Following Grandfather's footsteps - Normandy Beaches
- Thread starter MMC
- Start date
DavidHale
Registered user
Don't worry, Aidan. You might have got the name slightly wrong but at at least you didn't call a Royal Marine tank 'German', eh Mark? 
Great report 
I did some of the places you mentioned briefly with the last bitch I was engaged to. She didn't enjoy the trip on the bike much and made sure we went home a day and a half ahead of schedule.
I had no schedule, no route planned, no hotels booked and did zero prep' but it didnt matter becuase you just stumble across the WW2 history in that region as it's so rich with it.
We made an impromptu stop at Bayeux. A really nice town and the tapestry is well worth seeing ( and paying for the audio tour) .
Thanks for sharing..............oh and it doesn't half bring a lump to your throat for some reason doesn't it
Although women don't seem to get it quite the same
I did some of the places you mentioned briefly with the last bitch I was engaged to. She didn't enjoy the trip on the bike much and made sure we went home a day and a half ahead of schedule.
I had no schedule, no route planned, no hotels booked and did zero prep' but it didnt matter becuase you just stumble across the WW2 history in that region as it's so rich with it.
We made an impromptu stop at Bayeux. A really nice town and the tapestry is well worth seeing ( and paying for the audio tour) .
Thanks for sharing..............oh and it doesn't half bring a lump to your throat for some reason doesn't it
Although women don't seem to get it quite the same
Don't worry, Aidan. You might have got the name slightly wrong but at at least you didn't call a Royal Marine tank 'German', eh Mark?
I still insist the tank in the picture is German. I didn't say which thank now, did I?
DavidHale
Registered user
Adrian and Karen are excellent hosts. I stayed (along with 18 others) at their little establishment for 5 days in early September. The service was excellent - nothing was too much bother for them. The free beer tasted very sweet each day we got back from our trip. Adrian was going to charge us only if we drank more than a crate each - tight git
. I will certainly be returning to stay with them again. I also must agree that we forget the sacrifice that people made during the war. The whole experience of the Normandy beaches has changed my whole perception of the war as I didn't really know that much about it(except for the rememberance day stuff) I visited the cemetry and it is amazing the difference between the British and German headstones.The German ones only have the name, date of birth and date of death - they seem very unemontional to me.Apparently the first sodier buried in that cemetry(who was in the Royal Ulster Rifles) was buried where he died, having been shot by a sniper from the tower of the adjoining church - his grave is the first one in the row to the right after going through the gate. I don't know if you visited the American Cemetry with 10,000 white marble crosses - A very humbling and serene place to go. Anyhw - I seem to have rambled on somewhat - But again I thoroughly recommend visiting the Normandy beaches and indeed www.normandybeach.co.uk
. I will certainly be returning to stay with them again. I also must agree that we forget the sacrifice that people made during the war. The whole experience of the Normandy beaches has changed my whole perception of the war as I didn't really know that much about it(except for the rememberance day stuff) I visited the cemetry and it is amazing the difference between the British and German headstones.The German ones only have the name, date of birth and date of death - they seem very unemontional to me.Apparently the first sodier buried in that cemetry(who was in the Royal Ulster Rifles) was buried where he died, having been shot by a sniper from the tower of the adjoining church - his grave is the first one in the row to the right after going through the gate. I don't know if you visited the American Cemetry with 10,000 white marble crosses - A very humbling and serene place to go. Anyhw - I seem to have rambled on somewhat - But again I thoroughly recommend visiting the Normandy beaches and indeed www.normandybeach.co.uk
Popeye
Registered user
A quite riveting and excellent write up. I've never been to any of the old WW2 sites but can quite imagine how humbling they are. So many of todays values and attitudes pale by comparison.
Thanks Mark.
It may have something to do with the company they keep.
Thanks Mark.
I did some of the places you mentioned briefly with the last bitch I was engaged to. .............. Although women don't seem to get it quite the same
It may have something to do with the company they keep.
Also interesting to note that the German headstones are cut from basalt or other black stone - only the victors got white.
This is La Cambe, beside the N13/E46, near Pointe du Hoc. The mound is a mass grave where unidentified/ dismembered soldiers are buried:
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MasterDabber
Registered user
PJ1200
Registered user
Great report Mark .
Am looking to do something similar myself and follow my Grandfathers path from Normandy through to Berlin. He was with the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards XXX corps, so should be an interesting route. Just got to visit the Guards museum to do a bit of research.
. Am looking to do something similar myself and follow my Grandfathers path from Normandy through to Berlin. He was with the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards XXX corps, so should be an interesting route. Just got to visit the Guards museum to do a bit of research.
