Page 78 - The Cormorant Issue 14

tour of the site was particularly appealing. The attempts to link the operation to the contemporary environment was also quite inter- esting. But what was key to a D-day novice like me was the way in which the entire operation was set in perspective. It became clear to me why a landing was critical to the success of the Allies. More importantly, I realised that an amphibious operation against even an apparently weak enemy, can only be undertaken only at great human loss. I understood that while the opening of the ramp doors of the allied landing craft to fields of German fire may have made the invasion seem astoundingly impossible, it was the Ger- man perspective of being a handful of defenders facing an endless armada that was actually a far more helpless and hopeless situa- tion. And at a more tactical level, the sailor in me saw clearly why the army obsesses about ‘higher ground’ and ‘cross-fire.’
So, for me, while the trip to Normandy may not have actually met the ‘training objectives’ of linking the historical to the con- temporary at the operational level, it was valuable in several other ways. It helped me appreciate the significance, difficulty, criticality and scale of the operation and it taught me the impor- tance of perspective. And maybe more importantly it provided
an opportunity to have a last run-ashore with my colleagues in an atmosphere free of pending essay submissions and routine assessment points.
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