Nuuumannn's European Tour of 2019

More great pics Grant, but really sorry to hear about the mess-up with the Dak flight.
I wouldn't have been fuming, I would have been incandescent !!!!

good stuff Grant, damn shame about the Dak flight

Great stuff Grant! What a balls up though!

Thanks for the thread/photos/commentary Grant!
In particular - the coastal shots. I'm (slowly) reading Antony Beevor's D-DAY - and it's nice to see photos of the places mentioned.

Brilliant thread Grant, bloody awesome photos, I'll have to book a debrief at SAH sometime.

Kudos for seeing he positives Grant. Disappointment nonetheless.

Thank you all. Yes, a bummer, but in retrospect, what could I do. Anyway, the next day was pretty busy and activities focussed on the landings at Sword Beach, with our first stop at the crossing of the Caen Canal at a place called Benouville, the first French town to be liberated of the war (The Americans will have you believe that it was Ste Mere-Eglise, but Benouville fell to the British beforehand). Last thing on the night of the 5th June, at around 11:15pm, a company of gliderborne troops of the 2nd Battalion Oxford and Buckingham Light Infantry led by Maj Reginald John Howard landed at the small swing bridge on the canal opposite from Benouville and after a small and swift exchange took the bridge, thus securing what would have been the easiest means of the German Panzer divisions getting to the seaside town of Ouistreham, which is where the British were to land; i.e. Sword Beach. As a result of this vital action, named Operation Deadstick, the bridge, formerly simply known as the Caen Canal bridge is forever known as Pegasus Bridge. Simultaneously there was also an airborne assault on the bridge crossing the Orne river nearby, subsequently named Horsa bridge after the glider, but that is less widely celebrated as the attack on the Caen Canal bridge, as part of the greater Operation Tonga, Britain's airborne assaults on the Normandy region prior to D-Day.

Pegasus Bridge today; it's not the actual Pegasus Bridge, but an enlarged version on the one captured in its location. This bridge is bigger.

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The site on the opposite side of the road from the previous photograph, where the three Airspeed Horsas landed. Marker stones show the precise locations of where they came to a stop, which was less than 100 metres from the bridge in what was an amazing demonstration of skillful flying. Note the pond to the left of the photo; that the pilots positioned themselves so close to the bridge and between it and the river is astonishing, especially at night in a heavily laden Horsa!

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a bust of Maj. (Reginald) John Howard, visible next to the centre stone in the previous photo, leader of the attacks on the two bridges. I recommend further reading about him and the assault on the bridges; fascinating stuff.

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At the small but excellent Pegasus Bridge Museum, the entire story of Operation Deadstick is recounted and in support are some fascinating artefacts, including this little guy, named Rupert. This is a dummy parachutist, one of several hundred that was dropped in and around places other than the Normandy beaches as a measure of deception on the night of 5th/6th June, as part of Operation Titanic, by the RAF and SAS. This was all part of the greater cover plan devised to fool the Germans into thinking Normandy would not be the objective of the invasion, named Bodyguard. These dummies were dropped by Handley Page Halifaxes, Lockheed Hudsons and Short Stirlings of various squadrons, and proved a success, with only losses suffered being two Stirlings and eight SAS guys, who sadly were either killed in action or sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, from whence they never returned.

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Horsa instrument panel.

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A neat caricature.

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This is Centaur I tank 'Vidette', a genuine D-Day veteran, which belonged to V Troop of the 5th (Independent) Battery of the Royal Marine Armoured Support Group, which landed on Sword Beach. it was disabled shortly after arriving on the beach front but was recovered in 1975 and restored.

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The original Pegasus Bridge, now on display in the museum's care. For many a year it sat abandoned near the new bridge, it's fate far from secure.

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A reproduction AS.51 Horsa glider bearing the serial PF800, the first aircraft to land during Deadstick. Each Horsa could carry up to 30 troops, but during Deadstick took 28.

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Back at the bridge again and looking across toward Benouville. Note the 50mm Pak 38 in the emplacement. The two buildings on the opposite bank were the first liberated from the Germans that night.

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Cafe Gondree, the first house to be captured by the British was inhabited at the time by Georges and Thérèse Gondrée, who ran it was a cafe, as it is today, remarkably run by their daughter Arlette, who on the day of my visit was wandering about greeting people. She was 5 years old on D-Day. Georges and Thérèse played a vital role in the capture of the bridge; working for the Resistance, they supplied information to the British about the defences surrounding the bridge, thus enabling its swift capture. Their house was entered by three of the troopers at 6:20am on the morning of the 6th June. Inside, there are remnants and artefacts galore, the present owners keeping the history alive, but frankly, the coffee was lousy, although the baguette and the service was marvellous. It was nice just to sit and take it all in - myself, my fellow group members and every other tourist in Normandy at the same time!

