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Casinos and movies - D Day and

CASINOS AND MOVIES- The D-Day movie and the Casino de Ouistreham- Riva Bella
“Riva Bella beach was born at the end of the 19th century and welcomed the first casino in 1910. In 1928, Alfred Thomas, hotelier and businessman, had a new municipal casino built on the beach. In Norman seaside style, the casino looks great. Destroyed in 1943 ( NOTE- other sources say 1942), it was rebuilt in 1952. It was joined by a cinema and a nightclub. Bought in 1991 by the Lucien Barrière group, it is now entirely available on the theme of cruising, its interior design has also been entrusted to an architect from the Atlantic shipyards. It was on May 12, 1992 that the inauguration of the Queen Normandy took place, a permanent trip on an ocean of celebration, a real leisure space, in 2001 it was the end of the queen, the casino became "Casino de Ouistreham, a Lucien Barrière group casino "(from Barriere Groupe site)

Kursaal from 1910

Casino from 1928

actual casino from 1952

The casino was dismantled on 1942 by the Germans to use the materials in the construction of the Atlantic Wall

The flattened casino

A bunker was built on the place of the former casino

The longest day
“On 6 June 1944, No. 4 Commando under Colonel Dawson landed at Ouistreham (Roger section of Sword Beach) tasked to clear the Ouistreham bunkers, with the casino bunker a primary objective, then fighting their way to Pegasus Bridge.
No. 4 Commando were unusual. Their numbers included 185 soldiers from France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Canada, Russia, Austria and Poland. These ‘1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos (BFMC)’ had all somehow escaped occupied Europe and made it to England. The Batallion been set up by Frenchman Lieutenant Commander Philippe Kieffer.At 7.25am on the morning of 6 June 1944 Colonel Dawson ensured two Frenchmen of the BFMC were the first to step onto French soil. It was important for everyone that these men be at the forefront of Europe’s liberation.
Military monster
The beach was a vicious forest of booby trapped stakes, barbed wire and mines.
Behind the beach once stood the Riva Bella Casino, a pretty building in the wood beamed Normandy villa style. Sometime in 1942 the occupying German army had levelled the casino, along with over 100 seaside villas at Ouistreham. They were making way for a vast concrete bunker, or rather a network of 80 bunkers.
Rommel was so proud of the bunker complex he had made two personal visits, in November 1943, and again just 7 days before D-Day. Within this military monster stood immense firepower including 155mm guns with a range of 21.3 km, 75mm and 50cm guns in pill boxes, defending a watchtower, sitting on top of one of the remaining villas and in the remains of the old casino. The bunkers were linked by underground tunnels and surrounded by trenches. The construction buzzed with hundreds of armed soldiers.
Within this military monster stood immense firepower including 155mm guns with a range of 21.3 km, 75mm and 50cm guns in pill boxes, defending a watchtower, sitting on top of one of the remaining villas and in the remains of the old casino. The bunkers were linked by underground tunnels and surrounded by trenches. The construction buzzed with hundreds of armed soldiers.” ( from https://www.normandythenandnow.com/when-hollywood-met-normandy-on-sword-beach-1944/)