st Tank Regiment of the French 2nd Armoured Division and was knocked out on 12 August 1944 when a German shell struck the turret, killing three crew members (Pierre Brediger, Joseph Omnes and Jacques Tubert),who are commemorated on a plaque.
Sherman Tank - “Valois”, La Ferrière-Béchet
The Sherman M4A2 tank “Valois” stands as a memorial to the combatants of the French 2nd Armoured Division who died for France during the fighting in Normandy between 10 and 23 August 1944.
Sherman Tank - Mémorial de Montormel
The Sherman M4A1(76)W at the Mémorial de Montormel carries two different names, one painted on each side. The first is “Maczuga”, Polish for mace, the medieval weapon: Maczuga was the nickname given to Hill 262, which the tank and the memorial now sit upon. The other name is “Gen Maczek”, after General Stanisław Maczek, the 1st Polish Armoured Division’s commander.
Sherman Tank - Bayeux Museum
This tank, which stands outside the Musée Mémorial de la Bataille de Normandie in Bayeux, started life as a Grizzly, the Canadian-manufactured Sherman. At some point its turret and tracks were replaced with American-pattern parts, likely during battlefield repairs, which is why it now closely resembles a standard M4A1.
Sherman Tank - Vierville-sur-Mer (Musée D-Day Omaha)
This Sherman M4A4T stands at the roadside outside the Musée D-Day Omaha at Vierville-sur-Mer. The T in M4A4T designates a tank upgraded for use in the French Army after WW2.
Sherman DD Tank - “Bold”, Courseulles-sur-Mer
This Sherman DD (Duplex Drive),named “Bold”, is an M4A4(75) modified to float, so it could swim ashore and support the infantry attacking the beaches. A metal boat-shaped bow skirt was welded to the front of the hull and a collapsible canvas screen fitted round the outside of the tank. That, combined with two propellers at the rear, allowed it to float and manoeuvre under its own power.
On 6 June 1944 “Bold” struggled in the rough sea and sank a short distance off the beach. Gunner Roswell Tofflemire drowned, though the rest of the crew were rescued.
Sherman Tank - Dozer Wreck, Commes
Losses among unarmoured bulldozers working under fire in the Tunisia campaign and the early Pacific island landings had already made the case for an armoured version. What was needed was a dozer that could protect its operator while clearing beach obstacles and routes inland close to the front line. The solution, adopted in 1943, was to fit standard Sherman M4s with the M1 dozer blade, creating a vehicle that could double as both tank and bulldozer.
Like the rest of the collection at the Musée des Épaves Sous-Marines, it was recovered from the seabed by diver and museum founder Jacques Lemonchois.
Sherman DD Tank - Wreck, Commes
This Sherman Duplex Drive (DD) tank was one of 29 launched by the 741st Tank Battalion off Omaha Beach on D-Day. As they attempted to swim ashore ahead of the infantry, heavy swells swamped all but two before they could reach the beach. It was recovered from the sea in 1970 by museum founder Jacques Lemonchois and now resides at the Musée des Épaves Sous-Marines, just inland from Port-en-Bessin.
Sherman Tank - Camp Patton
This Sherman M4A1 is located at the Camp Patton Memorial, the historic site where General George S. Patton established his first headquarters adjoining the orchard near the Belle Manière farm.
The memorial is free to view at any time.
Sherman TRV (Tank Recovery Vehicle) - Colleville-sur-Mer
This Sherman M32B1 TRV is located outside the Overlord Museum, Colleville-sur-Mer. The Sherman M32B1 was introduced in 1944 to recover battle-damaged or broken-down tanks, replacing the Lee Grant Recovery tank.
Sherman M4A1 - Colleville-sur-Mer
This Sherman M4A1, armed with a 76mm gun, is located outside the Overlord Museum, Colleville-sur-Mer.
Churchill Tanks
The Churchill was a British infantry tank, slow and very thickly armoured, built to crawl forward with the infantry onto defended positions rather than race across open country. The Mk VII carried the heaviest armour of any British tank of the war. Two of the four below are AVREs, the Royal Engineers’ assault version, which gave up the tank’s main gun for a 290mm Petard mortar meant to break concrete.
Churchill Tank - Hill 112 Memorial
This Churchill Mk VII stands as a memorial on Hill 112, scene of one of the bloodiest battles fought by British and Commonwealth troops in Normandy, across Operations Epsom and Jupiter in late June and July 1944. It’s a representative tank rather than one that fought here itself, placed alongside memorials to the 43rd (Wessex) Division and to the infantrymen who died taking the hill.
Churchill AVRE - Lion-sur-Mer
This Churchill Mk IV AVRE stands next to the 41st Royal Marine Commando Memorial in Lion-sur-Mer, gifted to the commune in 1994 by General Sir Ian Harris, who commanded the 2nd Royal Ulster Rifles on D-Day.
The Churchill AVRE was one of Hobart’s Funnies, swapping its main gun for a 290mm Petard mortar, built to destroy bunkers and break through beach fortifications rather than fight other tanks.
Churchill AVRE - Graye-sur-Mer
This Churchill AVRE landed on the beach at Graye-sur-Mer on the morning of D-Day. As it advanced up the beach it sank into a bomb crater hidden beneath the water. Four of the six-man crew were killed by machine gun and rifle fire as they tried to escape; the other two were wounded and evacuated back to the UK.
In November 1976, 32 years later, the tank was recovered and restored. It now stands as a memorial 100 metres from where it sank on D-Day.
Churchill Tank - Hillman Suffolk Regiment
A refurbished Churchill Mk IV now stands at the Hillman Suffolk Regiment site. The 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment’s initial assault on this German command bunker stalled against its defences on D-Day itself; it took a renewed attack with tank support from the Staffordshire Yeomanry the following morning, 7 June, to force the garrison’s surrender.
