This is the 80th anniversary of Operation Overlord. It was here that American, Canadian, and British troops made landfall in their first European incursion during World War II. I was here once before, thanks to a wonderful trip planned by David and Barbara, but this is Dan’s first time. Since my focus during the former visit was on American sites, I decided to take the Commonwealth-focused tour while Dan took the U.S.-focused tour.

My day started with something totally unrelated to WWII. My group’s guide explained that France and England have had one of the world’s greatest historical rivalries including innumerable conquests, wars, and alliances that spanned eight centuries. The tour began with a drive to Bayeux where we saw a magnificent tapestry that chronicles events leading up to one of these decisive events: the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The nearly 1,000 year old tapestry is actually wool thread embroidered on linen cloth and is nearly 77 yards loooooong and more than a foot and a half tall. Its 58 scenes, 626 characters, and 202 horses depict the events leading up to the conquest of England by who would later become known as William the Conqueror. Spoiler alert: France (the Normans) won and William was crowned king of England on Christmas day. An audio guide explained each frame of the tapestry which was hugely helpful.

From there our focus turned to the contributions of the British Commonwealth to the successful invasion on D-Day. We were in Arromanches to see what remains of the ingenious Mulberry harbors, two temporary portable harbors developed by the British to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo. We visited Juno Beach, one of five landing sites; Bény-sur-Mer Canadian cemetery; the first village to be liberated by the British, Ranville, and the British cemetery there; and two museums, one dedicated to the contributions of Canadians and one dedicated to telling the story of Pegasus Bridge.

Our guide brought a beautiful arrangement of flowers for each of the cemeteries. She read a short poem as a prelude to a volunteer placing the flowers at the base of the central monument. A few moments of silence followed. The cemeteries are immaculately manicured, beautifully laid out, and moving to stroll around. Our guide showed us the German section of one cemetery, pointed out the subtle differences between the shapes of the monuments and what they signify, and explained that it has always been standard practice for those who have died flighting for the Commonwealth to be laid to rest where they fall. (By contrast, American policy dictates that a service member’s loved ones decide where they want the deceased to be buried.)

The museums were interesting each in their own way. Centre Juno Beach tells the history of Canada, its contributions to international conflicts, and its role in WWII. The guides are all Canadians between 18 and 24 in honor of the average age of the young men who served. Accessing the museum was an attention getter. Everyone entered a pretend landing craft where we stood (as the soldiers would have done) for a four minute presentation visible on screens the size of the openings on a real landing craft. The doors opened and we entered the museum. Two things in particular caught my eye. The first was an inuksuk, a monument of seemly randomly stacked stones, erected in memory of the Inuits who served. The second was the ‘Tribute from the Lacemakers’ prepared for this year’s 80th anniversary celebration. Five hundred lacemakers and 37 associations from 19 countries submitted 952 lace crosses, one made from the silk string of a D-Day parachute! A similar thing was done when Richard the Lionheart died which makes me wonder if the 20th century lacemakers were inspired by their fellow crafters in the 12th century. I like to think so.

Pegasus Museum was equally as impressive. Shaped like a glider, this museum has the actual drawbridge that the British so skillfully took without, per plan, destroying it. The museum also has a glider! Seeing the wooden frame and cloth covering of this single-use aircraft got our attention. Being silent and having the capacity to deposit up to 90 men or fewer men and lots of equipment (think: two tanks) in one spot are its claims to fame. Hitting the ground for a landing at 60 miles per hour and being very flammable are two less attractive features. Nonetheless over 300 of them were used on D-Day. A fun thing we learned about were dummy parachutists called Ruperts. These dolls were about two feet tall and were often carrying explosive charges. The idea was to drop a lot of them … as a diversion or just to keep the enemy on its toes.

Dan, Hettie, and Ronnie started their tour at the Caen Memorial Museum for a review of the invasion and the events that led to the liberation of Europe. They were moved by the American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer located high on a cliff over Omaha Beach where 9,400 American servicemen were laid to rest. The rows of white crosses and Stars of David face westward, toward home. Their guide oversaw a small tribute to servicemembers past and present and asked those in the group to step forward, Dan and Ronnie included, and be recognized. The group located the grave of President Theodore Roosevelt’s son who led the assault on Utah Beach and died of a heart attack roughly a month after the invasion. One grave was of particular interest to Hettie. She noticed that only one of the thousands of the graves in the cemetery had flowers, fresh roses. She went over to check it out, thought she recognized the name, and texted her sister Peggy for confirmation. Peggy confirmed that he was the husband of a woman Peggy met when she attended a reunion of the unit in which Hettie and Peggy’s dad had served! What are those odds?

A visit to the beaches of Normandy make for a somber day if you allow time to consider the enormity of the sacrifice and loss of life. So many sons, brothers, dads, uncles, and friends did not come home because they drew the straw that dictated they be in that particular place to participate in that particular operation. We feel honored to recognize them with our short visit.

… Sidebars …
Juno Beach is where Winston Churchill, King George VI, and Charles de Gaulle
arrived after the beaches of Normandy were secured.