D Day and the Canadians

Each country had different objectives for D Day.  For the Canadians, it was to push back the Germans and take Caen.  A bit ambitious and although it was not achieved that day it eventually did happen. 

Arriving on the beaches of Normandy they were under heavy fire but continued to push back.  Canada House sits right on the beach as a reminder of that day.  This old house became the command centre for the Canadians.  Unfortunately it was a cold windy day when we were there and we did not walk that far on the beach itself but the place had that special place feeling.

A bit further away is the beautiful Juno Beach Centre.  Here the sobering  story of June 6 and the subsequent days comes alive.  From the moment you enter in a room designed to resemble a landing craft that you are on to the end, the stories inside are heart breaking as you see the conditions these men fought in and the losses they suffered.

There wasn’t a dry eye left after watching the final video as the family walks down the beach remembering what happened and the shadows of soldiers followed them. I wanted to go back to the beach and walk some more.  What they did for the future generations just can’t be overstated!

The Abbaye d’Ardenne Massacre Memorial is another tragic story.  Here some 20 Canadian soldiers were executed by the Germans.  Their mass grave was found later when the family returned to their villa.  The German officer was tried and convicted of war crimes but only served 9 years for the crime. 

Cemeteries are scattered throughout the countryside and the decision was to buy soldiers close to where they died.  There are two large Canadian cemeteries in the area, Beny Reviers and Cintheaux.  These were temporary cemeteries during the war but immediately became permanent after the war.  Unlike the WWI cemeteries, these have a few German soldiers buried in them.  There are also a few regular cemeteries with soldiers buried in them as the philosophy was to bury close to their deaths.  The grounds are beautifully kept and in full bloom.  We loved the huge poppy flowers.

Our guide Lucie who is also a teacher showing us the routes of the different forces

While in the second cemetery, an older woman wanted to share her story .  Her husband’s father hace been one of the original people to work with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to build this beautiful cemetery.

Time to say goodbye to an excellent guide , Lucie and our driver for the week, Malick

D Day Background

To set the context for D Day, we first visited the German gun battery that remains largely intact.  Our guide was a magnificent story teller and explained the background so well.  These massive structures dotted the Normandy coastline in preparation for something that the Germans knew was coming but not where or when.  The above ground batteries were linked with an elaborate series of tunnels which essentially housed everything for them.

While the Germans  were preparing,  the allied forces were also planning.  The amount of preparation for this event in history was remarkable.  One of these remarkable accomplishments was figuring out how to get the supplies ashore to support the soldiers.  They accomplished this by building an artificial port in Arromanches.  They figured out how to haul hollow pillars across the channel, fill them with water to block off the sea and build a port that supply ships could use to land.  Of course they also had to have floating roads to get the vehicles off the boats and these were also built.

We visited many Canadian sites and learned about the soldiers but the museum at Falaise gave a different view.  This museum is dedicated to the civilians that lost their lives.  Since the Germans were occupying France, the allied bombed some of these cities pretty hard.  The destruction of Falaise and Caen was huge and this museum really highlighted the suffering at that time by the local people.

The castle in Falaise

William the Conquerer

As we were leaving our hotel in Bayeux stopped to ask if we were Canadians.  She then told us how her grandmother was just 16 during the war and had been hiding in a bomb shelter under rubble for days when the top opened and a man looked down to tell her he was Canadian and she was free!