France? Boy it was cold.
On June 6th 1944 the allied forces landed 156,000 men on the beaches of Normandy. And 10,000 men died that day. On Fridays I drink with old Bob in the Crown. On June 6th 1944 he was on HMS Roberts, off the coast of Normandy. And her 15” guns levelled the town of Caen amongst other things.
So last Wednesday Bob & I drove down to Pompey & took a ferry over to Normandy and spent a few days touring the D-Day beach heads. What to say? It was very moving. I cried at the cemetery at Bayeux where 4600 British soldiers are buried and another 1800 who were never found are listed on the monument. At the Canadian Museum at Juno beach they presented Bob with a gold maple leaf lapel pin, and at the mulberry harbour museum in Arromanches they presented Bob with a paperweight and had him sign the veterans book. The librarian (female) then attempted a Gallic hug & cheek kiss, but got an English grope & snog from Bob. There’s life in the old bugger yet.
We also visited a large German gun emplacement, in hail, snow and an icy wind that cut through all clothing (Normandy? yes. Normandy in winter? A bloody stupid idea.) and we toured the German watch tower at Ouistreham.
At Bayeux we also visited the tapestry museum which gave a fascinating (if slightly biased) view of the Norman invasion of 1066. I tried to get Bob a veterans discount there but they wouldn’t believe he was 960 years old. The cathedral at Bayeux was also beautiful. Had I not left my camera in Telford there would be many pictures.
Finally, on the way back we visited a small cemetery in Douvres (or somewhere similar). There was a mixture of German, French, Polish, American & Canadian graves, all beautifully tended. Those with graves names were mostly of 19 or 20 year olds. But most didn’t have names, they just said ‘A soldier. Known to God’. And as we walked in silence amongst the graves, a woman in her late 50’s (I guess) stopped her car, ran across to Bob and hugged him and in broken English said ‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’.
And I cried again.
So last Wednesday Bob & I drove down to Pompey & took a ferry over to Normandy and spent a few days touring the D-Day beach heads. What to say? It was very moving. I cried at the cemetery at Bayeux where 4600 British soldiers are buried and another 1800 who were never found are listed on the monument. At the Canadian Museum at Juno beach they presented Bob with a gold maple leaf lapel pin, and at the mulberry harbour museum in Arromanches they presented Bob with a paperweight and had him sign the veterans book. The librarian (female) then attempted a Gallic hug & cheek kiss, but got an English grope & snog from Bob. There’s life in the old bugger yet.
We also visited a large German gun emplacement, in hail, snow and an icy wind that cut through all clothing (Normandy? yes. Normandy in winter? A bloody stupid idea.) and we toured the German watch tower at Ouistreham.
At Bayeux we also visited the tapestry museum which gave a fascinating (if slightly biased) view of the Norman invasion of 1066. I tried to get Bob a veterans discount there but they wouldn’t believe he was 960 years old. The cathedral at Bayeux was also beautiful. Had I not left my camera in Telford there would be many pictures.
Finally, on the way back we visited a small cemetery in Douvres (or somewhere similar). There was a mixture of German, French, Polish, American & Canadian graves, all beautifully tended. Those with graves names were mostly of 19 or 20 year olds. But most didn’t have names, they just said ‘A soldier. Known to God’. And as we walked in silence amongst the graves, a woman in her late 50’s (I guess) stopped her car, ran across to Bob and hugged him and in broken English said ‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’.
And I cried again.
posted by Old Man Rich at 9:33 AM
3 Comments:
That is such a moving tribute Rich. I have been on a hiatus for the purpose of introspection. This story helps remind us how lucky we are to have had people that were willing to risk their lives to fight for thier beliefs....thank you Rich.
Oh shit. You made me weep. I'm a sucker for sad stories, for walks through battlezones with the unknown soldiers spread out as far as the eye can see.
He's to those who fought and died for us and are still fighting and dying.
Helluva good story. Thank you.
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