Normandy July 2014 – Day#04 – Sunday 27th July

Return to EPSOM The day started with some more photos of the Operation EPSOM area – necessary as I’d not taken all of the ones that I wanted before my camera battery had died realier in the week. So, fully charged we set off again. The start point was where we’d left...

Normandy July 2014 – Day#03 Saturday 26th July

Breakfast in BLUECOAT So, an early start saw us at the museum at St Martin des Besaces as we’d been invited to join in with the celebrations commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the village during Operation BLUECOAT. We missed the breakfast, but saw...

Normandy July 2014 – Day#02 Friday 25th July

Roman ruins Today saw us in Normandy, but rather than initially focusing on the period between 1939-45, or more particularly, June – August 1944, we decided to go back much further in time and visit the Roman ruins at Vieux which managed to survive all of the fighting...

Normandy July 2014 – Day#01 Thursday 24th July

White horses and bad backs So, our second trip to Normandy this year started with its usual diversion via a pub… but this time, it was as part of a Mission. Unfortunately, in June, Eain & Muir Findlay weren’t able to join us in Normandy as Eain had badly hurt his...

Normandy June 2014 – Day#12 Tuesday 10th June

Poppies and cemeteries Back on the road & another poppy field reminding us of the blood that was shed in these areas 100 years ago. We soon arrived at Rancourt which appears to be unique in that there are German, French and British Commonwealth cemeteries all...

Normandy June 2014 – Day#11 Monday 9th June

Menhir hunting We had decided, as it was also the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War to pick up a few key sites on our way home… but first we went even further back in time to satisfy Glyn’s attachment to strange lumps of rock plonked in the...

Normandy June 2014 – Day#10 Sunday 8th June

Mullberies Sunday saw us begin our winding way homeward. For a change, we decided to head north towards the beaches & one of the first sea-born sights to greet us was the remaining pieces of the Mulberry Harbours; an amazing feat of engineering born of the...

Normandy June 2014 – Day#08 Friday 6th June

Stand in battlefield tour guide Earlier in the week, I’d received a phone call from Eain Findlay to say that he and his father, Muir, wouldn’t be able to make the trip this year as he’d put his back out. Eain was happy to drive munching on painkillers, but somehow,...