It felt like the whole world came to Normandy these past 2 weeks to pay their respects to veterans and to ensure that they and their lost comrades are never forgotten.
I hope you’ll enjoy my blog about it, I know my words will be inadequate and our photos won’t do it justice but I wanted to share just some of the wonderfully touching experiences with you.
While everyone was here to honour and remember the Allied Forces and all those lost in the D-Day Landings of WW2, the atmosphere wasn’t somber, it was respectful and thankful and at the same time uplifting, caring and full of camaraderie. It was a joy to witness so many people, including the children wanting to shake hands with the veterans and say thank you.
4th June
The British Normandy Memorial and Standing with Giants
Our first visit on the 4th June was to the Standing with Giants installation at the British Normandy Memorial, I’ve been a few times and each time I see something new and touching. This visit included dozens of military motorbikes, jeeps and trucks and a band playing swing music at the entrance. As we descended from the memorial down the grass banks to where the silhouettes stand amongst the wild flowers a female trio were singing We’ll Meet Again which added to the atmosphere.
This memorial has touched my heart and I am in awe of the work of Dan Barton and his Standing with Giants Installation, the silhouettes are so poignant and really bring home the numbers of those lost on D-Day.
You can check out the Memorial and Standing with Giants websites here –
https://www.britishnormandymemorial.org/
https://www.standingwithgiants.co.uk
5th June
Massed Pipes and Drums across Pegasus Bridge
We were lucky enough to have our lovely guests Deb and Paul back again this year and it was made even more special because Paul, formerly a piper from the 1st Battalion Scots Guards was going to be playing with The Pipes and Drums Band across Pegasus Bridge. What we weren’t expecting was an invite to join him and Deb to watch him and the rest of the band pipe and drum across the bridge and then being invited to follow on behind them and into the memorial ceremony itself.
Deb, Stuart and I got a wonderful position right in front of the original Pegasus Bridge in the grounds and watched with pride as Paul and his fellow pipers took their places right in front of us, they made such an impressive sight lined up, all looking so smart.
We listened to speeches telling the story of the strategic importance of Pegasus Bridge, about the code name ‘Ham and Jam’ and speeches giving thanks to the veterans sat in the audience. One speech in particular touched me and made me shed a tear, a small, faltering voice echoed out from the microphone – it was the voice of Marie Scott.
She explained how she had experienced British forces landing on the Normandy coast through her earphones. As a 17-year-old radio operator in the Women’s Royal Naval Service, she relayed messages to the Normandy beaches and waited for the recipient to open his channel and reply.
“I heard everything” she almost whispered. “I could hear all the background noise, the machine gun fire, the bombs dropping, aircrafts, men shouting orders, men screaming. It was horrendous, but I had the job to do” she explained “I had no time to be alarmed”
“When you heard that amount of firepower, you knew there had to be casualties … It was an enormous price to pay. But the price we had to pay” she said.
Her voice was so quiet and I couldn’t hold back the tears. I was so thankful Deb was at my side to touch my hand and give me a tissue to wipe my tears as she wiped her own tears too.
“Women are very important even in war. They may not be part of the fighting element, but we were very, very small cogs in an enormous wheel. And without those cogs, the wheel doesn’t work” she continued.
She said it was important for her to be at the ceremony at Pegasus Bridge, one of the first sites liberated by Allied forces from Nazi Germany. “it evokes memories of a very special day for me, when I first realised the true horror of war, I suppose. I think, probably, I grew up on that day, so it’s important to come back. Very emotional but important”
It was a privilege to listen to her.
Rightly so, Marie was awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest order of merit, for her role on D-Day, in 2019.
THE HISTORY OF PEGASUS BRIDGE
At 00:16 hrs on the 6th June, the British 6th Airborne Division consisting of ‘D’ Company of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry landed by parachutes and gliders east of the River Orne and the Caen Canal.
The small force of 181 men was commanded by Major John Howard and joined with a detachment of Royal Engineers who landed at Ranville-Benouville in six 28-men Horsa gliders.
Having taken off from Dorset, the gliders were towed across the Channel by Halifax Bombers. With perfect navigation and piloting skill, the gliders landed on time and on target within few yards of each other. Major Howard’s glider landed within a few feet of the canal bridge. The bridge was captured after a fierce ten minute fire fight, the action all over by 00.26 hrs, a full six hours before the beach landings.