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Whilst crossing the bridge to head back to the bus, three Belgian Air Force C-130s flew low over the canal; this was the only one I managed to photograph that wasn't blurry.

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The Caen Canal and the three C-130s. That's Chateau de Benouville at centre. During the war the chateau was run as a maternity hospital, but it was a frequent haven to resistance fighters and through it, information was passed to the British, including by the Gondrees informing them of the defences surrounding the bridge.

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Next, Sword Beach and a Big Bunker.

Great !
Looking forward to more pics and info.

Like I was there. Thanks Grant!

Lovely shots Grant!

Steve Hnz said:

I'll have to book a debrief at SAH sometime.

Click to expand...

Gidday Steve, nice to hear from you. Long time no see and yup, we should do this soon. And thanks to the rest of you for your encouraging comments.

After leaving Pegasus Bridge we headed north to Ouistreham on the coast. An identical monument to this one, spotted out the bus window can be seen at each of the invasion beaches and reads "Here on the 6th of June 1944 Europe was liberated by the Heroism of the Allied Forces", and written first in French.

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Our first stop is this rather imposing structure, it is, of course a German bunker, six storeys from the basement level and was built as an observation post for the many gun emplacements and batteries in the surrounding area, one of which we visited later in the day. It is now a museum and we were given the lengthy period of time of three hours to visit. A perfect opportunity to sneak off and go down to the beach... Again.

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Whilst the group poured into the bunker, I made my way to Sword Beach and this monument honouring the 70th anniversary comemmorations held at that spot. The inscriptions on the arms either side of the stone are written in French and describe in numbers participants of Sword Beach on 6th June 1944 and the 70th anniversary. The figures on the D-Day (J-Jour, and the Debarquement in French) plaque are worth recounting: at Sword Beach there were 28,845 soldiers disembarking, 28,668 Commonwealth soldiers, Aussies, Kiwis, Canadians, South Africans, Indians and 177 French soldiers of No.4 Commando. 1,304 soldiers, died, were wounded or disappeared, of which 44 were French.

The pentagonal stone recounts Churchill's "we will fight them on the beaches" speech, and down the bottom is slightly more poignant today, considering the mood in Britain regarding membership of the European Union:

"Men will be proud to say, 'I am a European' - we hope to see a Europe where men of every country will think as much of being a European as belonging to their native land. We hope that wherever they go in the European continent, they will truly feel here, I am at home."

Hmm, I wonder what Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson would make of that...

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The principal monument of Sword Beach recounts an eternal flame. Note the machine gun emplacement.

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Sword Beach at low tide. it's a gloriously broad and pleasant stretch of sand. I reckon the Brits were probably thinking it'd be a nice place to go relax and get a tan, only this time the German holiday makers had definitely taken all the beach towels...

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This is the Germans making damn sure no one takes the beach side cabins they'd claimed. Dragon's Teeth in the dunes.

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Someone else had been here for the same reason as me.

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Spotten on Ouistreham's main street, the New Zealand flag. Awwww...

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Returning to the bunker museum, that 88mm Flak has an impressive tally of Allied aircraft on its barrel.

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This Higgins Boat reproduction was built for the film Saving Private Ryan in the UK and is a faithful reproduction of an original. It was used during filming and can be seen in the fast paced and bloody opening sequence. Discovered in Plymouth as a rotting prop after filming in the 1990s, Jonathan Orrel, son of Bob Orrel, the British soldier responsible for capturing the German bunker behind (!) became aware of the movie prop and began an effort to get it brought to Ouistreham and display at the Grand Bunker Museum. Allegedly, according to the display board, the stars of the film actually rode in this boat.

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An M7 Priest self propelled gun wreck recovered from the surrounding area following the invasion.

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This M3 Stuart light tank was configured especially for the D-Day invasion and featured a waterproof hull and raised engine intake to enable it to drive through over a metre of surf up to the beach. A few days after the landings, this one was damaged as it drove into a Czech hedgehog tank trap and abandoned.

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Artefacts scattered round the interior of the bunker to give it that 'lived in' feel.

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Air filter room with warning regarding the CO2 filters. Google translate isn't clear about it. Any native speakers that can give a more precise definition?

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Eye piece and controls for the optical range finder.

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Taken from the very top of the bunker, where a Flak emplacement was mounted, this is looking toward Sword Beach where the flame monument can be seen at centre. Round the peninsula is Juno Beach.

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Seen on the outside of the bunker in a purpose built defensive position, this is the turret of a French Renault FT.17 tank from the Great War. The small two person tank was built in large numbers and widely used by the French army, with many serving in secondary roles at the time of the German invasion in 1940. This kind of emplacement was common and we'll see it again on the tour, as well as a complete Renault FT.17 at a later date.

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Next, Ranville Military Cemetery and the Merville Gun Battery.

More good stuff - keep it coming Grant.

