Following two cancellations due to COVID in 2020 and 2021 finally, in May this year, I was picked up locally in Worthing for the journey down to Folkestone and the Eurotunnel to Calais. It was then a 3.5 hour drive to Caen and my hotel for the next four nights. A refreshing pint was followed by preparations for the next few days of the tour and a nights sleep.
An early start saw us heading the short journey to Pegasus Bridge, originally the Benouville Bridge, the site of the first action of D-Day.
Led by Major John Howard, a force from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and a platoon of Royal Engineers, landed in fields close to the bridge in three Horsa Gliders at 00:16 on 6 June. The defending Germans were taken by surprise and within ten minutes the bridge was in Allied hands.
Reinforcements from the 7th Battalion Parachute Regiment soon arrived. One member of the regiment was actor Richard Todd who would go on to play the role of Major Howard in the film The Longest Day.
The bridge was renamed Pegasus Bridge in late 1944 in honour of the operation and the name was taken from the shoulder emblem worn by the British Airborne Forces, Bellerophon riding the winged horse Pegasus.
The original bridge was replaced in 1994 and is now housed in the grounds of the nearby museum along with a replica Horsa Glider.
Inside the museum you can follow the story of the capture of the bridge with hundreds of items related to that first attack including uniforms, equipment along with scores of photos and information boards.. A very interesting museum that would take several hours to read and view every item.
Our first cemetery visit was to the Ranville War Cemetery where there are 2,236 commonwealth graves including Private Emile Servais Corteil. Serving with the 9th (Essex) Parachute Battalion, 19 year-old Corteil parachuted into Normandy on 6 June with his dog Glenn.
Both were killed later in the day, found together and buried at Ranville. In the church graveyard, next to the cemetery, is buried Lieutenant Herbert Denham Brotheridge. Mortally wounded crossing the Benouville Bridge during the opening assault it is believed he was the first Allied soldier to be killed in action on D-Day.
Heading back to Pegasus Bridge it was time for lunch at the appropriately named Three Gliders Cafe. Despite the awful weather there was still a chance to take a few more photos including the Cafe Gondree.
Located on the west bank of the Caen Canal, back in 1940 it was run by Georges and Therese Gondree who, as part of the French Resistance, passed on information about the German defence of the bridge to British intelligence. Now run by their daughter Ariette, it is still a popular cafe and visited by many of those who visit Pegasus Bridge.
Following lunch, and an improvement in the weather, it was time to visit the British and Canadian Beaches. Our first stop was Sword Beach, a five-mile stretch of the coast that was the objective of British troops.
A statue of Piper Bill Millin stands on the shoreline. The personal piper of Lord Lovatt Fraser, whose commando brigade landed on Sword Beach, Millin was the only soldier to wear a kilt on D-Day.
Although he was officially not allowed to play the bagpipes it was Fraser that asked him to play while the landings took place. He followed his orders and marched up and down the beach playing The Road To The Isles. A sitting target, apparently the Germans did not bother to fire at him as they thought he was mad!
A brief visit to the Canadian beach, Juno, was followed by one of the most emotional parts of the trip, The British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, inland from Gold, the second British beach. Unveiled on 6 June 2021 it is dedicated to the 22,442 soldiers, from more than 30 countries, who died under British command during the landings. The centrepiece is a bronze statue of three soldiers coming ashore on the beaches. It was so peaceful and beautiful and a fitting memorial to all those who gave their lives.
The memorial was partly funded by the British Government although a substantial amount was also made from charitable donations. Over £50,000 was raised by Harry Billinge MBE, a Normandy veteran, who collected in his hometown of St Austell. Anyone who saw him interviewed on Breakfast Television a few years ago will know how much the Memorial meant to him. Although he passed away in April 2022 he did get a chance to visit and he must have been so proud.
At Arromanches, situated on the western end of Gold Beach, we viewed the remaining sections of the Mulberry Harbour. The temporary harbours were constructed to enable troops, vehicles and supplies to be bought ashore following the successful landings and until the capture of Cherbourg.
The various sections were floated and towed across the channel by tugs and when constructed made up almost 7 miles of piers and jetties. More than two million men, 500,000 vehicles and four million tonnes of supplies were bought ashore before the harbour was abandoned. Various sections can still be seen along the beach and out to sea.
