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June 5th began with a trip to the Canadian War Cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer,
the final resting place of 19 Calgary Highlanders. As was to become
customary for all cemetery visits, a piper played the lament, and members
of the tour were invited to decorate the graves of fallen Highlanders with
regimental flags.
The tour carried on to the "D-Day House" at Bernières-sur-Mer, famously
liberated by the Queen's Own Rifles on June 6th, 1944. As a special treat,
tour conductor Jim Henderson had arranged for a private viewing of the
inside of the home and a talk by one of the caretakers of the building. A
short reception on the lawn and a look at some of the surviving defensive
emplacements of Resistance Nest 28 was followed by a trip to Le Mesnil and
a ceremony by veterans of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion who had
landed in the vicinity on the night of 5-6 June 1944 and had defended the
area against German troops for several days following the Invasion. A
luncheon and book-signing by a local author followed at Sannerville,
followed by a quick stop at Pegasus Bridge. Members of the tour had the
chance to walk over the original bridge site, past the Cafe Gondree, and view the landing
area.
Afterwards, a bus trip was made past the Arromanches "Mulberry" artificial harbour to the surviving battery of
German 150mm coastal guns at Longues.
After Longues, the tour departed for the American cemetery at Omaha Beach,
and once again, time conspired to rule out visits to nearby Pointe-du-Hoc
and the German cemetery at La Cambe. |
Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. Photo by Nancy Desilets |
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British and Canadian
paratroopers, and a grateful French population, came together at Mesnil on
5 June to commemorate the anniversary of their liberation from the
Germans. The first pathfinders of the airborne forces set off from England
on the 5th of June, 1944.
Photo by Nancy Desilets |
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