Nice stuff Grant. Thanks for the pictures of Pegasus Bridge. I've got a book about that assault. Great to see the photographs.

Brilliant stuff Grant, thanks

Lovin it.

Situated mere minutes' drive from Ouistreham and Pegasus Bridge, Ranville War Cemetery contains the first British casualties of Overlord; those lost during Tonga the night before and the Sword landings the next day. The cemetery bears the hallmarks of Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries, including the Cross of Remembrance, seen here. We'll be seeing more of these over the rest of the trip to come. A lot more...

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There are plenty of these unknown graves in the cemetery, sadly. These were soldiers whose remains or nationality were unable to be identified at the time of burial. The individual could be British, Commonwealth or even German. There were no scraps of uniform, weapons or other means of determining the individual's origin with their remains.

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There are 322 German graves in the cemetery as well, conspicuously different from the British headstones.

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There are three of my fellow countrymen buried in Ranville cemetery, including this young fellow, 20 year old Peter March Price, a Typhoon pilot with 609 Squadron, RAF. The circumstances of his death are recalled in Errol Martyn's For Your Tomorrows Volume Two: Fates 1943 - 1998 (Volplane Press, 1999):

"Rocket projectile attack on an enemy concentration near Tilly-la Campagne, France. Typhoon IB JP843 took off [from B7 Martragny] at 1730 as 'No.2' with three others to attack troops and transport 7km SSE of Caen, being one of two which failed to return. After encountering flak the Typhoon was seen by the others to break to the right and down, disappearing into a rain storm. JP843 was later found crashed near Poussy-la-Campagne, 7km SE of Tilly-la-Campagne. The pilot was buried at the scene, but lster reinterred at ranville, 9Kkm NE of Caen. The other pilot to go missing baled out and evaded capture; as his Typhoon was serial JP483 the two aircraft can easily be confused.

NZ42518 Plt Off Peter March Price, RNZAF - Age 20. 472 hours, 10th Op."

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There are 2,560 World War Two burials in Ranville War Cemetery.

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The French Great War memorial in the churchyard next to the war cemetery. The French do beautifully elaborate Great War memorials. We saw a few from the bus window. This ornately decorated monument is typical.

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Next, we cross the Orne River and head for the coast again and the location of the Merville Gun Battery. Located on the Varaville Dunes south of the small town of Merville, the gun battery housed four Skoda Houfnice vz 14/19(t) 100 mm (3.93-inch) Great War era mountain howitzers in separate six foot thick concrete bunkers built facing north west, toward the sea beyond Ouistreham. On display within its grounds is this C-47 with a lengthy service career, including service with the US 9th Air Force during the major paratroop operations in the European Theatre, including Overlord and Market-Garden. Post war it went to Yugoslavia, from where it was recovered and eventually restored for display here. It's open to the curious public.

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During our visit, the site was humming with people and re-enactors and their vehicles had camped around the ramparts, giving a festive flavour to the site. A Kubelwagen. Sadly during the trip, German vehicles were few and far between, so it was welcome to see German re-enactors and their weaponry.

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Cocked and ready to fire; a Wehrmacht soldat scans the horizon for an excuse to let fly with his 'Hitler's Buzz-Saw"; the feared MG 42.

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There was a live mortar fire demonstration, which the public were welcome to partake in.

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This rather intriguing base bears grafitti from its constructors; the date is 26 July 1941, with lettering that is difficult to determine. The site was not completed in its entirety until March 1944 at the behest of Rommel, who saw weaknesses in the coastal defenses around Normandy.

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One of the massive concrete gun emplacements. On the night of 5 June 1944, led by Lt Col Terence Brandram Hastings Otway, the 9th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment were dropped nearby the battery as part of Operation Tonga, but from their arrival over the drop zone, nothing went as planned. Of the 750 men sent out, only 150 met on the ground to continue the attack, Otway himself landed on top of the German headquarters and amid the confusion he threw a brick through the window to startle those inside who had become alerted to his presence. Once he reached the rendezvous point he realised so few of his men had made it, and the gliders that were to bring in the heavy equipment hadn't showed up either. Nevertheless, against seemingly insurmountable odds, the hopelessly inadequate force triumphed and the battery fell before the designated time at which the cruiser HMS Arethusa was to start bombarding the area, had Otway's attack failed. A remarkable story.

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Having suffered defeat, the Wehrmacht, accomanied by a lone Kriegsmarine sentry discuss their next move... Re-enactors undergoing a debrief of sorts.

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The next day, we drive across Normandy to Utah Beach to see how the Americans did it.

More good stuff.
the graves of the unknown were the ones that had the most effect on me when Terry, Marcel, Sander and I visited the cemetery in Oosterbeck, very sad

Good shots and story once again Grant. Thanks.

awesome set of pics and details, thanks Grant.