D+75 (years)

Almost 75 years to the very day that Eric embarked on a Landing Ship at Newhaven to set off for Normandy, Andrew and I got on a very pleasant Brittany Ferries ship at Portsmouth. Not for us being tossed about on the English Channel waiting with trepidation for what might await from German forces, but a nice breakfast and coffee relaxed and ready to drive off at Cherbourg.

Our objective was to get to Arromanches and the D-Day museum and memorial and to find the section of Juno Beach where the 2nd Battalion of the Glasgow Highlanders disembarked on D+11 – which was either Courseulles or La Riviere at the western end of Juno (see later).

Reaching our objective was never in doubt after I foolishly handed the responsibilities of driving the DB9 over to Andrew!!

On the way, we stop at St Mere Eglise to see the first town to be liberated by US paratroops in their sector (not sure we will get to Ranville and Pegasus bridge to see what our airborne troops achieved on the same date.)

We arrive at Gold Beach and see the amazing remains of the Mulberry harbours which remain at Arromanches. The museum tells an excellent story of the building and placement of the artificial harbour which allowed the Allies to build up and reinforce their supplies before a major port could be captured. I was pleased to be able to give a copy of my Dad’s biography to the museum library.

As we leave to find the landing place of Eric and the Battalion at Juno we come across the new memorial of The D-Day 75 Garden – a moving tribute to British troops and the veteran Bill Pendell.

We arrive at Juno. The issue that has been bothering me is ‘Did Dad and the Battalion disembark at Courselles (as I know he said) or did the Battalion disembark at La Riviere as the war diary says’? Answer: ‘Ask some French locals’. First port of call is two Frenchmen sitting on a wall drinking beer. They’d not even heard of La Riviere though they did offer for us to join them in a beer.

On we push. We ask a French family who are out for a walk. They too had not heard of La Riviere but the kind gentleman gets his map from the car and finds it marked…it’s a ‘parish’ rather than an actual place. I conclude that my Courseulles or La Rivière dilemma was not worth worrying about – they are are about 2.5kms apart and we have narrowed the landing place down to a pretty narrow section of beach. We take a photo.

On our way to our hotel in Bayeux we find ourselves on a road that takes us through Vienne-en-Bassin which was the concentration area of The Glasgow Highlanders whilst they waited for the rest of the 15th Scottish Division to arrive. It’s a nice bonus.

Heads down now for what will be an emotional day tomorrow.