A second harbour was built at Omaha Beach but a violent storm wreaked havoc resulting in most of the caissons being destroyed forcing the harbour to be abandoned after a few days.
Our first day ended at the Bayeaux War Cemetery for a short visit before heading back to the hotel for dinner and a well-deserved rest.
Day two was centred around the American beaches of Omaha and Utah. Our first stop was the Normandy American Cemetery, overlooking Omaha Beach, where 9,387 are buried.
A semi-circular memorial features a statue representing 'The Spirit of American Youth' and a path from the ornamental lake leads to the graves. All the crosses face west towards their native land. The opening scene of the film Saving Private Ryan was filmed at the cemetery.
We had the chance to walk around the cemetery or walk the short distance to the beach, I chose the latter.
Omaha Beach became known known as 'Bloody' Omaha due to several things that went wrong that day. Although the airborne assault dropped more than 12,000 bombs, many missed their targets as did the naval bombardment meaning the German defences remained virtually intact. Due to the bad weather and rough seas many of the landing craft were blown off-course resulting in troops landing all over the beach and not where originally planned. There were also plans to use converted Sherman tanks that were amphibious and would be bought ashore to clear a path. Unfortunately many were sunk before even reaching the beach.
Add to this the fact that the German defences were much stronger than anticipated with mines, strongpoints and several obstacles on the beach. More than 2,000 troops lost their lives on Omaha but, following fierce fighting, the beach was eventually secured.
At the Overlord Museum there was a chance to view many artifacts, both Allied and German, used during the Battle of Normandy. The collection was originally assembled back in 1971 by Michael Leloup and exhibited in Falaise. In 2013 it was moved to its new location at Colleville-sur-Mer. Amongst the many items are several armoured and military vehicles, all displayed in realistic scenes.
Our lunch stop was at St Mere Eglise, a lovely village that was the first liberated by air. The capture, by the 82nd Airborne, was strategically important as it was located on the main road between Carentan and Cherbourg, a supply route for the Germans.
A fire in a house, caused from the flares dropped by the Pathfinder squadron, meant that the parachutists were illuminated and sitting targets for the German gunners. Local townspeople formed a line with buckets to douse the flames and save the house which was across the square from a church that had it's own story to tell.
A paratrooper, John Steele, was left hanging when his parachute became entangled on the steeple, leaving him there while the fighting continued below. He was eventually cut down by the Germans and taken prisoner. There is some dispute as to how accurate the story is but today an effigy of Steele hangs on the steeple and is a popular attraction.
Following lunch we continued the story of the US Airborne forces with a visit to the site of the Richard Winters Leadership Memorial. Winters was the commanding officer of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division on D-Day.
He led a thirteen-man attack on fortified gun positions which had been shelling the US troops on Utah Beach. We visited the location of this action. The HBO mini-series Band of Brothers told the story of Easy Company.
Our final beach visit was Utah, the westernmost of the five landing areas of the Normandy Invasion. The beach, which covered an area three-miles wide, was secured with less casualties and was far more successful than at the neighboring Omaha Beach.
There are several memorials in the area, bunkers and gun emplacements as well as a museum. The museum is actually built around the remains of a German strongpoint. Like other museums in Normandy this one features vehicles, uniforms, armaments, historic documents and much more. A panoramic view of Utah Beach can be viewed from inside the museum and a glass extension houses a B-26 Marauder bomber. I enjoyed all three museums we visited during the tour and only wish I could return one day and spend more time at each one reading all the information boards and taking a longer look at the exhibits.
The day was bought to a close with a visit to the German cemetery at La Cambe. The largest German cemetery in Normandy it contains over 21,200 military personnel. Initially German and American dead were interred in neighbouring fields at La Cambe but the Americans were later returned to the USA or buried at the Normandy American Cemetery. After the war 12,000 German dead were moved from various sites to La Cambe.
We visited the graves of Michael Wittmann who was a Waffen SS tank commander known for his ambush during the Battle of Villiers-Bocage on the British 7th Armoured Division on 13 June 1944. During the attack 14 tanks, 15 personnel carriers and two anti-tank guns were destroyed. He was killed, along with the rest of his crew, on 8 August 1944 and he is buried with the other four crew at La Cambe.
