Liberty Way
  • ​

Borne 00 at the exit of Utah beach, your search starts here!
Brown signs indicating you are on the ‘liberty highway’ ‘voie de la liberte’
Various Locations
During your visit to Normandy whilst driving around the American sector you will notice several distinctive roadside markers.

These ‘BORNES’ as they are officially known mark out the liberty highway or to give it its correct title the
‘Voie de la Liberte’
if you read something of the history below not only will it make your journey around the area more interesting but it will give you some idea of why they are there.

Borne 0 outside the hotel de ville or town hall in St Mere Eglise. The spiritual start of the highway.
memorial map and history of the highway to be found close to where Colonel Guy de la Vasselais, the mayor of ‘Saint Symphorien le Chateau’ was based.
our four Jeeps parked in a small village square along the way, close to Paris.
one of the replacement fibreglass Bornes, painted differently to be found along the way. You can see the road number (D951) and the distance 99 Kms. You can also see what great views you can get by following the Liberty Highway.
Borne number 1147, the last one just outside Bastogne at the Mardasson Museum. This is the end of the highway and is Kilometer no 1147 the total distance covered by the highway.

LIBERTY HIGHWAY
 
 Looking at the Bornes you will see that each one is numbered from Utah beach/St Mere Eglise from 0 each kilometer all the way to 1147 at the Mardasson Museum in Bastogne, Belgium. Looking at them locally you can identify them by the road number and their distance from St mere Eglise on each one. If you move around the area you will also see that they are decorated differently, each area being responsible for their upkeep and so some are in better condition than others. See the attached photos. It’s a great game if you have young ones on board, its like a game of historical eye spy.
 
 
WAY OF FREEDOM; VOIE DE LA LIBERTE
 
The path to freedom, is a way to commemorate the Allied victory and the liberation of France, Belgium and Luxembourg during World War II. It is marked by a series of ‘Bornes’ (milestones) along the road between Sainte-Mere-Eglise (terminal 0) and Utah beach (terminal 00) in Normandy and Bastogne in Belgium ( terminal 1147), marking the route followed by the American 3rd army commanded by General Patton.
 
 
History
Colonel Guy de la Vasselais, the mayor of ‘Saint Symphorien le Chateau’, a town midway between St Mere Eglise and Bastogne and the former head of the French military mission Tactical liaison with the XX corps of the Third US army, conceived to make a great souvenir of the liberation of France. Returning from a trip to the United States with the Mayor of Metz, they decided to commemorate the progress of the Allied armies by creating a ‘path to freedom’  They chose the triumphant path of the Third US Army Patton’s Ride through France, Luxembourg and Belgium. It is symbolized by the terminals marked every kilometre. ‘the path of the victorious army’.
 
Saint Symphorien le Chateau, a town midway between Bastogne and Saint mere Eglise, had the honour of having the first temporary landmark of the road to liberty placed on the roadside on 26 August 1946, by the mayor Guy de la Vasselais. The final terminal was laid in Bastogne on 5th July 1947. the inauguration took place on the 18th September 1947 at Fontainebleau (there was even a postal stamp with a face value of 6 francs, plus a 4 francs surtax to the committee was issued in 1947)
 
The model of the terminal (borne) is by the sculptor Francois Cogne, originally they were all made of cement and were approx 1m in height, but now along the main roads numerous original terminals were replaced by plastic ones due to the danger to traffic in case of accident. The terminals represent a flame (a symbol of freedom) rising out of the water, as a symbol of the arrival of the liberating allied armies from the sea. It recalls the flame of the statue of liberty in New York, itself a symbol of freedom, in addition each Borne has its road number marked and the distance from St Mere Eglise.
If you ever get the time its worth doing the whole trip, it was done by a small group in four Jeeps several years ago, and was a great event, taking 10 days to cover the whole highway, finishing in Bastogne.
 
Additionally there is an extra Borne located at the ‘hotel des Invalides’ in Paris. It contains land/soil taken from the American cemeteries in France along the way of freedom. It has a number of towns inscribed ( 9 on the rhs and 8 on the lhs) on it.

Cities liberated along the route

  • Saint mere Eglise (liberated on the night of 5/6th June 1944) is the starting marked by the terminal of the first kilometer
  • Utah Beach (town of St Marie du Mont)
  • Neuville au Plain was the first town liberated by American Paratroopers
  • Montebourg liberated 19th June 1944
  • Cherbourg liberated 26th June 1944
  • Carentan liberated 12th June 1944
 
Current main road N174- E03

  • Pont Herbert liberated 17th July 1944
  • Saint Lo liberated on 16th July 1944. completely destroyed by allied bombing; Patton launches his offensive towards Avranches
 
Current main road D972 St Lo- Coutances

  • Marigny liberated 25th July ’44  see operation Cobra
  • Coutances liberated 28th July ‘44
  • Lengronne liberated 29th July ’44  (fierce tank battle)
  • Avranches liberated 30th July
 
Current main road N175 – E03/D4 St Malo to Avranches

  • Saint Servan (now part of St Malo) liberated 17th August ’44 where the Germans had fortified the city of Aleth, a component of the ‘fortress St Malo’
  • Dol de Bretagne
  • Saint-Malo liberated 16th Aug ’44, with the old walled city almost entirely destroyed
 
Current main road N137 St Malo – Rennes

  • Rennes liberated 4th Aug ‘44
  • Chateaubriant liberated 4th Aug ‘44
 
Current main road D163 Chateaubriant to Cande and then D963 to Angers

  • Angers liberated 10th Aug ‘44
  • Le Mans liberated 8th Aug ‘44
  • Chartres liberated 18th Aug ‘44
  • Saint Symphorien (Eure-et-Loire) first Borne August 25 1946
  • Fontainebleau liberated 23 Aug ‘44
  • Provins liberated 27 Aug ‘44
 
 
Current main road; D236 between Provins & Villenauxe-le-grand, then D951 between Villeneaux & Reims, Epernay, via;

  • Epernay liberated 28th August ‘44
  • Reims, liberated 30th Aug ’44. Germany signed to the unconditional surrender May 7 1945 at the college of Jolicoeur Street (now Roosevelt high school) then GHQ of Eisenhower. The surrender room remains the same as it was at the time of the surrender/signature
  • Valmy liberated 30 aug ‘44
  • Verdun, Oct ’44 it became one of the largest centres of supply of the US army
  • Gravelotte liberated 13th Dec ‘44
  • Nancy liberated 15th September ‘44
  • Rozerieulles, liberated 20th Nov’ 44 (it saw a very stubborn resistance of the enemy)
  • Metz, liberated 19th Nov’44
  • Thionville, liberated 12th Sept ‘44
  • Luxembourg, liberated 10th Sept ‘44
  • Arlon, liberated 10th Sept ‘44
  • Bastogne, finally is the culmination of the path of freedom after 1145 km from Saint Mere Eglise. Liberated 10th September 1944. And then again surrounded by the Germans, and defended by the Allies, becoming the focal point of the ‘battle of the Bulge’ Dec to Jan 1944/45.
 
MEMBER REVIEWS - Please contribute