D-Day 75th Anniversary in Normandy

Welcome back and my apologies for the lack of recent posts. It would seem that spending the last 2 1/2 years living in the states has adversely affected my travelling. Nevertheless, back to it now with my first blog since returning to the UK.

This blog is particularly special as it is about D-Day and it is the 75th anniversary of the landings in Normandy. The visit was made even more poignant as the number of vets in attendance has shrunk considerably, given most are now in their mid-90's, the likelihood is that we will not see any vets (or very few) at the next major anniversary in 5 years.

Due to my propensity for putting things off, and our move back to the UK, this trip turned out to be a bit less organized than in the past. Instead of taking a ferry to Caen and Train to the areas of interest, my son, Travis, and I had to fly into Paris-CDG and drive the 320+ kilometers to our base in St-Lo. My lack of organization also meant that I really didn't have much planned other than showing up...thankfully,  good friend, Frances Sherr-Davino was gracious enough to add us to her tour. The interesting thing is that Frances focuses on the 29th ID which is an entirely new facet of the invasion for me.

**note: It is amazing to me that I ended up joining the 29th ID Group. Here's why...the 29th ID was formed in 1941. It was, originally, made up of National guard soldiers. The first base for the 29th ID was at Ft Meade Maryland which is, eerily, about 10 miles from where I grew up! The unit trained and lived on a base that I spent many hours on during my younger years.

It is also worth noting that the unit suffered greatly during WW2. I have included the final casualty list below.

Casualties

• Total battle casualties: 20,620[17]
• Killed in action: 3,887^[17]
• Wounded in action: 15,541^[17]
• Missing in action: 347^[17]
• Prisoner of war: 845^[17]

The first full day in Normandy was the 6th. The day started very early with a trip to Dog sector of Omaha beach for a sunrise ceremony to commemorate the actions of the 116th regiment, 29th ID almost 75 years ago to the minute. With the sun rising over the beach, I can only image how different it was 75 years ago...

Omaha at sunrise

Following the ceremony, we moved to the American cemetery in Colleville. It was here that we were introduced to the 29th ID veteran who we would be spending the next few days with, SSgt Leonard Jendra.

Myself and Leonard.

Leonard is an amazing man, lots of energy for someone in their mid 90's and he speaks Czech and French!

Most of our day was spent at the cemetery being entertained by the 82nd AB choir and band and listening to speeches by President Macron of France and President Trump and running into the odd former politician.

However, you cannot forget the reason for being there. The 9000+ headstones always serves as reminders of those who made the ultimate sacrifice 75 years ago.

Following the ceremony we had the chance to mingle with the VIPs and delegates. This gave us the chance to meet the heroes of D-Day. Whenever I attend these types of events I always make it a goal to meet, shake hands with and speak to as many vets as I possibly can. To a man, over the years, I have found the vets to be humble and gracious and honored to be treated like the heroes that they are.

Day 2 was independent touring around, mainly, the western portions of Normandy. We started off by driving to SME (St Mere Eglise) which is in the 82nd AB sector and is famous for the paratrooper hanging from the church (John Steele). Given that it was the 7th, it was still very busy with a lot of ceremonies taking place and more vets touring which allowed me a few more photo ops. :-)

Following our visit to SME we drove about a mile outside of town to La Fiere bridge (over the Merderet river) and drop zone. The area, still 82nd AB, is famous for the battle between the lead troops of the 325th GIR, the 82nd (In particular the 505th PIR) and the German 1057 and 91 Air landing regiments supported by the 100 Panzer Ausbildungs and Ersatz Abteilung. Arguably, if the bridge had fallen then the security of the beaches would have been in jeopardy. The battle is one of the bloodiest small unit battles in modern history and 150 paratroopers and glider men who died in the 24 hour battle are credited by many with saving D-Day. the phrase 'No better place to die' was a written response by 1st Lt John 'Red Dog' Dolan to one of his NCOs.

**Really looking forward to the upcoming Dale Dye movie about the battle!!**

Movie trailer

The first picture following is the actual bridge at La Fiere...

The next photo is of the memorial to the 82nd and 325th soldiers who took part in the battle...

The last two pictures are of the chapel shown o the aerial view above and a memorial which is located 50 yards from the chapel next to the road.

