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Merville were they there on that night. Many dif- ferent approaches were taken in this task, ranging from full frontal deadly assaults to discrete flanking manoeuvres that would have made the Chief of the General Staff proud. After this task was done, we then discussed the actual battle and were told of 9 Paras deadly assault in which they lost 75 men out of 150 whilst only 22 Germans survived from the original 130.
Our second action took us to Sword Beach, the landing spot for the British 3rd Division on D-Day. Again, we discussed the importance of the site and the actions that took place, but rather than discuss the combat estimate, we indulged in the command challenges faced by British Officers in their assault. This task allowed us to really understand the mind- set that the British Officers may have been in when charging the German machine guns and how they responded to the casualty situation, something which hit hard every OCdt.
The evening arrived and the opportunity to explore the delights of Caen ensued. The historic city was incredibly beautiful and offered plenty to the OCdts as they partook in wine tasting, cheese eating and exploring the city; a few even decided to climb the cathedral and take in the view which, according to those that saw it, “was fantastic”.
Ex NORMANDY SCHOLAR continued early the next day, the site of our studies being at the church of St Pierre in Tilly-sur-Seulles where our attention shifted from studying the offensive aspect of the combat estimate and focused on the defensive. The village was the epicentre of a huge German counterattack. We stood in the church graveyard and surveyed the surrounding area, one bridge over a fast flowing river in a small valley, the bridge clearly being the main objective in this battle. We discussed our situation and the key objectives as well as deciding on our own plan of defence and how we would position our troops. Dr Kitchen then gave us his in-depth analysis of the battle, discuss- ing the retreat of the Durham Light Infantry then handing us the dilemma of whether we retreat with our 6pdr anti-tank gun or leave it behind for the Germans to capture. The dilemma followed on with several different ideas from pulling the gun back, similar to our Intermediate Term Log Race, or to dismantle the gun, thus making it unusable to the advancing German troops. Dr Kitchen then put our minds at ease; the British troops attempted to retreat with the gun, then once deemed too dif- ficult, dismantled the aiming system, a mixture of our solutions so a win for the team in my mind.
Once this activity was done, we had an hour to explore the town and experience rural French- ness. The small town did not have much to offer, a small Carrefour, a newsagent with a café attached and a boulangerie which was a pleasant surprise where the OCdts stocked up on pastries and flan.
The penultimate task of the visit was to go to the cemetery dedicated to the battle. This was an incredibly poignant moment. With Remembrance Sunday the very next week, this opportunity to walk amongst the graves of those who has gone before us evoked strong emotions from all. Father Corrigan gave a service as the rain created a pathetic fallacy falling around us. I speak for every single OCdt when I say that not one person was emotionally unaffected by their surroundings.
Ex NORMANDY SCHOLAR gave us an experience that we will all remember. To walk in the footsteps of those brave individuals who died for our free- dom touches everyone deeply. As future leaders of men and women, it presented to us the difficul- ties of leadership that we may face in the future and brought to life the realism of death for one’s country. An incredible opportunity to partake in and one that pushed home the message of, “we will remember them”.
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