So, just 90 minutes after taking off from RAF Tarrant Rushton in England, Major Howard was able to send the code words “Ham and Jam”, indicating that both bridges had been captured. In this early action of D-Day, the first house on French soil was liberated.
I’ll now hand over to Deb and Paul Hamilton for their experience of the day –
Deb says “It was an absolute honour and privilege for us both to be part of the D-Day 80th Commemorations and made even more special to have been joined by Shu and Stu at Pegasus Bridge. Sharing such a poignant experience with special friends made it even more memorable”
“What struck us all was the united power of lived experiences, stories passed down through generations and utter respect, which quite rightly helps to keep the bravery and selflessness of so many heroes both lost and still living, live on”
Piper Paul says of being asked to pipe at the 80th Commemorations “It was an absolute honour to be a part of these commemorations, to remember the soldiers and to meet some of the veterans who are still with us today. I feel privileged to have joined colleagues from Pegasus Pipes and Drums and to have paid my respects by piping stood on the iconic original Pegasus Bridge and marching across the current bridge. The atmosphere created by veterans, families and thousands of onlooker’s was quite simply mind blowing, and one I’ll never forget. From young to old everyone was both respectful and united in their desire to say thank you”
“We both find it hard to put into words the full extent of our respect and gratitude for those who fought so hard for our freedom today. Thank you is simply not enough and so to remember them forever is our promise of our ever lasting tribute”
Deb and Paul Hamiliton
Thank you Deb and Paul, it was such a privilege to share these moments as your guests and the day was one we’ll never forget.
My brother Stuart and I were also so fortunate to meet some of the veterans and shake their hands and say a personal Thank You, and even just hold their hands for a long moment and listen to them will live in my memory forever.
6th June
On the anniversary of D-Day 1944 itself we stayed at Le Pressoir and invited some special friends (human and mechanical) to join us.
Firstly though we’d wanted to do something special for our guests Deb & Paul in Molière, Helen & Robin in Renoir and Nicky & Ian in St. Exupéry so I hand drew and painted 3 original watercolours of Poppies and Cornflowers (Bluet de France) as a special gift for them.
I presented the originals to them on the 6th itself, together with some freshly picked Poppies and Bleuets de France as it’s such a special day.
Why the Poppy & Bleuet?
The Poppy
The Red Poppy is a symbol of both Remembrance and Hope for a Peaceful Future.
The Bleuet de France (Cornflower)
In France, the bleuet de France is the symbol of memory for, and solidarity with, veterans, victims of war, widows, and orphans.
Here are Deb & Paul, Helen & Robin and Nicky & Ian with their originals and flowers.
Traditionally on the ‘big’ years the immediate area between us and the beaches is in lockdown. We had arranged special vehicle passes for our guests so if they ventured out from the exclusion zone that we’re within they would be able to get back to us.
Paul and Deb had to use their pass as Paul was playing at one of the D-Day 80 events.
Even with this precious pass the roads to the beaches are closed so movement is limited.
Our guests Helen and Robin who were with us for the 75th as well had come over with their WW2 Daimler Dingo and were going to be part of several parades and events over the week but knew getting out and about on the 6th was going to be tricky. Because of this the rest gang from the Military Vehicle Trust that we’re friends with decided to come over to us (as they were also within the exclusion zone so could stay within it) and have a day of playing in the pool and hot tub and just have a day of relaxing between all the events they were an integral part of.
This was so fab for us as it meant Tom & Julie brought their Scammell Martha and Ben brought his Scammell, Neddy, Lee and Anna came over in the other Scammell and more of them came with various jeeps.
Martha and Neddy had visited us on the 75th so it was like welcoming back old friends.
They all lined up for our now traditional photo of them all at Le Pressoir. Robin has named the vehicles ‘Mechanical Veterans’ which I think is a perfect description.
What was unexpected this year was that various other strangers called in when they saw the vehicle line up asking if they could take photos with them.
We met American Serviceman Rodrigues and his wife and as he’d kindly given away his cap and patches Rob was able to give him two commemorative D-Day 80 patches from our local village.
It was such a fun day meeting strangers who just called in and seeing the MVT gang again.
Lee, Tom & Ben invited us to join them in Martha for the Bayeux Liberty Parade and there will be more of that later.
7th June
The Liberation Parade at Port en Bessin
The sun was out, the crowds were enthusiastic and the vehicles and people in period dress were perfect. We loved being able to wander amongst the vehicles on the quay and see everything so close up.
