canadian memorial in Normandy France

Old Apr 21st, 2014, 03:33 PM
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canadian memorial in Normandy France

Hi , I'm heading out to Normandy in October 2014 for a week and have a home base in Bayeux. Any advise as to how to plan to see Juno Beach, Beny sur Mer Canadian war cemetery and any other historical site that is related to WW11 would be greatly appreciated. My father was a Canadian veteran and looking to see some of his footstep .I'm having a hard to to figure out if these are all possible day trip .
Many thanks in advance
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Old Apr 21st, 2014, 04:48 PM
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Hi there, we did this 2 years ago, (we're 2 gals just hitting 70) stayed in Caen and were at Juno for 06 June D-Day service (the heavens opened and soaked the vets that had attended), extremely moving even without ceremonies. The Canadian Story is amazing, be sure to explore each of the towns and the Juno Centre. That's the Canadian part but the rest is fascinating as well, driving along from Utah and Omaha through to Sword there are several interesting museums and many war cemeteries and memorials. I would recommend driving, we took 2 days and taking it at your own pace, sometimes you just want to stand and contemplate. This whole year will be extra special there and you have the personal family connection that will make it even more moving.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2014, 12:17 PM
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I would drop Bayeux as home base and stay on the coast.

We stayed in St-Aubin-sur-mer, facing Juno Beach, and had a car.

Mark
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Old Apr 23rd, 2014, 04:10 AM
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With a week in Bayeux you will have a chance to get around and see quite a bit, but you will certainly need a car. Certainly you can do Juno Beach, the Juno Beach Centre and the Beny-sur-Mer Cemetery in a day from Bayeux. The Juno Beach Centre is at Courseulles-sur-Mer but you should also visit the other sectors of Juno Beach at Bernières-sur-Mer and St-Aubin-sur-Mer. There are Canadian memorials all along the beach. In the same day you should also take in the Abbaye d'Ardenne just outside Bayeux where there is a memorial to the Canadian POWs murdered by soldiers of the SS Hitler Jugend Division.

There are, of course, many non-Canadian places you should visit such as Arromanches, Omaha Beach, Pegasus Bridge and more. One which you should not miss is the Mémorial de Caen, a superb museum and educational centre on the outskirts of Caen (including the Canadian Memorial Garden). http://normandy.memorial-caen.com/

Many people think of the Battle of Normandy only as the D-Day landings in June 1944, but most of the fighting took place inland for several months, culminating in the closing of the Falaise Gap in August 1944. With the time you have available, you should try to follow the route of the First Canadian Army as it fought its way towards Falaise and beyond.

The Canadian Battlefields Foundation has erected viewpoints at Point 67 on Verrières Ridge, the site of one of the bloodiest Canadian battles in Normandy, and at St. Lambert-sur-Dives where Major David Currie won the Victoria Cross in the Battle of the Falaise Gap. You can find details on these at the CBF website:
http://www.cbf-fccb.ca/learn/about-c...s-in-normandy/

If you do visit this area, you should also stop at the other major Canadian War Graves Cemetery at Bretteville-sur-Laize. Of course there are Canadians buried at many of the other Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries in Normandy, including the large one in Bayeux itself, but other than Bayeux, I wouldn't go out of my way to visit them unless you have a personal connection.

An invaluable guide, which I strongly recommend that you get, is this one:

http://www.amazon.ca/Canadian-Battle...ds+in+Normandy

It is well illustrated, with excellent maps and a narrative history of the Canadians in Normandy. If you want to delve deeper into the history, I recommend "Fields of Fire" by Terry Copp, one of the authors of the guide.

Whatever you do, do not fail to read "The Guns of Normandy" one of a trilogy by George Blackburn, a forward artillery officer with the 2nd Canadian Division. It is subtitled, "A Soldier's Eye View, France 1944" and it is a superb personal memoir of his experiences in Normandy. In my opinion, it is one of the best of its kind, but don't take my word for it:
http://www.amazon.ca/Guns-Normandy-S...ns+of+normandy

There are many internet resources on Canada and the Battle of Normandy and the Juno Beach Centre has a useful list of links:

http://www.junobeach.org/Centre/engl...nks/links.html

I haven't mentioned tours, as I have never taken one on my visits to Normandy, but the Juno Beach links include a number of tour companies which will do tours that highlight Canadian places of interest. Some may not operate in October, however

I hope you enjoy your visit. Let me know if you have further questions.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2014, 01:23 PM
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Thank you very much for the information ,I will definitely took into your suggestion. Yes we have a car so it will be easier to get around.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2014, 06:21 PM
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You have been given some good advice here.

Since you are going to have a car, and you have a week, then you should be able to see any Cemetery in the region that you want.

You will of curse get yourself a good simple map that outlines where the Cemeteries are.

Besides the Canadian Cemeteries, also see the American one at Omaha Beach. ( among others)

I did this trip last September and I too had the Canadian Cemeteries as my main interest but I also visited the American Cemeteries.

The driving distances are relatively short for example

Juno Beach to Beny-sur-Mer is 3 miles
Juno ( Coureulles-sur-mer) to Arromanches is 8 miles.
Arromanches to Omaha Beach is 10 miles.

Juno Beach itself is 5 miles long.

Buy several small Canadian Flags that are on a stick/peg and stick a flag at the gravesite of a soldier you may or may not know.

I did this and felt good about doing it, I just walked between the row of crosses and picked out gravestone to stick the flag at its base.

The white crosses are lined up so perfectly in any direction you want to look down.

You are going on the 70th Anniversary year of D- Day !
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Old Apr 24th, 2014, 12:24 PM
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Thank you for the advice, you are all more the kind.
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