One Churchill variant has an article of its own. The Churchill Crocodile was the flamethrower version, a Mk VII that towed an armoured fuel trailer behind it, and it was feared above all other Allied tanks by the German troops who faced it. That article covers how the flame system worked, what the Crocodiles did in Normandy, and where to see one today.
Centaur Tanks
The Centaur was a close relative of the Cromwell, built with a different engine, and the mark that reached Normandy was the Centaur IV CS. The CS stands for close support: rather than an anti-tank gun it carried a howitzer, for putting high explosive into bunkers and strongpoints. These went to the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group, whose crews fired them from their landing craft during the run in to the beaches before coming ashore. Both of the Centaurs below are connected with Sword Beach.
Centaur Tank - Hermanville-sur-Mer
A Centaur IV CS stands at the roadside in Hermanville-sur-Mer, a short distance inland from the beach. Next to the tank is a plaque to the 70 specialist Churchill tanks that landed and cleared a 200 metre wide safe path so that troops could land safely on the beach.
Centaur Tank - Bénouville (Pegasus Bridge Museum)
This Centaur Mark IV previously stood opposite the Café Gondrée but was later restored and moved a short distance into the grounds of the Pegasus Bridge Museum. The tank is fitted with a 95mm Howitzer used for firing High Explosive (HE) rounds.
It was part of the 5th Independent Battery of the RMASG (Royal Marines Armoured Support Group) and on D-Day landed at Sword Beach between Hermanville-la-Brèche and Lion-sur-Mer.
Tiger Tanks
The Tiger I earned a reputation in Normandy out of all proportion to its numbers. An 88mm gun, and armour that Allied tank guns struggled to penetrate at normal battle ranges, made it the tank every crew feared meeting. It was also heavy, mechanically strained and extremely thirsty, and many Tigers were lost to breakdown, fuel shortage or their own crews’ demolition charges rather than to enemy fire. The one below is thought to be among them.
Tiger Tank - Vimoutiers
Tiger E231 stands on the outskirts of Vimoutiers. It is thought to have run out of fuel before being rendered inoperable by its crew. Sitting next to a layby, the tank is free to view at any time.
M10 Tank Destroyers
Built on the Sherman M4 chassis, the M10 tank destroyer had a 3-inch gun capable of firing both high explosive and armour piercing rounds. The open-topped turret and thin armour were the price of that gun. Tank destroyers were meant to shoot from cover and move on, picking off armour at range rather than slugging it out in the open, which is why they were never quite the same thing as a tank.
M10 Tank Destroyer - Bayeux
This M10 stands in front of the Musée Mémorial de la Bataille de Normandie and is free to view at any time.
M10 Tank Destroyer - Colleville-sur-Mer
This M10 stands in front of the Overlord Museum, Colleville-sur-Mer, and is free to view at any time.
Stuart Tanks
The Stuart was an American light tank, and it was never meant to fight other tanks. With a 37mm gun and thin armour it was built for reconnaissance and screening, scouting ahead of the heavier squadrons and reporting back, which in the close country of the Normandy bocage was dangerous work. British crews, who received large numbers under Lend-Lease, nicknamed it the Honey.
Stuart Tank - Quineville (World War II Museum)
This Stuart M3A3 light tank is located outside the World War II Museum at Quineville, to the north of Utah Beach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there still WW2 tanks in Normandy?
Yes, more than most visitors expect. This guide covers the ones I’ve tracked down and photographed, including Sherman, Churchill, Centaur, Stuart and Tiger tanks, along with M10 tank destroyers. Most stand outdoors, either at the roadside or in front of a museum, so you can walk up to them at any time of year.
What happened to the tanks after D-Day?
The ones still standing in Normandy today arrived by two very different routes. Some are survivors of the fighting itself, knocked out in 1944 and left where they stopped, or recovered from the battlefields and the seabed decades later. Others never fought here at all, and were given to the communes after the war by veteran associations, national armies and governments, to stand as memorials to the men who did.
Which tanks in Normandy actually fought there?
Several of them. The Churchill AVRE at Graye-sur-Mer sank into a flooded bomb crater on the beach on D-Day morning and was recovered in 1976. “Bold”, the DD Sherman at Courseulles-sur-Mer, sank in rough seas on 6 June, and the two Shermans at Commes were both recovered from the sea. “Massaoua” at Écouché and “Keren” near Saint-Christophe-le-Jajolet were both knocked out in August 1944. Others, such as the Churchill Mk VII on Hill 112, are representative tanks placed as memorials rather than veterans of the battle.
Can you see a Tiger tank in Normandy?
Yes. There is one on the outskirts of Vimoutiers, sitting next to a layby and free to view at any time. It is thought to have run out of fuel before being rendered inoperable by its crew.
Where can you see a DD swimming tank in Normandy?
There are two. “Bold” at Courseulles-sur-Mer is an M4A4(75) fitted with a boat-shaped bow skirt, a collapsible canvas screen and twin propellers so that it could swim ashore. The second is a wreck at the Musée des Épaves Sous-Marines in Commes, one of 29 DD tanks launched by the 741st Tank Battalion off Omaha Beach and recovered from the sea in 1970.
Are the tanks free to visit?
Most of them are. The great majority stand at the roadside or outside a museum entrance, where you can see them at any time without paying. The exceptions are the two Sherman wrecks at the Musée des Épaves Sous-Marines in Commes, which are part of the museum’s collection.
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Phil – creator of Normandy War Guide
I started the site more than a decade ago after my first trip to Normandy and have
been hooked ever since. I visit a few times each year to explore new sites and
update the guide. Over the years I've also transcribed thousands of WWII war
diaries and scanned original maps to keep this history accessible for everyone.