Following our visit to La Fiere we drove NW to Utah beach, stopping to visit the Major Dick Winters leadership memorial. We also managed to visit the St Come Du Mont church (see previous blog post for more details and photos) before heading to the actual beach.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around the western portions of the D-Day areas. We drove north to the Utah Beach museum (See previous blog post for more details) then along the coast. It is amazing that, after 75 years, there are still significant remains of the 'Atlantic Wall' still visible and accessible. 

The sky was grey and ominous much as I would have imagined it to be 75 years ago.

We also took the time to visit some of the many memorials at, and within a few miles of, the Utah museum. That includes those dedicated to US units such as the 90th Division as well as the often overlooked Free French under General Leclerc.

...leaving the beach area we took one of the famous causeways to head home. The causeways were among the main objectives of the 101st AB during the early hours of D-Day. The causeways needed to be secured to allow the US forces to make it off the beach. On the way home we took time to pay our respects at the memorial to the 101st AB pathfinders, the first US troops to hit Normandy on D-Day.

Day 3 saw us rejoin the 29th ID group for a trip to Brittany. Most visitors to Normandy visit the main sites along the beach, the Colleville's and Arromanches and either neglect or do not know that there is considerable history within an hour or so's drive from St-Lo. Our group visited St James American cemetery which contains the remains of over 4000 soldiers, sailor and airmen. Whilst smaller than Colleville, it is no less impressive. 

The group then had a quiet ceremony where Leonard laid flowers at the grave of a 29th ID MoH recipient.

After leaving St James the group travelled to Vire. The 29th ID fought in and around Vire towards the end of the Normandy Campaign (July-August). One of the key battles in the liberation of Vire was for Hill 203. The hill rises up from the river into the town and was the scene of intense fighting. The local mayor and politicians help a ceremony at the site of the battle where a memorial has been placed. The pictures below show the ceremony at the Hill 203 memorial and the view from the hill to the river which gives you an indication of the scale of the task.

I have included a map of the troop movements from mid July into August to give you an understanding of how massive the operation was and where Vire and the US 1st Army was as part of the big picture.

As usual, the French put on a fantastic effort for the vets and their families. The ceremony on Hill 203 was followed by a ceremony in the town itself, attended by close to a 1000 residents. The Mayor followed that up with a reception which included a significant amount of Calvados. :-)

The final day of our long 75th anniversary of D-Day trip was centered around travelling back to Paris to fly home and get back to the realities of life. However, that didn't stop me from hitting another major area of interest. Although it is considered post Normandy and part of the breakout rather than the actual campaign it's still of such importance it deserves even a quick visit. I have included a map to show the shear scale of the operation which included American, British, Canadian and Polish troops.

What is important to note is that the terrain is key to this battle. The terrain, while not substantially high especially to the north contributed to funneling the German 7th Army to the east. This combined with huge areas where there is very little in the way of cover meant that it was like shooting fish in a barrel. 

The following is a Wikipedia summary of the last part of the battle...

On 8 August, the Allied ground forces commander, General Bernard Montgomery, ordered the Allied armies to converge on the Falaise–Chambois area to envelop Army Group B, with the First US Army forming the southern arm, the British the base, and the Canadians the northern arm of the encirclement. The Germans began to withdraw on 17 August, and on 19 August the Allies linked up in Chambois. Gaps were forced in the Allied lines by German counter-attacks, the biggest being a corridor forced past the 1st Polish Armoured Division on Hill 262, a commanding position at the mouth of the pocket. By the evening of 21 August, the pocket had been sealed, with c. 50,000 Germans trapped inside. Many Germans escaped, but losses in men and equipment were huge. A few days later, the Allied Liberation of Paris was completed, and on 30 August the remnants of Army Group B retreated across the Seine, which ended Operation Overlord.

Museum Montormel

We had a few minutes, literally only 15, to walk through the museum. The museum itself is very small, bordering on tiny, but does give some perspective to the battle. Additionally, the views from the museum are stunning and you can imagine the carnage that took place there 75 years ago.

All in all, this was a fantastic experience! I have been to Normandy many times and I am finding new things to see every time and I always meet some fantastic people.

**Note: I would like to extend my thanks and sincere gratitude to Frances Sherr Devino and the 29th ID group for allowing us to join them on this trip. It would not have been anywhere the experience without you.

