Battle for Normandy - A history lesson

We arrived in Bayeaux as the clouds started to gather, another gloomy afternoon in France. A handful of other travellers descended the train with us and we all hurried to the nearest hotel to take shelter from the on coming rain. To all of our dismay, the hotel was fully booked. We proceeded on foot to the city center to find shelter for the night and perhaps to take advantage of the free afternoon to see Mont St. Michel

On our way to the city center, we stumbled upon a mansion converted into a hotel. It was a beautiful 18th century mansion with an elderly couple running the place. The woman had a serious demeanor, a face that looked as if she had never cracked a smile in her entire life, and spoke not one word of English. I don’t know how I communicated with her in French, as my French is as good as that of a two-year-old baby. My apologies to those advanced two year olds out there reading this. We struck gold, as the two bedroom with private bathroom room was 55 Euros for the night. The rooms were at the top of three flights of stairs, and with Nat’s growing suitcase it was a bit of a challenge, maneuvering through the antiques at each landing. We were all pretty happy about the place and even happier that Nat got her own room.

The Mansion that we called home for a night

As the clouds parted, we decided to pay a visit to Mont St. Michel, a 13th century monastery about an hour away. But when we got to the train station we found out that the last train back to Bayeaux did not give us enough time to visit the abbey on the hill. So I got my wish, and took a nap that afternoon while Nat read her book and fell asleep and Rav did some much needed accounting and finishing off with the Bordeaux write up, which I am sure you all have read by now.

We spent that night back at the mansion playing cards, and having a couple of drinks after a quick stroll through the town, and a delightful dinner. The old house squeaked with every movement and Nat a.k.a. D.A. was her usual self. Scaring herself silly with all of those movies she has seen, she had to sleep with the light on and the doors wide open. Did you all know that Nat snores, she even outdid me…

Even this small town had a Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral at night a view from our garden

A small commercial street in the center of town

The next morning we woke to more cloud cover and the threat of rain. Just the two things we did not want to see as it was the day Nat had been looking forward to the most during her trip to France- the visit to the Beaches of D-Day in Normandy.

We met our tour guide at the train station with all of our baggage in hand. I was a little concerned as a small mini van stopped to pick us up. There was no way that we would all fit into the van with our luggage and the rest of the people on the tour. It was a flash back to the bus trip from hell (Siem Reap to Bangkok some 6 months earlier). To our pleasant surprise, we were the only ones on the tour that afternoon which meant that we had the tour to ourselves, but more importantly our luggage would be with us the entire time. Lucy our tour guide was very nice, and she told us that we could customize our tour if we wanted to, since there was only the three of us. So we quickly changed our tour from the British one that we had booked on the internet back in Paris (as it was the only one available that would fit our schedule), to the Canadian one. It just made more sense. As we drove off in the mini van, the clouds began to part and sun started to come thorough. It was a sign!

We can not begin to summarize the importance of D-Day and how this one course of action by the Allied Forces during the Second World War changed history of the world. For most of us the Battle of Normandy took place in the classrooms and textbooks but for some it was a reality. A reality filled with anxiety, bloodshed, and fear- fear of the unknown, and fear of the uncertainty of war. They were apart of this historical day and in turn helped to give to all of us the freedom that we enjoy. Over more than 1million Canadians volunteered in one facet or another during the Second World War, not bad when the entire Nation had only 11 million citizens to speak of. Twenty five thousand men were to storm Juno Beach in hopes of liberating a section of France between the British on Sword and Gold Beaches and with the Americans on Omaha and Utah Beaches. One thousand Canadian soldiers were lost during the first day of battle here on Juno Beach, thousands more would never make it home. Riddled throughout this region of France are cemeteries dedicated to these fallen heroes. We were able to visit one that was the final resting-place for some two thousand Canadian soldiers in the surrounding regions of Bayeaux.

One of our first stops during the tour was the Les Jardin De Canadian, an Abbey that now houses the archives of this surrounding region, but back in 1944 it was a place of war and a place of hell for 28 of our fellow countrymen. This was once a monastery during the feudal period, purchased by a wealthy French family during the 18th century. During the war it was used to hide artillery for the Allied Forces.

An Abbey where 28 Canadian Soldiers were executed during the Second World War

We made our way to Juno Beach, the site of the Canadian Landing back on June 6th, 1944. Here we learnt that the Canadian regiments were quite unique from the rest of the allied forces in that they did not cross the English Channel using the floatation devices for the heavy tanks like the British and the Americans, and each Canadian soldier bought with them a collapsible bike. Since most of the floatation devices sank and never made it to the beaches of Normandy, the Canadian regiments were one of the first to reach their assigned target, but with the tanks and supplies slow to arrive there were many casualties during the early morning of June 6th for the Canadians. However, the Canadians lead the way to liberating North Western Europe.

Nat and Rav saluting the Flags at Juno Beach

The three of us at Juno Beach

Nat stealing some sand for her scrap book

The three of us at the memorial to the countries involved in the Battle of Normandy

Monument to the Allied Forces

We also visited the Canadian Museum -a great building that was built on the funding donated by the Canadian veterans of World War II. It was not only a great place to learn about the Canadian involvement during the World War and in particular the Battle at Normandy, but it was also a great building.

Canadian Museum of WWII

One of the more touching visits was that of the Canadian cemetery, where more than two thousand Canadians were laid to rest. Like all of the Commonwealth cemeteries, the tombstone of each soldier was surrounded with flowers, their name and rank along with their dates of birth and death etched on the limestone, below that would be a few words from their family back home. It was a sad yet tranquil place. We could not help but feel proud to be Canadians while walking through this sacred place. The design of the cemetery was simple but effective, the rows and rows of tombstones reminded us of the amount of casualties that occurred during the war, and moreover, it showed how these brave men lost their lives for what they believed in.

The Canadian Cemetery Normandy France

The mass graves were situated around this cemetery during the Battle of Normandy

Our last stop on the tour was that of Gold Beach to see the impressive floating port created by the Allied Forces at Arromanches. Here the British took control of the surrounding region and a floating port was set up to supply the Allied Forces with supplies during the liberation of North West Europe. It was quite the engineering feat proposed by Churchill. These gigantic concrete and steel structures were manufactured piece by piece in England and shipped over and put in place one at a time like an enormous gig saw puzzle. It was so effective that it was in operation for over 6 months, when it was only designed to be in operation for 2 months.

Reminents of the floating port at sea some 60 years after it was first created

Nat and Rav at Arromanches enjoying some peace

Reminents of the floating bridges that allowed access from sea to land

A small village nestled between the two flanking cliffs at Arromanches

It was quite the day learning about the Canadian involvement during WWII. One that we shall not forget easily.