Day 7 - Thursday 7 June - Coming Home

Well, the Cadets and Instructors are on their way home. In fact, we've just had a text message to say that they've landed at Portsmouth and are on their way back to Oxford. We've had a great time and this evening the house feels very quiet. It has been an exciting and busy week, but one that we'll always remember and we hope that the Cadets have some wonderful memories to take home.

We are grateful to all those who have made us so welcome this week. Especially to the Maire of Bénouville, the Maire of Escoville and the Maire of Herouvillette. We would also like to thank General Sir Robert Pascoe, Mrs Penny Bates, M. Marc Jacquinot (the Director of the Pegasus Memorial Museum) and all those Veterans who took time to talk to us and share their memories.

Day 6 - 6 June

63 years after D-Day, we were excited to have the chance to spend today with friends in Normandy, celebrating the liberation of France and remembering the men of the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, our predecessor Regiment, who took part in this defining moment in European history.

The day began with breakfast at the Mairie at Bénouville - the site of Pegasus Bridge and the first village to be liberated in France. We then took part in the parade across the Bridge to the Signal Monument, where a memorial service was held and children of the Village gave flowers to the Veterans present. Our bugler for the day, PI Andrew Hames, former cadet and now Instructor, played last post and reveille. We then joined the Village in returning across the present Pegasus Bridge, to the memorial to the men of 7 Para, where a brief service of commemoration was held. We joined the Maire, Veterans and the people of Bénouville for drinks and snacks at the Salle des Fetes.

Lunch was a picnic in the grounds nearby and the Cadets enjoyed the chance to play football with local children.

This was a long day. In the afternoon we attended two more ceremonies - at Escoville and Herouvillette. These villages, both struck hard by the fighting in the days after D-Day, welcomed us, along with Veterans and their famillies, to remember those who died and to celebrate the peace that the sacrifices of D-Day brought. At Herouvillette, the children played their recorders and sang a song. Again we provided the appropriate Bugle calls and the Cadets laid their own wreath. Afterwards, we joined the Maire of Herouvillette at the village foyer for refreshments.

At the end of the day, the Cadets enjoyed a brief shopping trip at the Centre Commerciale at Herouville St. Clair, before we returned home for the traditional end of tour meal - chicken Vallée d'Auge followed by sticky cakes! This was a noisy and chaotic occasion - all 25 of us in the kitchen was a bit of a struggle but added to the fun.

Day 5 - Tuesday 5 June

Sightseeing was put a little on hold today, as we began two days of participation in some of the ceremonies held each year in Normandy to commemorate those who lost their lives during the D-Day landings, to honour the survivors and to remember those who have died since the war. Each year there are fewer veterans and since we have been visiting for 9 years now (with a different group of Cadets each year) inevitably some dear friends have been lost along the way.

Oxfordshire (The Rifles) Battalion, Army Cadet Force, has links (through the Royal Green Jackets, our former Regiment) back to the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. The 2nd Battalion Ox & Bucks were gliderborne troops and part of the 6th Airborne Division on D-Day. They were tasked to take and hold the bridges across the Caen Canal and River Orne (today known as Pegasus and Horsa Bridges respectively). The gliders landed at approximately 00:16 on 6th June, and led by Major John Howard they, within 12 - 15 minutes, achieved their objective to take the Bridges. They held them until relieved by elements of the 7th Parachute Regiment in the early hours on the morning.

At midday, we were honoured to stand alongside veterans and relatives of veterans at the replica Horsa Glider at the Pegasus Memorial Museum, and remember those who gave their lives here. We provided a Bugler for the Ox & Bucks wreath-laying ceremony and at 12:30 held our own ceremony and laid a wreath nearby on the original Pegasus Bridge (which stands in the museum grounds). General Sir Robert Pascoe, late Ox & Bucks, and Mrs Penny Bates, daughter of Major John Howard were in attendance. Mrs Bates thanked the Cadets for being in Normandy.

The Cadets had the chance to look around the Museum and explore the history of the Ox & Bucks participation in D-Day.

We travelled across to Bayeux after lunch, and visited the Battle of Normandy Museum which tells the story of D-Day and the battles of the weeks following the invasion. Afterwards we visited the British Military Cemetery in Bayeux and laid our wreath at the memorial there. Today the Bugle was played by Mark Hames, a former Cadet and currently a Serjeant Instructor with Oxfordshire Army Cadet Force.

