by ColinAuthor | Aug 21, 2015 | Normandy Trips
Ancient monuments (no, not us!) A drying day dawned – certainly better than the weather that we’d had on the way over. Having breakfasted, we set off on our third time-travelling journey of the year. Spanning from the Stone Age to Vimy Ridge and WW1. We started way...
by ColinAuthor | Aug 20, 2015 | Normandy Trips
Leaving for France with a beer Our first stop this year was a return visit to the Farriers Arms in Meersham. The villagers took over this brewpub when it closed back in 2009. After a swift beer, we hopped on the Chunnel & set off to France. Arriving in France with...
by ColinAuthor | Aug 12, 2015 | Normandy Trips, Pvt Gerald Willen
What it’s all about: sharing history with relatives Our final day dawned clear, but still with a wind whipping up the waves. However, we couldn’t hang around as we had to head back to catch the Chunnel & arrange to meet up with Pat & Joan Gillespie – Pat...
by ColinAuthor | Aug 12, 2015 | Battlefield Tours, Normandy Trips, Talks
Operation BLUECOAT Battlefield tour and talk Today started wet & with a return to Hill 226 and a second meet-up with Stéphane Jacquet as he’d asked me to go through the talk that I do on the start of Operation BLUECOAT which focuses on 3rd Battalion Scots Guards...
by ColinAuthor | Aug 12, 2015 | Major Ray Elledge Jnr, Normandy Trips, Talks
Preparations for the “Men in the Shed” talk So, the Big Day dawned… Today was the day chosen to celebrate the Liberation, 70 years ago on 14th August 1944, of St Vigor des Mezerets by 43rd Wessex Infantry Division (the same one that Albert Figg fought...
by ColinAuthor | Aug 12, 2015 | Normandy Trips
Return to Operation GOODWOOD… Having had an excellent breakfast prepared by Patrick’s wife, Annick, we set off towards Caen. Our first stop-off was at a large car boot sale (well, why not)… in the background was the remaining cooling tower from the old...
by ColinAuthor | Aug 12, 2015 | Normandy Trips
Disaster! We’ve had some interesting escapades on these trips with late arrivals at hotels, having to wait at the Chunnel for a delayed train, etc, but this one was spectacular! We’d had a look around the village of Cricklade and had set off for the Chunnel as my...
by ColinAuthor | Aug 12, 2015 | Normandy Trips, Talks
Return to Normandy So, back off to Normandy for a third time in a single year – one of the benefits of an “Anniversary Year”… and my wife, Elaine, wasn’t complaining, either, as it meant that she got the benefit of another chunk of snore-free night’s sleep! As...
by ColinAuthor | Aug 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
Beer & chips Our final day saw us back into England and a visit to the Sperrin Brewpub with its Victory Beers named because the pub that they’re served at has been modified to look like parts of an English Man o’ War during the Napoleonic Wars – very...
by ColinAuthor | Aug 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
The baker’s son Our last day in Normandy was quite amazing to say the least as we met up with M Gilbert Raimbault. Gilbert used to live where Barrie & Stuart do now… but he lived there during the Second World War when his father was the baker in the village! He...
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