Posts in Category: Europe
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The Dieppe Operation Part II – Visiting the Sites at Puys and Pourville
In the last post I described the planning and failure of the Dieppe Raid from the perspective of the assault on the beach that fronts the small city of Dieppe. If that were the only attack on Dieppe then it might fairly be called a raid, but in fact the there were attempted landings at […]
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The Dieppe Raid- A Canadian Tragedy – Understanding What Went Wrong
In the last post we visited the site of Abbeye d’Ardenne which was the scene of a particularly despicable war crime, the execution of Nova Scotian prisoners of war under the orders of Kurt Meyer. We are now headed to the scene of what some also consider a war crime, but one perpetrated by our […]
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Abbeye Ardenne – German Atrocities and the Bayeaux Tapestry
The Bayeux Tapestry After three wonderful days based in Bayeux visiting the D-Day sites, Liberation Tour 2015 headed out for the port of Dieppe, but not before we had a chance to see the Bayeux Tapestry and stop at Abbeye d’Ardenne where the Germans murdered twenty or more of my fellow Nova Scotians. Mark did […]
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Arromanches and Port Winston Churchill-A Quick Visit
One of the most vivid memories I have of my first visit to Europe and the D-Day sites in Normandy over fifty years ago was the artificial harbour constructed at Arromanches on the Gold Beach sector of the Allied landings on D-Day. Despite visiting some nineteen years after the event the harbour was choked with partially […]
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Omaha Beach – Making the Most Out of a Visit to this Hallowed Ground
After visiting the U.S. Ranger monument at Pointe du Hoc, Liberation Tour 2015 headed to Omaha Beach, the scene of the largest Allied landing on D-Day and the fiercest fighting. While estimates vary, it seems certain that at least 2,000 young Americans died on the five mile stretch of beach that will forever remain the […]
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Pointe du Hoc – The United States Rangers Finest Hour
Yesterday Liberation Tour 2015 visited the Canadian landing sites at Juno Beach and afterward we made an emotional visit to the Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. Today we will do the same with regard to the American landings at Omaha Beach, but first, just as the Canadians and Brits had to deal with the batteries at Longues-sur-Mer, we […]
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Beny-sur-Mer Cemetery – Paying the Price for Juno Beach
This morning Liberation Tour 2015 explored the multiple Canadian landing points on Juno Beach. Now it’s time to visit Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery to determine what the butcher’s bill for that historic Canadian victory will be. In a previous post on Ranville War Cemetery I explained how these cemeteries are laid out, who manages them and identified some […]
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Juno Beach – Understanding the Role Canadians Played at D-Day
It’s day four of the Liberation Tour 2015 and as Ed Sullivan would say, we are headed for “the really big shew”, Juno Beach and the Canadian landings on D-Day. When I use the words ‘Understanding Juno Beach’, I mean it, as my previous knowledge of exactly what was involved in the Allied landings on D-Day […]
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Longues-sur-Mer – Disabling the Batteries of the Atlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall Liberation Tour 2015 resumed after our visit to Ranville War Cemetery and as we headed for the Normandy Coast tour historian Phil Craig gave us the lowdown on the Atlantic Wall, a 1,670 mile system of coastal defences that stretched from Denmark to Spain, including Longues-sur-Mer where we are headed now. It was built […]