04/06/2022 - Day 1
The location for the group to meet was just a stones throw from Pegasus bridge located in Bénouville. Here we met some familiar faces from a previous BF4x4 tour we did a few years ago. As always an introduction and agenda was shared where most of this tour will be spent in the Calvados (Normandy) area. Today's agenda Pegasus Bridge Memorial Ranville War Cemetery Colleville-Montgomery - The Hillman Fortress Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery Arromanches-les-Bains - The Mulberry Harbour/Port Winston
Memorial Pegasus As you would've guessed our first stop was indeed Pegasus bridge memorial/museum, now i'd imagine most would know this but the original captured bridge has been relocated away from the canal and the one you drive/walk over is a replica. The site is dedicated to the men of the British 6th Airborne Division who were the first Allied troops to arrive in Normandy on the night of the 5th/6th of June 1944 where a small detachment of the 6th British Airborne Division surprised the German garrison guarding the bridges. The BF4x4 guides arranged for a guided tour to walk us through step by step how the assault unfolded and we were even lucky enough to meet a veteran - Well worth a visit.
Ranville War Cemetery
1.4 kilometres down the ride (3 minute drive) is the Ranville War Cemetery. Ranville was the first village to be liberated in France when the bridge over the Caen Canal was captured intact in the early hours of 6th June by troops of the 6th Airborne Division, who were landed nearby by parachute or glider. Many of the division's casualties are buried in Ranville War Cemetery.
The cemetery contains around 2,236 Commonwealth burials of WW2, 90 of them unfortunately are unidentified and 323 German graves. The churchyard also contains 47 Commonwealth burials, one of which is unidentified, and one German grave.
One grave of interest was of Private Emile Corteil, he was from Watford in Hertfordshire and served with A Company, 9th (Essex) Parachute Battalion. Corteil was the dog handler for the company, and his dog was called Glen. Both parachuted into France with their company on D Day, Emile was killed on D Day aged 19 years; Glen was also killed and the two were found lying together.
Colleville-Montgomery - The Hillman Fortress
From Ranville we head 7.5km northwest to The Hillman Fortress which sits south of the town Collevill-Montgomery. The Hillman Fortress was a command post among the German coastal defences on the Normandy beaches which was built between 1942 and 1944.
The 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment liberated the site on the 6th of June 1944 but took longer than expected. The delay in taking the bunker complex has been cited as a reason for the Allies not completing their major D-Day objective of taking Caen. We were fortunate to experience a camp reenactment, this entailed enthusiasts dressing up as allies and Germans with decommissioned weapons and WW2 vehicles. 1940's radio's playing war speeches and also the Jive music like 'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy' by The Andrews Sisters. It's honestly awesome to be amongst it and i'm sure many have got bitten by the reenactment bug. Once we had completed many laps of the camp and the fortress we has a spot to eat in the back of the 110 mainly cheese, ham and baguette (continental lunch) before heading off to our next destination of the day.
Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery
Whilst in convoy heading west over the CB radio Keith informs us that we will be stopping off at another war cemetery, but this contains mostly Canadians. Many of those buried were of the 3rd Canadian Division who died either on 6th June or during the early days of the advance towards Caen, when the Division engaged the German 716th Division and the 21st Panzer Divisions. As you look around any war cemetery it is hard to really comprehend that each headstone represents a lost life and though i'm stating the obvious it's just an overwhelming experience.
Arromanches-les-Bains - The Mulberry Harbour/Port Winston
And just when you thought the day was drawing to an end, when arriving at our accommodation for the next couple of nights which is the very nice Chateau de Bellefontaine. The guys at BF4x4 explained after checking in and freshening up we have a table booked at La Marine which overlooks Gold beach, where the remains of the Mulberry Harbour/Port Winston lie. It was part of mission overlord, where the objectives at Gold Beach were to - Secure a beachhead - Move west to capture Arromanches - Establish contact with the American forces at Omaha - Capture Bayeux and the small port at Port-en-Bessin - Link up with the Canadian forces at Juno to the east
The forces attacking Gold beach faced the German 352nd Infantry Division and German 716th Infantry Division and there were around 350 ally fatalities.
Mulberry "B" (British) was the harbour assembled on Gold Beach at Arromanches for use by the British/Canadian forces. The harbour was decommissioned 6 months after D-Day as the Allies were able to use the recently captured Antwerp port. The harbour was operated by 20 Royal Engineers under the command of Lt. Col. G C B Shaddick.
That will be enough about the history, the food at La Marine was fantastic and the on the house calvados shot (cider brandy) definitely opened up the airways. Based on Day 1... tomorrow is going to be another epic day.