Before we started we had to have breakfast and catch up on laundry before the rest of the hotel woke up
A little history first, to help put all this into perspective.
The invasion began shortly after midnight on the morning of 6 June with extensive aerial and naval bombardment as well as an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops. The early morning aerial assault was soon followed by Allied amphibious landings on the coast of France at 06:30. The target 80-kilometre (50 mi) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha.
On day two of our amazing WWII D-Day tour started with Sword beach.
Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase on D-Day. Stretching 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, the beach proved to be the easternmost landing site of the invasion after an attack on a sixth beach, code-named Band was aborted. Taking Sword was to be the responsibility of the British Army with sea transport, mine sweeping and a naval bombardment force provided by the British Royal Navy as well as elements from the Polish, Norwegian and other Allied navies.
“IF THEY REMEMBER THE BAGPIPER, THEN THEY WON’T FORGET THOSE WHO SERVED AND FELL ON THE BEACHES.”
PIPER WILLIAM “BILL” MILLIN
Onward to Juno Beach to honor our allies from Canada. 🇨🇦
Juno Beach was the Allied code name for a 10 km stretch of French coastline just south of Sword Beach that was assaulted by Canadian soldiers on D-Day. The Canadian Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and 2nd Armoured Brigade seized the beach and its seaside villages while under intense fire from German defenders — an extraordinary example of military skill, reinforced by countless acts of personal courage. The 3rd Infantry Division took heavy casualties in its first wave of attack but took control of the beach by the end of the day. More than 14,000 Canadian soldiers landed or parachuted into France on D-Day. The Royal Canadian Navy contributed 110 warships and 10,000 sailors and the RCAF contributed 15 fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons to the assault. There were 1,074 Canadian casualties.
The same place after liberation day
On D-Day, Canadian sailors, soldiers and airmen won the fight for Juno Beach.
Their victory and sacrifice helped secure the Allied bridgehead in Normandy, and ultimately led to the liberation of north western Europe.
There’s a little food truck and they had 🇨🇦 flags and signs about caribou. We tried to get a discount with our rendition of O Canada 🎶 but it didn’t work. Hey we’re hockey fans we know it well.
Love watching the flags of the allies that joined together to defeat Germany and change the course of history. So many gave it all, and for that we are forever grateful.
Our last visit today is to Gold Beach and the British Memorial.
Gold Beach. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. The highest number of casualties was at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialised tanks.
We hadn’t seen any description of this memorial. I had heard about “standing among giants”. We parked and took a quick walk around the Churchill museum.
Across the field towards the beach there are a few remaining bunkers, a reminder of the battles fought here 80 years ago.
We could see some large stones along the pathway describing the details of D-Day battles.
We walked the pathway reading the monuments and started to notice the chilling site, soldiers across the fields.
Signs pointed towards the other beaches
It was a beautiful memorial to the British soldiers.
We were passing this but knew we had to pull over & glad we did. The beach in the town of Arromanches.
Located here is the first museum built to commemorate D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. It houses a 360 degree cinema with historic footage of the battles.
Jeff had one more planned stop after this – the Casemates.
The last two days have been a most amazing history lesson. WWII, as all wars, was brutal. Just learning the details of the planning by the allied leaders down to seconds; soldiers not knowing what was ahead from the air, ground and sea. When they landed on the beaches many only survived seconds. The others followed orders and plans to defeat the Germans.
It’s been an emotionally charged two days in Normandy. Proud of our troops, proud of every soldier and thankful for their sacrifices. Before leaving Normandy behind, we’re going to explore the city of Caen tomorrow.