Hurricane Irma

Our encounter with Irma

Well, this is a departure from the normal posts that I make...

Living in Florida, we knew that there was always a chance for a tropical storm or even a hurricane. What we didn't expect was to get one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit Florida and one of the biggest in area (twice the size in area of Andrew).

Irma tracked WNW from the tropical Atlantic across the leeward islands and along the northern coast of Cuba. As of 10am on the 10th, when I started this post, Irma had just begun its Northern turn and, per latest forecast, was heading directly towards our home in Tampa. As per our bad luck, it will be the first major storm to hit Tampa since 1921!

So, we listened to the authorities and evacuated as we live in zone a which is susceptible to storm surge being a low lying area (South sun bay). Before leaving, we moved most of our furniture to the center of the apartment and covered it with tarps. We didn't want to leave it near the windows when winds of 💯 mph are forecast!

We also packed the few possessions that we didn't want to lose plus a few changes of clothes into suitcases and put them into our rental car.

In addition we also have a bug out bag, something that I put together when we moved back to the US. It contains three days emergency water and rations plus basic survival gear such as crank flashlight/radio, knife, multi tool, small stove, first aid kit, shovel, tarp, etc. We threw that in the trunk with our suitcases and 24 litres of water and some beer. 😀

We woke up Saturday morning to see the warnings for the storm moving more along the west coast of Florida... some apprehension set in as we we're planning to head to a shelter. The thought of staying locally was a consideration as I wanted to be close to the apartment but I was worried about being in a building with a thousand people who I didn't know. We were really surprised when a friend from school, almost forty years ago, invited us to stay with them about sixty miles north of Tampa and higher, not in a flood zone. What a great thing to do, thanks Stephanie and Dave. 😀 Much thanks and love...

We're now in Homossasa, it's Sunday morning and the rain has started. We're now just waiting for the bad weather to get here... will update this post later this evening.

1415: not much happening here other than rain and the occasional gust to 40 mph. Some of us are more relaxed about this than I am...

I have to say that I am worried about potentially losing all our belongings and not having a place to live... wish us luck.

1900: Not much happening here, North of Tampa. The positive news is that Irma is now a Cat 2 and is moving quickly North, with a slight easterly component. If it sticks to that path then it will likely drop to a Cat 1 by the time it passes Tampa. That means less winds, gusts to 80, and lower surge. We are sitting here with everything crossed hoping that is what happens...

2200: Powers out, heavy rain and gusts easily over 40 mph from the northeast. Could be a lot worse, lucky that the storm is weakening as it continues to track North. Excuse to sit around with our friends and eat ice cream. Obviously, don't want to leave it to go off now do we 😉. Anyway, off to bed hoping that things don't go to shit overnight.

11/0700: Well, we're all safe and what's left of the storm is over us and moving NW. We had a lot of rain and wind but very little damage here. The initial reports from Tampa and St Pete is that it could have been a lot worse than it was so we count ourselves very lucky... still need to get back to the apartment and see what, if any, damage has occurred. Still a window of time when we're concerned about storm surge... not entirely out of the woods yet but being on the third floor de-risks things a bit. For now, we've got generator power to the fridges so plenty of food and water.

2017 Battle of the Bulge trip

Battle of the Bulge trip....

 

Welcome back readers!!! This is a short post to tell you about my latest foray into Europe in search of history. As I was back in the UK for a visit, I figured that I would pop over to the continent for some more touring and history. Given that it is so easy, it only takes 50 minutes to fly from Gatwick to Amsterdam, and is relatively cheap, less than 100 GBP for the flights and 135 Euros for two nights in an Ibis, it was pretty much a no brainer.

 

So, an early start, sort of, saw me catching a cab to Gatwick for a 10:50 flight. I arrived in Amsterdam at just about noon and after a short walk to the train station I was on the train heading to Rotterdam by 1pm.

 

Travelers Note:  As with many European cities, Amsterdam Schipol airport is collocated with a major train station. Once you clear passport control and have retrieved your baggage then head into the main concourse. You can by tickets to almost anywhere from the ticket counter or from the self service machines. A return to Rotterdam, where I was based, costs 25 Euro. Just remember to validate the ticket before heading down to the platforms.  😀

 

 

Depending on whether you get the local or intercity train you'll have anywhere from 3-5 stops before reaching Rotterdam...takes about 45 minutes and, generally speaking, the trains are much more punctual than in the UK. Heck, most trains in most countries are better at being on time than the UK (Editorial opinion, sorry).

