So... to catch up. The last blog post before my major delay was sent from Portsmouth, GB. We were preparing to cross the English Channel by overnight ferry. As it turned out, our ferry ride was incredible! The ferry was very luxurious, despite the small room size and showers. Several of us stayed up late to watch the water as we headed out into the Channel. I can tell you, it was an eerie feeling heading out into the black, knowing that about 65 years ago the largest invasion force in the history of mankind was in the process of making the same journey...though in much different accommodations.
The night was a short one, as our ferry left around 11:00 PM and we landed at 6:00 AM on June 19 (though, due to the time change this felt like 5:00 AM to us). We had breakfast on the ferry before arrival, then proceeded through customs and to a wait in the ferry terminal at Ouisterham for our coach driver for the day.
Our coach driver arrived at 8:00 AM, and we collected our local guide, Katherine, who showed herself to be an EXPERT on the history and logistics of the D-Day operations and the battle for Normandy in Caen.
We then proceeded westward through BEAUTIFUL hedgerow country as Katherine illustrated how the hedgerows and small towns were impacted in the breakout from the beachhead in June 1944. Amazing to think that such beautiful countryside could have such a scar on its history. Our first stop of the tour was at Pointe du Hoc, where students were able to witness and climb around in the remains of German pillboxes and bunkers in the Omaha beach area. We snapped several photos of students and staff standing at the bottom of craters created by the devastating shelling of the area prior to the invasion.
We boarded the coach again at about 10:45 AM, and drove east to our next stop, Omaha beach itself. This was a big moment for me personally, as it was amazing to stand in the sand of the beach, looking out over the water, seeing the obviously difficult terrian Allied forces had to fight in during the invasion. Our students seemed to really grasp the significance of this site, writing messages in the sand, llike "THANK YOU" and "WE REMEMBER".
Our next stop was the American Cemetery and Memorial, which overlooks more of Omaha beach. Our students planted 185 American flags at the graves of Wisconsin soldiers buried there. An impressive sight.
About an hour's journey brought us to the Arromanches museum on Sword beach. Here we grabbed a quick lunch and met for a tour of the exhibit and a couple of short films. We learned how the Arromanches were contructed. The engineering required to erect an artificial port in a span of a few days was nothing less than remarkable. I must admit, despite reading a great deal on the history of WWII, this was an exhibit where I learned a lot of new information.
Our last stop of the day was at the Peace Museum and Memorial in Caen. We toured their extensive exhibit on World War II and watched a 25 minute film on the D-Day invasion itself. By this point, most of our students were completely exhausted from the early start and lack of sleep, so the early evening at the hotel was welcome. The students might refer to our accommodations that evening as the "watermelon hotel" because of its interesting green color scheme. We had a dinner of lasagna at the hotel restaurant and many students crashed immediately following. Which was good, because the following day was to prove long as well!
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