Hi,

Travelling to France to visit World War sites and cemeteries has been on the 'to do' list for a long time. World War 2 memories were handed down from my dad, but tended to be more of a sea faring variety as he was in the RN. However we covered WW2 very thoroughly in school, so it was a large part of my favourite subject. John MacQueen my grandfather fought in WW1 and I have his regiment book so have always intended to explore the sites where he fought as these are detailed.

My friend and former colleague Graham Crombie has a similar set of interests and we decided to take the plunge and start with a visit to the D-Day landing sites in Normandy. This blog is not intended to be a full historical review of the events of 6th June 1944 and the ensuing aftermath, but is mainly an introduction and accompaniment to the photos which I have divided out into the three different sectors we visited on subsequent days.

We left Scotland in the wee small hours on Monday 2nd September and travelled down to Manchester where we left our car at Rachel's before catching the 0515(ouch!) bus from Manchester bus station. We boarded the ferry at Dover at 1445 and had a fine view of the white cliff as we departed, arriving in Calais at 1715 French time. We arrived at out Hotel Kyriad Caen Sud Ifs just outside Caen in Normandy c.2130. A very long day! Appropriate maybe for a taster to what has been called 'The Longest day.'

3rd September - British Sector

We left the hotel at 0815, returning just after 1830. This is more of a tour than a holiday, but well worth the effort. We started the day at Pegasus Bridge, where paratroopers came in Horsa gliders and secured this key strategic point, holding it against counter attacks. Later in the day they would hear the sound of the pipes as Lord Lovat and his commandos came onto the scene. We stopped briefly at the Pegasus Cafe, which has gone down as the first building to be liberated.

Our next stop was the Ranville Commonwealth Cemetery. All of the cemeteries visited would be prove to be a moving experience. The sheer scale of the numbers involved, the young ages of the people buried there and the moving and poignant messages on the stones give a real insight into the human cost in the battle against the great tide of evil which rose up during the middle of the last century. The number of unmarked graves, (including German ones) marked only 'known unto God' gave food for thought.

We moved onto other key sites in the sector such as the Merville Gun battery and the Breville ridge, which were secured and then defended at great cost. We had our photo taken beside a statue of a piper to mark the involvement of the Highlanders in these events.

After lunch in Quistreham we headed for Sword beach and visited the Grand Bunker Museum. This is a huge, well bunker, which has been transformed into a very interesting memorial and is well worth a visit. Next stop was the beach itself and we stopped for a photo beside the statue of Lord Lovat's piper Bill Millin, before checking out the German underground defensive bunkers codenamed Hillman. A very full day out and it was totally fascinating.

We had dinner at the hotel and a pleasant evening meeting up with fellow Leger Holiday tourists Karl and Roger. I did sample the local Calvados (brandy) for the first and last time. Wasn't able to finish it. Not to my taste.

4th September - American Sector

On the way to the sector we were shown the opening scenes from 'Private Ryan' which are supposed to depict graphically the events of that day in the experiences of the American soldiers.

We started at the American cemetery which overlooked Omaha Beach. It is well laid out. Vast and sombre, it was reminiscent of Arlington cemetery which I had visited years ago. The scale and multiplication of deaths of young men in a short period of time is almost heart stopping.

We drove along Omaha beach itself, passing various monuments, including a bizarre sculpture which is supposed to depict the flames of freedom jumping out of the sea. After being on the beach itself, we visited the headland of Pointe du Hoc between Omaha and Utah beaches. The gun positions on the headland were captured by the American Rangers at great cost. Having scaled the cliffs they found that the deadly guns which were supposed to have been sited there had in fact been moved.

Next stop was St Mere Eglise, a town which was the scene of landings by US paratroopers who were off course and came down into the town itself. On the church roof there is an effigy of a paratrooper (James Steele) who got caught hanging from the roof during the action and feigned death for hours until he was rescued. We had an excellent lunch in the town at the C47 Restaurant. Afterwards we visited the airborne Museum where we saw a great documentary film of the whole D day scenario in that area.

The rest of the afternoon was spent firstly at Utah beach. We stopped at a statue of Richard D Winters, whose exploits have apparently been used as a basis for the TV series Band of Brothers and finally moved onto the German Peace Garden Cemetery. This cemetery had a different feel. The stones were dark and not white as at all the other cemeteries we had visited up until then. Somehow this seemed appropriate. Enough said.

Graham and I tried a recommended Chinese buffet for dinner. Our waitress was Tibetan and very nice, as was the food!

5th September - British/Canadian Sector

After breakfast we started the day at Juno beach. Amongst all the memorials is an old house which is in all the pictures of the landings and it still standing today. A great landmark. Check it out on the photos. We stopped briefly at a chateau in Tallieville whose walls were peppered with bullets and shells during the conflict.

Next stop was the Canadian War Cemetery at Reviers, where over 2,000 are buried. It was poignant and beautiful in a strange way. We then went on to Courseulles-sur-mer where we saw a Duplex tank which had been fished out of the sea in 1971.

We had lunch in Arromanches. From the town you can see remnants of the Mulberry platforms which were used as harbours to help bring the vehicles and supplies on shore. The Mulberry Harbour Museum in the town was probably the best museum on the tour with model displays and film outlining the D day events in that area.

We then moved onto the well preserved German battery at Longues-sur-mer, with guns still present in three out of the four placements. The command post featured in the film 'the Longest Day' was also visited.

The final visit of the tour was to the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Bayeux. Again it was a very touching experience. I decided to experiment with black and white photography at this stage to give a variation of views given the number of cemeteries already photographed in colour.

Dinner was in house at the hotel, which suited the purposes of the tour very well. The food was more than adequate. As Normandy is apple country the local cider is also of a very high standard.

It was another long journey home and not that interesting to relate. I would recommend Leger Holidays tours to anyone. Our guide Pete Smith was excellent and our drivers Graham and Mike were great fun. Possibly I would consider flying rather than getting a coach all the way, but then I would want to meet up with the Leger people at the hotel as the tours are so good. WW1 tour next year? Very much a possibility, abw.

I hope you like the photos. If I have made any historical blunders on the blog please do not be shy about pointing them out! It was a lot of information to take in over a short period so there may be some information that got jumbled up over the course of the tour.

Take care

Murdo