Page 18 - QARANC Vol 20 No 2 2022
P. 18
18 The Gazette QARANC Association
‘We laid a wreath at Bayeux and saw the names of two QAs’
Maj (Ret’d) JUDY EVANS reports on Millbrank Branch’s battlefields tour of Normandy from May this year – a moving and memorable visit
Our trip had been delayed from 2020, so it was wonderful to get out passports again to head to the D-Day beaches, cemeteries, and memorials of Normandy. Our base was Bayeux, and we were pleased to see that some time had been set aside to explore it during our visit.
Day one began with a visit to Pegasus Bridge where the British Airborne Operation started just after midnight on 6 June 1944. Our guide, Julian, from Battle Honour Tours, explained the problems encountered by the gliders which had been towed across the English Channel by Halifax aircraft and from which the parachutists jumped before fighting to take the bridge.
We then visited the Ranville Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Cemetery where the graves of the fallen from this operation are. Then it was on to the easternmost beach of the landings – Sword. Here, we could envisage the ships off loading their cargo of troops from landing craft. Next, we saw Juno Beach where the Canadians landed. They achieved their objective by nightfall despite meeting fierce opposition.
Then, a real treat. Julian located the site of the 101st British General Hospital at Le Manoir des Doyens near Bayeux.
Arromanches
Now a bed and breakfast, the current owner was only too pleased to show us around.
The next day we moved further west to Gold Beach, Arromanches and the Mulberry Harbour which was towed across the Channel in many sections to provide a suitable harbour to offload personnel and supplies as the Allies
gained a foothold in France. We then visited the new British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, completed after much fund raising by, amongst others, the late Harry Billinge MBE. Fortunately, he had been able to see it completed.
On our final day, we concentrated on the US Sector. We started with
The British Normandy Memorial, Ver-sur-Mer
