OT Normandie

[frogmiller]

My wife and I are on our annual August jollies. We are eventually going to finish on the French Belgian border in the national country parks there before driving back over the Mille Vaches to arrive near Limoges.

But we set off on the west side visiting and staying with friends. Then we drove up through the Loire valley until we got as high Normandie.

Today we visited Omaha Beach and then went on to Gold Beach. After that we visited the memorial centre.
There we both wept at seeing the 1700+ silhouettes of the men that lost their lives on the D-Day landings.

The centre was opened by teressa May and it is beautiful!

They gave everything those guys and upon reading the scriptures there it really does bring it home how lucky we are and how much it is worth fighting for!

I recommend anyone that is able to visit this area and take there time reading the panels on the wall and the flags on the lamp posts.

I have learned a lot being here! It is beautiful and somber!

[Mr_bukaroo]

I did the Normandy d-day 5 day trip a few years ago with the Mrs and even she enjoyed it. A fantastic experience and so humbling, would highly recommend anyone going and visiting all the beaches. We also did Pegasus bridge and a few other places, an amazing experience -lest we forget.

Also been to Auschwitz and visited the bridge over the river kwai. I have a massive interest in world war 2, it fascinates me. One of my proudest possessions is my grandads medals from his time in the royal engineers during world war 2. They have pride of place in my house.

[Back of the net]

Incredibly humbling experience. I?m proud of my family?s military background.

[Jocksgloves1]

Just done the Great War battlefields of Ypres and the Somme. Also, Waterloo. Mind blowing how much British and Commonwealth blood was spilt in the war to end all wars.

[Nogbad]

I had a few days North of Verdun earlier in the year, passing through whilst touring. It was the site of the longest battle of the Great War, but involving almost exclusively French and German troops it's not so much on the UK radar. About 700,000 casualties, over 300,000 of them deaths.

We found a longish walk up through the hills that took in the remains of the trenches and massive fortifications that changed hands several times. It started in a village next to a military cemetery of some 8,000 or so cross-marked graves, but even that didn't prepare us. The crux of the walk was the military cemetery at Douaumont, with some 16,000 of the same on the hillside, but this paled into insignificance against the architecturally impressive adjacent ossuary, which contains the bones of a further 130,000. Apparently one can visit and view the bones through widows - I didn't feel tempted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douaumont_Ossuary

Sobering doesn't cover it.

[frogmiller]

I had a few days North of Verdun earlier in the year, passing through whilst touring. It was the site of the longest battle of the Great War, but involving almost exclusively French and German troops it's not so much on the UK radar. About 700,000 casualties, over 300,000 of them deaths.

We found a longish walk up through the hills that took in the remains of the trenches and massive fortifications that changed hands several times. It started in a village next to a military cemetery of some 8,000 or so cross-marked graves, but even that didn't prepare us. The crux of the walk was the military cemetery at Douaumont, with some 16,000 of the same on the hillside, but this paled into insignificance against the architecturally impressive adjacent ossuary, which contains the bones of a further 130,000. Apparently one can visit and view the bones through widows - I didn't feel tempted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douaumont_Ossuary

Sobering doesn't cover it.

We are driving through the Belgian/french frontier on our way back.

It?s true that not many know the cost to the French and Germans in ww1.

[Yak]

Just done the Great War battlefields of Ypres and the Somme. Also, Waterloo. Mind blowing how much British and Commonwealth blood was spilt in the war to end all wars.

Humbling and inspiring.

[frogmiller]

Just done the Great War battlefields of Ypres and the Somme. Also, Waterloo. Mind blowing how much British and Commonwealth blood was spilt in the war to end all wars.

There is a great series that was on tv some years ago called Wipers Tales. It was based on some British soldiers getting their hands on an old printing press.
It produced satires against the hierarchy at Ypres.