Day 4 - Monday 4 June

We set off early this morning - toward Omaha Beach and the German strongpoint WN62 near Colleville sur Mer. This complex of trenches and guns was a severe challenge for the landing US forces. It had been reinforced (coincidently) by elements of the German 352nd Infantry Division increasing it's numbers from 20 men to 40. This may not seem like a great deal of opposition, but US forces were landing on an open beach and were being fired on from well designed positions above them.

We then moved on to the nearby US Military Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer, where so many young men are buried. The sea of grave stones was a sobering reminder that D-Day, and the weeks following, cost so many lives - 9,386 graves of young men hardly older than some of our Cadets.

We had lunch just along the coast, overlooking the beach near the memorial to the men of the US 2nd Infantry Division, who fought there.

After lunch we moved along to Point du Hoc, where the US Rangers fought so hard to take a heavily fortified gun emplacement. They fought their way up cliffs, against small arms fire from the defending German troops, only to find that the battery was empty - the guns were not there.

This was also swimming day - the cadets all had the opportunity to swim at Bayeux municipal swimming pool, before heading home for a barbecue.

Days 2 & 3 - Gold Beach, Sainte Mére Eglise

Last night we were just too tired to blog. Or do anything else other than cook, eat and sleep.

Yesterday morning we set off at around 10.00am to the German Artillery Battery at Longues sur Mer. Then on to Arromanches, the site of Port Winston - the Mulberry Harbour. The tide was in, so we couldn't go out on the beach and that, along with the fog, made it hard to see how the beach would have looked to the landing troops. The souvenir shops at Arromanches are great and we bought ice creams, books, crickets, tee shirts, teddies and other valuable items!

We went to the Circular Cinema at the top of the cliffs and watched the 360 degree film, which was powerful in the imagery used and gave you a great impression of the beaches because it was film and music without commentary and used war time film with modern images.

After lunch, we stopped at the place where General de Gaulle came ashore and took photos on the Churchill AVRE tank which remains nearby.

At the end of the afternoon we went to the 'Grand Bunker' at Ouistreham. They had a complete US landing craft, a DUKW (amphibious lorry) a V1 flying bomb and other military vehicles in the car park. The bunker itself was an observation post pointing toward the coast. Inside it was set up to display the way in which the Germans would have equiped it during the war.

This morning we headed up the coast to Sainte Mére Eglise, where the US parachutists landed early on D-Day. Sadly many were killed when they landed off target in the centre of the town and were shot by German soldiers. Private John Steele got caught on the church steeple and survived, being cut down and taken prisoner. Today the town was full of tourists, military re-enactors and the owners of restored military vehicles who were in town for the annual militaria market.

After this we had lunch at Azeville Battery, where the German troops held out against the Americans until the 9 June. We then moved on to Crisbecq Battery, where French military re-enactors were rehearsing a display planned for this evening. Crisbecq Battery has been largely dug out and restored and was made more interesting by the living history displays and military vehicles.

On the way home, we drove along Utah Beach, stopping at the large US memorial and for some, this meant a paddle in the sea. For others it was a chance to have an ice cream, chips and croque monsieur. It didn't damage anyone's appetite however, and everyone enjoyed chilli and jacket potatoes for dinner when we got home.

Arrival Day

Everyone arrived safely. The tents are up, the tour participants (the younger ones, at least) are tucked up in their sleeping bags. The weather has been cool, but sunny - and the forecast seems to be improving.

After arrival, a drink and a doughnut, the tour headed straight off to the British Military Cemetery at Tilly sur Seulles. A rather sombre beginning, but setting the scene for the days to come. One of the minibuses was slightly delayed - Normandy mud is particularly sticky and a tow was needed to get them out!

Home and a barbeque, then a briefing on the historical setting for D-Day. Tour t-shirts and sweatshirts were handed out, and by 10pm the Cadets were heading off to bed. A bit chilly this evening, but hopefully everyone has put on an extra layer of clothing.

Tomorrow we'll be heading off to see the remains of the German artillery battery at Longues and the invasion beaches, Gold and Juno.