Another busy but interesting day and it was time to head back to the hotel and dinner.
In the evening I headed by tram from our hotel into the centre of Caen for dinner and I want to take this opportunity to thank Mark and Karen Evans, David Ross and Andrew Ross who were happy for me to tag along. Caen is a beautiful city and I'd love to visit again one day and spend more time looking around.
On our third day we headed inland to visit the sites of battles in the Bocage countryside including Tilly-sur-Seulles and Fontenayle Presnel.
Our first stop was at the Abbaye d'Ardenne located in Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe. It was here on 7 June, Canadian troops were held prisoner by the SS under the command of Kurt Meyer. Later that night eleven prisoners were taken into the garden and shot in the head. The next day a further seven were executed and two more a few days later.
The atrocity was treated as a war crime and Meyer was tried. He was sentenced to death although his sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. He only served nine years!
Most of our visits on this day told the story of the Battle of the Falaise Pocket. Fought in August 1944, and following the Allied landings and breakout from the beaches, the German forces were encircled in a pocket south of Falaise. Over several days the Germans attempted many counter-attacks to breakout to the east and while many did escape more than 50,000 were captured. With the collapse of the German positions in Normandy the allies were free to move eastward and eventually liberate Paris.
At Hill 112, high ground that overlooked Caen and the surrounding area, we visited the memorial to the servicemen of the Wessex Regiment who fought and took the hill. Also located here was a Churchill Tank.
We then moved onto the Polish Memorial at Hill 262 (Mount Ormel Ridge) which commemorates the actions by the Polish 1st Armoured Division to defend the important position. The Germans launched fierce attacks but, despite heavy losses for the Polish troops, were unable to overrun the position and it resulted in the collapse of the German position in Normandy.
The final encirclement of the Germans took place in what has become known as 'The Corridor of Death.' With the Americans attacking from the south and west, Canadians and Poles from the North and the British from the North-West the Falaise Pocket had been sealed at enormous cost to the Germans. Men, horses and equipment littered the area and pilots of the Typhoons overhead would say they could smell the death rising up into their cockpits. The area looks so peaceful now but with the help of old photographs the reality of what happened was clear to see.
The last remaining German Tiger 1 tank left in Normandy can be found at Vimoutiers where it was abandoned by the retreating German Army. On our journey back to the hotel this was one of our final stops on the tour.
Our tour finished at another War Graves Cemetery where our guide Terry played a recording of a poem and The Last Post. Standing in the graveyard listening and looking around all the graves couldn't help but bring a tear to your eyes and an appreciation of all those that gave their lives so we could enjoy the freedom we have today. A very emotional end to the day.
The following days coach journey home was a chance to reflect on everything we had seen during the tour.
I must thank our guide Terry Whenham and coach drivers, Nicola Spencer and Mark Robinson, who all did an amazing job throughout the tour and made it even more special.
This has been a brief look at my trip and only scratches the surface of what happened during those days in June 1944. There are many books on D-Day and for a more detailed look at the events of 6 June 1944 it is worth checking them out. Of course I also recommend the films The Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan along with the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers all of which are available on DVD/Blu-Ray.
Like the previous tours this latest trip was at times, sad, emotional but definitely educational. I'd have no hesitation in recommending Leger Battlefield Tours and hoping to book another trip soon.
Very interesting article hun, I'm glad you had a good trip/tour! Sounds very good.
ReplyDeleteHi Peter. Very interesting blog there. I have been visiting Normandy since 2016 to attend the D Day services and events. Usually staying at an Ibis Hotel (cheap-ish) in Nonant, near Bayeux, as it's fairly central for the beaches.
ReplyDeleteMy girlfriend Helen and her sister Heather met you this year on the Dunkirk coach tour. Helen recommended I read your blog. Both this and the Dunirk one are very good.
If you ever want to meet up on a trip, you are more than welcome.
I also have 6 years worth of photos and drone shots/videos. Including 2 short clips of 3 C47's flying past as I was flying and had to take evasive action as I heard them heading along the coast at Longues Sur Mer!!
Anyway, great blogs.
Take care,
Bob