The sixth day of The Battlefield Tour was awesome to say the least. First we woke up in a hotel that is very spacious compared to most of the hotels so far. This hotel even has its own restaurant down below with a very extensive continental breakfast. After breakfast we toured more through France to see its stunning view even though it is a flat landscape. The buildings are what make it unique, because there is a mix of old World War 2 buildings and newer buildings. It is a sight to see. We continued to tour awesome bunkers and patrol/command post. These where mostly still intact and overlooking a beautiful view of the sea. (German gun batteries at Longue sur Mer). From there, we headed a bit fuether down the coast line to Arromanche to see a Mulberry Harbour. This is essentially a portable harbour (an idea the British came up with to allow supplies, resources, and equipment to reach the troops), as at the time, the Allies did not have access to a port. The Mulberry Harbour was meant to be a temporary one to be used for a couple of months, but it ended up in use for over 6 months until Antwerp was captured by the Allies.
We explored the country side a little more before arriving at Juno Beach and going through the Juno Beach Center. The museum was very interesting and had plenty of videos to watch and really exciting things to look at such as rifle pieces, Lugers, and other battle debris. One video was about what it would be like to witness the battle through the eyes of a soldier. It was very moving just like the beach. The beach was peaceful and felt like it would be the last place there would be a battle. There where so many sea shells and apparently it is illegal NOT to take the sand so naturally I did.
After Juno Beach, we drove a little ways to look at Canada House, which was the first house liberated by the Canadians on D-Day and then walked along the pier.
Our next stop was a cemetery called Beny sur Mer Canadian Cemetery. We placed our flags on those graves we chose to put them on. I personally looked for an 18 year old but only saw 19 year olds until then. The reason was because lots enlisted under age, so I tried until I found one. Soon after paying our respects we sat down for a picnic lunch of pizza, fruit, chocolate pastries, etc. It was delicious.
After a long day we headed back to the hotel and MCpl Ramcharan Bigelow divided the dinner money evenly among everybody and some of us we headed out to see the Bayeux Tapestry. It was a fun little story made in wool and linen that is about 70 meters long and 50 centimeters high. The Bayeux Tapestry was made in the 1070s and depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England, which ended in the Battle of Hastings - the key players in this were William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England. The tapestry is incredibly detailed and hand crafted and is a UNESCO world heritage piece.
After the tapestry, my group proceeded to have dinner and I bought snails which where really good and I would suggest them to anyone provided they are cooked. So finally after a long day we headed back to the hotel and got some sleep. Thank you for reading and following the blog.
Article written MCpl Trnavskis
Additional note (from Capt Sun): Today was an incredibly raw and emotional day. Standing on the beaches and in the waters of Normandy, where 73 years earlier young men, some the same age as some of the cadets on the trip and many just a bit older, landed on those beaches and trudged through the waters to push back an enemy and reclaim territory so that we may live our lives as we know it today. Many of them did not make it home that day or in the ensuing days after, but they ARE there - on the beaches - in spirit. Let us never forget their ultimate sacrifice.
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