Page 8 - OO_2018

Alison Arlington, Peter Hawksley, Jeremy Colson (Ldr 65), Richard Hallwood (St A 54), Harry Williamson (St A 55), Robin Newman, Jim Burton (N 84), David Hooley, Roger Baker (C 61), Jill Waterson, Edward Waterson (S 69), Gary Weight, Nigel Sudborough (N 65), Rodney Alexander (Sc 61) at Vimoutiers
FEATURE
The American Normandy Beaches
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THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2017 –2018
Air Vice-Marshal Nigel Sudborough CB OBE (N 65) reports on the Oundle Society visit to the American Normandy Beaches last September
In September 2017 a party of 14 OOs and friends made a three-day visit to the American Normandy
Beaches. Similar to our previous visit in 2015 to the British Beaches, we were to be blessed with mild weather and accompanied by a first-class guide in Gary Weight.
En route we took the opportunity to visit the newly-renovated Operation Dynamo Museum in Dunkirk, which records the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Forces in 1940. If transiting through, this is well worth a visit and puts into context the recent popular film.
We also visited the Dunkirk British Memorial and Cemetery to pay our respects by laying a wreath in memory of six Oundelians and staff who lost their lives during the evacuation campaign: Lt John Brittain (staff), Flt Lt Peter Danielson (C 31), Fg Off William Legard (Sc 29), Capt Charles Osman (staff),
Flt Lt George Shepley (D 28) and Major Theodore Threlfall (S 22).
We arrived in Normandy late in the day, having caught our bus in Oundle at 4.30am! It was a long journey, but worth every bit for what was to come. La Ferme de la Rançonnière at Crépon provided not only a delightful setting well situated for the Beaches, but also great comfort and delicious cuisine – highly recommended!
On day two we set off with our guide to Utah Beach. This was a relatively uncomplicated assault and was taken in 21⁄2 hours. Nevertheless, we were reminded how ‘first engagement with the enemy can bring rapid changes in the plan’, not least para drops in flooded fields. The inevitable visit to Sainte-Mère- Église gave us a glimpse of a model of the famous paratrooper suspended in the church spire, although we were told that the Mayor had the replica re-sited so that
tourists could see it! Further away from Utah, the Battle of La Fière bridge illustrated just how airborne assaults can go badly wrong, for it took five days to capture that area, with horrendous US casualties. Our visit to the German Military Cemetery at La Cambe (some 30,000 burials), with its sombre oak trees and black granite crosses, emphasised the sharp contrast between Allied and German memorials.
Day three was a truly fascinating expose of the Falaise Pocket, with German forces largely surrounded and desperately trying to escape through ‘The Gap’. We were taken to Noissy Ford, the final escape corridor and no more than 14 metres wide, and through which masses of German tanks, artillery, men and horses forced their way while under extreme pressure from Allied land and air forces. Needless to say, the German casualties were horrendous.