 

Given that I wasn't due to tour until the next day, I figured that I'd do a little sightseeing and try to relax a bit as it was a beautiful day! Fortunately, the Ibis that I was staying in was within walking distance of Rotterdam Central station, about 45 minutes at an easy pace. That allowed me to see some sights and scope out the local area. Rotterdam, like many other large cities was devastated by the Germans during WW2. Actually, much of the town was levelled in May 1940. Sadly the raid took place after the Dutch surrendered. The end result was significant damage and loss of live that could, and should, have been avoided. Apparently, the Germans said that the recall notice to their bombers was not received in time. As a result of WW2, much of the city is new and that shows in the architecture. Walking from the station to the maritime district, where I stayed, highlighted how modern the city is with gleaming new buildings and canal's.

 

 

 

Travelers Note: Within walking district of the station is the Cool District. The district includes a pedestrianized area called the Lijnbaan which has a huge number of shops and cafes. You can also venture further out to some of the other malls.

 

 

 

So, I stayed in an area called Stadsdriehoek which, I am sure, some of my Dutch friends can tell me what the translation is. I am guessing that it has something to do with the maritime history of the city given that it is near the maritime district. I spent an hour or so walking around the area, along the canals and the waterfront. As with many European cities, Rotterdam knows how to relax with cafes, bars and restaurants all along the waterfront. You can also find more historical buildings as the area escaped the destruction that the city center endured. The following pictures give a taste of how pretty the area is.

 

 

So, having wandered around for a little while, I stumbled upon the Markthal. The Markthal is a modern market hall which has apartments around it...it looks like a dome. I was amazed, the market had a huge variety of food and drink stalls, I could easily live there!

 

 

Of course, I had to buy some Stroopwafel which is a Dutch specialty.

 

Travelers Note: There is also an outdoor market adjacent to the Markthal. The outdoor market is very similar to the markets that you find in the UK with stalls selling food and cheap goods. Personally, it's worth a look but I wouldn't waste too much time or money there.

 

After my short walk around town, I had to sit down and relax before meeting up with my friend and tour guide, Joey, for dinner. What better way then with a beer in the sunshine...

 

 

I had a chance to meet up with Joey and Arianne for dinner later in the evening. It's always great to have friends that are local and know the area, they were able to recommend a great place to eat. I think we spent 2+ hours talking, not about history, which was great considering we had an early start the next day.

 

Up bright and early to start the road trip...0615! Joey picked me up at the airport and the first stop was a gas station on the way for some coffee and a local cake, of course...:-)

 

 

Have to have my coffee...

 

Our first stop, after 3+ hours driving, was Wallendorf which is in Germany. Actually, the village is just across the border from Luxembourg. The border, in this case, is the Our river. The first remnant of the ware that we visited was a C-Werk bunker built in 1938 as part of the enhancement of the Siegfried line which extended some 300+ miles along the German border. The bunker in the photo was disarmed after the 1940's campaign with it's armaments taken for use elsewhere. The bunker was used by the civilian population until 1944 when the German army reoccupied it.

 

 

 

We continued riving East along the Our towards Gentingen. We stopped to look at another bunker, this time a bigger B-Werk type which originally housed a 37mm anti-tank gun. Although the gun was removed and, in all likelihood, sent to the coast to be used as part of the Atlantic wall. The pillbox was overrun by the US Army before they, the 5th Armored Division, were pushed back to the higher ground along the Hoesdorf ridge and plateau.

 

 

We also stood in some of the remaining German trenches overlooking the US positions on the Hoesdorf ridge line. The picture below is Joey standing in the trench.

 

 

 

The area isn't all military history. There's some very pretty buildings and churches in quiet little villages. The picture below is the village church in Wallendorf.

 

 

 

The village of Wallendorf offers some fantastic views. The picture of yours truly below was taken from the high ground to the west of where we crossed into the village. I was standing on the top of another B-Werk type bunker. Locally the bunker is know as the 'Hitler Bunker' as he was thought to have stood on the spot after the 1940 campaign.