8th June
The Airshow over the beaches
With jets from the Patrouille de France leading, the Red Arrows completed a flypast by the two national aerobatic teams over Omaha Beach and along the coast to where Rob and Stuart had a great view.
While Rob and Stuart had a perfect view from the cliffs above the beaches, many of the planes circled over Le Pressoir so I got to see some of them too.
Air Force crews also flew over in C-130 transport planes decked out in black-and-white “invasion stripes”.
The stripes commemorate the patterns painted on allied aircraft during the invasion so that ground troops could quickly identify them as friendly forces.
Here’s a view from the sky –
https://youtu.be/dsJt8U4iAMw
9th June
Bayeux Liberty Parade
The official view – 80 years and two days after the liberation of the city by British troops, on June 7, 1944, Bayeux, the first city liberated on the continent, hosted the parade of various vehicles, used during the Battle of Normandy.
The Liberty Parade was blessed with magnificent sunshine and attracted between 20,000 and 25,000 people.
The icing on the cake, the DC3, the Spitfire and the P-47 Thunderbolt which took part in the Arromanches airshow on Saturday 8th June made two passes in tight formation. And to the delight of war bird enthusiasts, the two hunters each made a passage at low altitude!
Our view of the day – We started our day bright an early, following Helen and Robin in the Daimler Dingo from Le Pressoir to the nearby campsite where the rest of the MVT gang were staying, we reported for duty to Tom and climbed on board Martha and made our way through the beautiful Normandie countryside, past iconic Norman churches and small villages, as we drove along more and more flags came into view as we approached Bayeux for the giant meet up.
It was amazing to have been invited into the Vehicle Parade Line Up area in the morning sunshine and meet the other parade participants and admire all the vehicles, hear about their history from their owners and to also admire everyone who has made such an effort to dress in D-Day appropriate attire.
We then set off in convoy with over 350 Military and D-Day era historic vehicles of all shapes and sizes.
To be on board one of them was a fantastic experience that I’ll never forget.
What I wasn’t expecting though was the reaction of the crowds through Bayeux, there was cheering, clapping, waving, and enthusiastic shouts of Thank You & Merci.
People had beaming smiles and it was a joy to witness.
Thank you to Robin, Helen, Lee, Anna, Ben, Tom, Julie and the rest of the incredible Military Vehicle Trust crew for this amazing invitation.
I’ll now hand over to Helen and Robin for their take on the week –
“This is our third time at the D-Day commemorations (70th, 75th and now the 80th), our second visit to Le Pressoir and the first time we have brought our own military vehicle, our much loved Daimler Dingo!
The experience is almost indescribable with the atmosphere of friendship outstripping everything else. We have been waved to, cheered at, thanked and embraced by all. We have met the veterans at Caen Town Hall, driven on the beach at Arromanches, and joined the incredible Liberty Parade around Bayeux – memories for life.
The memorials we have visited really bring home the horrors of war and the immenseness of D-Day. The numbers are hard to comprehend, the bravery of the troops and the stoic Normandy resistance; they held their nerve and good defeated evil.
We are both so proud to add our little piece to this fantastic week – thank you all”
Helen and Robin
Thank you Helen and Robin for your words and also for Stu’s trip out in the Dingo.
Here is a link to the Bayeux Liberty Parade, it’s a long one – our little gang are featured from about 4.26 – 5.15 ish –
https://actu.fr/normandie/bayeux_14047/80e-d-day-a-bayeux-pres-de-25-000-personnes-pour-la-parade-de-vehicules-de-collection-2_61179107.html
9th June
Thank You.
These words will never be enough for those that gave so much for us.
It seemed fitting that just after writing them in the sand in Omaha Beach (that looked so very different today than it did 80 years ago) we saw 3 Flypasts.
Also Stuart and I chose one serviceman’s name to write in the sand – Douglas Milne. We will research him more, all we know is that he was 22 years old and his name is amongst those at the British Cemetery in Bayeux.
Merci Beaucoup, Thank You.
Finally, I also created a few signed, limited edition prints of the Poppies and Bluets de France if anyone would like to buy one – I will donate the proceeds to the British Normandy Memorial.
What was really touching was that our visitors that came for the 6th June at Le Pressoir with their fabulous Mechanical Veterans bought some signed prints so thanks to them I’m already going to be making a lovely donation to the memorial.
The A4 prints are £25 plus postage and all £25 will go to the Memorial. Message me for details.
Thank You, Shu