Page 165 - Bugle Autumn 2014

16th Annual Normandy D-Day Anniversary Tour
For the period 1st to 7th June, 18 members of the Battalion, accompanied by 12 from Buckinghamshire ACF, attended the 2014 Annual D-Day Battlefield Tour in Normandy, Exercise Ham ‘n’ Jam XVI.
The tour started on Sunday 1st June with both groups of cadets and staff arriving
in France and settling into their respective accommodation. Once completed, the
next activity was a visit to Tilly-sur-Seulles Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery for an introductory talk and visit, followed by a briefing and supper back at the group bases.
The first full tour day, 2nd June, was a visit to see the film at the Cinema Circular on the cliffs above Arromanches, followed by visits to Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches. The group also laid a wreath at Brouay Cemetery in memory of the 1st Bn Oxf
& Bucks LI, who landed in Normandy in July 1944 as part of the follow-up forces, and who sustained heavy casualties in the area. The day ended at Benouville and the Pegasus Memorial Museum, dedicated to 6th Airborne of which the 2nd Battalion the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (2 Oxf & Bucks) were part as Glider borne troops.
The second tour day, 3rd June, was to visit the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches, the German gun battery at Longues, the only one in Normandy with the guns still
in situ, before going to the US Cemetery, Omaha Beach and Point du Hoc, the only German gun battery site in Normandy where the shell craters have not been filled in.
The third tour day, 4th June, involved the longest journey to visit the second US
landing beach, Utah, before continuing along the coast to the excavated German gun battery at Crisbecq. The tour then travelled inland to Sainte Mere Eglise and the US Airborne Museum.
On the first of the two days of ceremonies, 5th June, the group attended ceremonies in uniform at the Memorial Pegasus Museum, being granted the rare privilege of being allowed to stand on the walkways of the original Pegasus Bridge, now in the grounds of the museum. From there the group had outstanding views of the proceedings. In the afternoon the group took part in a ceremony at a Canadian Memorial at Graye-sur-Mer, before visiting
a British re-enactment camp, particularly
enjoyed by the cadets.
The second day, 6th June, started with
a very early start, caused by road closures due to heavy security, the group took part
in the parade across Pegasus Bridge to the Landing Zone, where the Coup de Main party from 2nd Oxf & Bucks had landed at 0016 hrs 6th June 1944. The group was led in the parade by Cecil Jeffcoate, a 2nd Oxf & Bucks Veteran, and his banner. (Cecil had landed at Ranville as part of ‘S’ Company 2nd Oxf & Bucks later in the day of 6th June 1944). In the afternoon the group attended the ceremony at Escoville, to commemorate the later actions there of the 2nd Oxf & Bucks in June/July 1944. The day finished with a dinner and fireworks provided by the Communes of Escoville and Herouvillette at Herouvillette, another location of 2nd Oxf & Bucks actions post D-Day.
The last day, 7th June, was ‘Operation Pack up XVI’, involving dismantling the tents, putting them back in storage and clearing up, before heading to the ferry port for the return to the UK.
The sixteen tours have been organised by Major Hames and his wife with the
aim of providing cadets and adults with background to the battlegrounds of
D-Day 1944, particularly related to the actions of the former county regiment, The Oxf & Bucks Light Infantry. The cadets represent not just the ACF, but the Rifles
at ceremonies held to remember this significant period of history. The Buglers for the most of the ceremonies for the majority of the past 15 years have been provided by Oxfordshire Army Cadets and for 2014 by SI Andrew Hames.
Cadets laying a wreath at Benouville
THE RIFLES
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