 

 

 

 

Leaving Wallendorf, we drove back into Luxembourg. What we were trying to do was to follow the route that the Germans took when they crossed the Sauer river into Luxembourg on the 16th of December 1944, the start of the battle of the bulge. We drove through a number of small villages including Mullerthal and Berdorf on our way to Echternach.  It is very important to note that the Germans didn't have it all their own way on the 16th. They attacked across the river and across open fields where they met stiff resistance. Central to this resistance was the Parc hotel in Berdorf. The hotel which sadly no longer exists was nicknamed 'Fortress hotel' in honor of the men of the 4th ID who held of the Germans. The hotel was central to the area with a number of outposts in the area, all of which were overrun in the early hours of the German attack.

 

It is interesting to note that the Germans only advanced as far as Echternach before the US forces counterattacked just before Christmas. Heavy fighting took place on the Luxembourg side of the Sauer river. We stopped at Hill 313 where there is a memorial to the soldiers who fought and died fighting there in 1944. On the 24th of December 1944, the 10th Regiment advanced from Michelshof on the main road to Echternach. That night, 2nd BN took hill 313 where, previously, the 159th Engineers fighting with two companies. The 2nd BN of the 10th Regiment took the hill that day, with support from 4 tanks, they advanced along the main road with G company providing cover of the ridges. E company advanced on the left over the fields between Sheidgen and Michelshof.

 

 

 

Leaving Hill 313 we traveled East to Weilerbach. Although not part of the battle of the bulge, the village is a part of the history of the 5th ID. This tour covered the area where the 5th ID fought during the bulge and into early 1945. The area from Weilerbach east towards Bollendorf mainly along the Route de Diekirch was where the 5th ID crossed into Germany on the 7th of February 1945. The crossing, by boat, resulted in considerable loss of American life as the Germans had fortified positions on the opposite banks and the river was high. The pictures below show the river and the memorial to the 5th ID which is about 50 meters from the bridge.

 

 

 

As time was getting short, and I wanted to take a look at the remnants of the Siegfried line, we only made a brief stop at Diekirch. The village is East of Wallendorf and saw heavy fighting in the counter attack following the German advance. The village has high ground on a number of sides which meant advancing, and taking, the German positions was always going to be a difficult, and costly task. Perhaps, on a future tour, I can spend some time investigating the area a bit more. They have a small museum in the village which warrants a look as well...if the displays outside are anything to go by.

 

 

Leaving Diekirch we headed southeast towards St Vith and Malmedy in order to see what is left of the Siegfried line. Surprisingly some remnants remain but it was much less than I expected. The pictures below show remains of the 'dragons teeth' and German fighting positions.

 

 

There was also a memorial to the German and American soldiers who fought in the area. Surprisingly, there are monuments to German soldiers who lost their lives during the war. They tend to be very subdued and usually commemorate the US soldiers as well. In this case, the memorial is to the 277th Volks Grenadier Division.

 

 

 

Leaving the Siegfried line we drove through an area that has significant importance when it comes to the battle and the losses suffered by both sides. The area around where the above photos were taken is where the tanks and men under Joachim Piper would have travelled when moving west towards Antwerp. There were a number of roads (Rollbahns) through the Siegfried lines where the tanks would have passed, the road next to the dragons teeth in the photo above is one of them. It's worth bearing in mind that it was some of those troops who committed the Malmedy massacre. The troops were part of the 6th Panzer army of which the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte was part. Under the 1st SS Division were four Kampfgruppes of which Piper commanded the most substantial. Long story short, due to a number of reasons his progress was delayed which resulted in him taking a more southerly route. Some argue that due to this deviation and the fact that his route then went south of Malmedy then it wasn't likely that it was troops he commanded. There are a number of books written on the subject, I'll let you do the research and make your own mid up.

 

I'd like to close the blog with something more personal. We came across some graffiti left by American soldiers almost 75 years ago. For me, such things bring home the human side of the battle.

 

The  link below takes you to a map that shows the main spots that we visited. Clicking on the stars should, if I haven't screwed it up, describe what they relate to in the blog.

Battlefield Map-Google

 

In closing, I'd like to acknowledge and thank Joey Van Meesen for taking the time to guide me through the battlefield. Joey is a budding historian who is passionate about the subject. If you are interested in touring with Joey then look up his tour company 'Relive the past WW2 Battlefield Tours' on Expedia.