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Exercise CORMORANT FINALE (by road)
CORMORANT FINALE WAS (FOR those who didn’t attend ICSC during lockdown, at least)
an opportunity to revisit Normandy and the battlefields of 1944 wearing a set of strategic spectacles, instead of tactical spectacles. Divided between 3 modes of transport, the majority took overnight ferries while the more adventurous were fortunate to either cycle (CORMORANT VELO) or sail (CORMORANT DASH). The sailors had some pretty epic tales to tell of their cross-channel crossings. The cyclists, while working hard, seemed to take a lot of cafe stops in scenic locations, though we are assured that it was a tough trip.
Due to the sheer number of us visiting, the area
was saturated by concurrent visits by ICSC (Land), and the French and German Army Officer training academies. We received a well-presented Defence Studies Department-facilitated tour of some of the key beaches and battlefields which highlighted... well, rather a lot of things. Among them, that we used to do Joint well, and understand logistics well. That contingency planning is not time wasted, and the sheer grit and determination of all those who fought in this conflict was immense. Even those of us who had visited before took away something
new from this visit, with the benefit of 2+ terms of being taught to think at a higher (probably) level.
We also had chance to visit the local area, and
while battlefield tourism is a key source of income, whatever social media/the news suggests about Anglo-French relations, there are still those living in the area who remember that allied forces from many countries came from the skies or over the beaches of Normandy to liberate Europe from the Nazis.