Good write up Mark 
Thats something I will do one day... hopefully soon
Thats something I will do one day... hopefully soon
Not 'they' it was just the one. You met her then?...................Moi , I'm great company, I'm just a bit (lot) bitter that, like a lot of things, she ruined the trip and I missed a lot of the stuff Mark wrote about.
RobBD
Guest
Great report thanks for that
Don't know if I mentioned in my original posts, but Nan (Catherine Golding), Grandfather's wife, was the inspiration behind the trip.
She died on Monday this week in Penzance, aged 86. She was one of the main reasons we made the trip in the first place, and the pictures and stories we gathered really meant a lot to her and brought back so many memories.
I'm so, so pleased that we were able to go and, vicariously, show her what the area her husband helped liberate looks like now.
We'll be going back in Spring next year to scatter some of her ashes in the churchyard at Ranville. God bless her - what an amazing lady she was. We all miss her like hell.
She died on Monday this week in Penzance, aged 86. She was one of the main reasons we made the trip in the first place, and the pictures and stories we gathered really meant a lot to her and brought back so many memories.
I'm so, so pleased that we were able to go and, vicariously, show her what the area her husband helped liberate looks like now.
We'll be going back in Spring next year to scatter some of her ashes in the churchyard at Ranville. God bless her - what an amazing lady she was. We all miss her like hell.
Jacqueslemac
Registered user
I've just read your report and thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks very much. I've got a place between St Lô and Bayeux and spent 18 months living there in 2004 and 2005. I got to know the places you visited (and many more) very well. It's a humbling experience.
On 6th June 2004 we were in Falaise chatting to a couple of D-Day veterans in a café. When they left and walked across the town square people in other cafés stood and clapped them. Back here they probably get oiks spraying graffitti on their fences.
Sometimes, when I was walking my dog it was difficult just to enjoy the beaches as strips of sand beside the sea. But then I used to tell myself that those who were there, fought and died so people like me could enjoy the beaches.
After the rubble of St Lô was cleared they found a body in a cellar beneath a ruined building. The person knew they would die there as the bombs were falling and buildings collapsing and he wrote a letter on a scrap of paper with a piece of burnt wood. In essence it said that he knew he was going to die but that if his death meant that the world would be free of oppression, then it was a sacrifice worth making.
More than 20,000 civilians died in St Lô alone, most as a result of allied bombs and shells. Yet, it's almost impossible to find anyone in France who doesn't believe that their sacrifice wasn't worth it.
On 6th June 2004 we were in Falaise chatting to a couple of D-Day veterans in a café. When they left and walked across the town square people in other cafés stood and clapped them. Back here they probably get oiks spraying graffitti on their fences.
Sometimes, when I was walking my dog it was difficult just to enjoy the beaches as strips of sand beside the sea. But then I used to tell myself that those who were there, fought and died so people like me could enjoy the beaches.
After the rubble of St Lô was cleared they found a body in a cellar beneath a ruined building. The person knew they would die there as the bombs were falling and buildings collapsing and he wrote a letter on a scrap of paper with a piece of burnt wood. In essence it said that he knew he was going to die but that if his death meant that the world would be free of oppression, then it was a sacrifice worth making.
More than 20,000 civilians died in St Lô alone, most as a result of allied bombs and shells. Yet, it's almost impossible to find anyone in France who doesn't believe that their sacrifice wasn't worth it.
MarkN
Registered user
That's a great report. I love riding along that area as there is so much to see and think about.
The Submarine Escape Training Tower at Portsmouth is sometimes open to the public to dive in. I've been in there and it's 35mtrs deep and filled with warm water.
The Submarine Escape Training Tower at Portsmouth is sometimes open to the public to dive in. I've been in there and it's 35mtrs deep and filled with warm water.
MarkN
Registered user
Inside the SETT
Ditto to all the above.
Being in the RN it's always worthwhile to remind oneself of just why we're all here today.
Every time I've been over (And to some of the WW1 sites too) it really presses the reset button on your emotions and makes you realise just how pifflling ours worries can be.
Really good report. I've just spent the last 20 minutes reading through it.
Thanks.
Rather you than me in the SETT MarkN!
Being in the RN it's always worthwhile to remind oneself of just why we're all here today.
Every time I've been over (And to some of the WW1 sites too) it really presses the reset button on your emotions and makes you realise just how pifflling ours worries can be.
Really good report. I've just spent the last 20 minutes reading through it.
Thanks.
Rather you than me in the SETT MarkN!
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