| Normandy Battlefield Trip 16:08 - Mar 17 with 3292 views | Rangersw12 |
Looking at doing a battlefield trip to Normandy
Looking at getting ferry to Dieppe then drive to Caen to use as a base. I would like to do the British/Canadian beaches along with Pegasus Bridge and then inland to Caen and Hill 112 etc
Will have 3 full days in Normandy so will hopefully be able to do quite a bit.
Will have a day in Dieppe on the way back to do a bit of operation jubilee aswell.
Haven't really got the money to hire a guide so will be doing it independently.
Anyone been before and any recommendations? |  | | |  |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 16:46 - Mar 17 with 3158 views | FG_R |
Visited the Memorial Museum at Caen a few years back which, for me, was worth it just for the full scale WWII Hawker Typhoon on display. One of the original rocket firing ‘tank busters’. | | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 16:54 - Mar 17 with 3129 views | Konk |
We did quite a bit of D-Day stuff last Summer and used Bayeux as our base. “Enjoyed” is not the right word, but our visits to the cemeteries and memorials were really special experiences. Brings home the scale of the slaughter and the sacrifices made by young men to free a country and continent, thousands of miles from home in the case of US and Canadian troops. The grounds are beautifully kept, most visitors were really respectful and they’re such peaceful, well- ordered sites that it’s difficult to imagine the carnage of 1944 in the same area.
I’d recommend visiting the US cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer(?) and British and Commonwealth cemeteries in Bayeux. If you get to Bayeux then the Museum of the Battle of Normandy is worth a visit and explains just how difficult it was for the Allies to progress through the area due to the terrain; something I hadn’t fully appreciated. The newly opened British War memorial is a beautiful spot and hardly anyone was there when we visited. If you find yourself in Arromanches, you can see the remains of the Mulberry harbour, and covers a huge area. Give you some idea of just how big an operation it was, transporting equipment and troops across to France during the Battle of Normandy.
Really interesting part of the world. Hope you have a good trip. |  |
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| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 16:58 - Mar 17 with 3113 views | MrSheen |
You've probably come across them already, but the "We Have Ways" Podcasts go into amazing detail. I've tried to resist as it's such a time drain, there are hundreds. |  | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 17:07 - Mar 17 with 3094 views | FG_R |
Its a few years since I visited, but the Cafe Gondree at Pegasus Bridge was, then, still being run by the daughter of the original owners - who were present when the cafe became the first building to be liberated on D-Day by British paratroopers. It is something of a commemorative place as well as still being used as a cafe. | | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 18:20 - Mar 17 with 2979 views | PeterHucker |
To anyone that's not been the D Day Museum in Southsea (Portsmouth) is also very good.
I went sometime in the 90s and it was a bit rubbish.
But it was expanded / redone a few years ago and it's worth a trip if you're getting a ferry from there? |  | | |
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| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 20:47 - Mar 17 with 2830 views | Boston |
You'd enjoy the WWll museum in New Orleans, though of course it's US orientated, it does cover the full range of that conflict. Easy to spend a day there if you have an interest in the subject and you'll have no problem keep your step count up as it's six acres in total.
In an effort at full disclosure, I was one of thousands who were approached to get this facility off the ground and am delighted to still be involved as a charter member and fund raiser.
Edit...the museum runs many trips to Normandy every year, hugely popular. [Post edited 17 Mar 2023 22:52]
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| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 22:03 - Mar 17 with 2746 views | HammersmithR |
I go on a Battlefields Trip every year. Have been to Normandy many times. Send me your email and I’ll send you an itinerary which will cover the story of Normandy. You can tie in a bit of William the Conqueror on the trip as well. 4 days is a good amount of time for Normandy. I’m doing the Italian Campaign trip this summer. The D-Day Dodgers! This will be a new trip for me. | | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 22:50 - Mar 17 with 2714 views | Rs_Holy |
was there around 10 years ago.... did all the beaches except Utah. Really fascinating place with so many museums/monuments to visit. Highlights for me were Pegasus Bridge and Pointe Du Hoc, although it's all brilliant tbh.
If you get a chance read this book before visiting Pegasus Bridge... you can appreciate the site a lot more after the book.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pegasus-Bridge-Daring-British-Airborne/dp/074345068X |  | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 10:49 - Mar 20 with 2449 views | armyranger |
get the major and mrs holt guidebook and map of normandy , loads of info in there to organise your own trip | | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 11:44 - Mar 20 with 2408 views | HantsR |
I guess I've been to many of the battlefields and war graves in Normandy and Belgium come to that over the years. Always a moving experience, reflecting on the huge waste of lives on all sides.
Over many years, Mrs Hants has sung in a choir that has links with a choir based in Saint-André-de-l'Eure. This includes exchange visits, staying with families, they're coming to us in May. On our previous visit, our host took us to Champigny-Saint-André German war cemetery, a local war cemetery for nearly 20,000 Germans who fell in the war. |  | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 17:48 - Mar 20 with 2313 views | Rangersw12 |
Thanks for all the responses and advice | | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 17:50 - Mar 20 with 2309 views | Rangersw12 |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 16:58 - Mar 17 by MrSheen |
You've probably come across them already, but the "We Have Ways" Podcasts go into amazing detail. I've tried to resist as it's such a time drain, there are hundreds. |
Yeah I came across it late last year and now upto episode 377!
I listen when I pick the youngest up and walk the dog | | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 19:12 - Mar 20 with 2232 views | KeithW |
https://www.lostgeneration1914-18.com/
Worth a look. Run by a lovely guy called Tim. In a previous life he was a senior manager at Sky. He hosted me at West Ham once to see us predictably beaten | | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 08:34 - Mar 21 with 2142 views | slmrstid |
I went on a school trip to the Normandy Battlefields as an 11 year old back in 2001. Really took a lot of it all in as a kid, we went to some of the sites mentioned - Arromanches, Caen Peace Museum, Pegasus Bridge.
If I remember rightly, the bridge over the river on Pegasus Bridge now isn't the original, but the WW2 era bridge is still there just next to it. Something like that anyway, although it could well have changed in the last 22 years!
I remember there being a 360 degree cinema at Arromanches too that showed battlefield footage that we all got taken to.
Would like to go back as an adult. |  | | |
| Normandy Battlefield Trip on 11:49 - Mar 21 with 2088 views | 1MoreBrightonR |
PArents have a house in Normandy so we go most years.
Arramonche as mentioned is a good spot and actually quite a nice little town. One thing I would suggest, which I don't think has been mentioned, is visiting one of the German cemeteries. The contrast to the big American ones, which are full of visitors and major 'attractions' (justifiably so) is quite jarring....you will literally be one of the only people there. It's quite sobering. | | | |
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