Great Gran?s D Day Landing Tour ? Honouring the Brave Soldiers Who Fought on the

Posted by veronikaadaam on June 17th, 2013

Last year was a very special year for my family – it was the 20th anniversary of my great grandfather’s death and my great gran (who is still alive and in fairly rude health) wanted to mark this in a very special way. My great grandfather fought in World War 2, much to the pride of the rest of the family. Indeed, he was involved in the D Day landings and was awarded medals for bravery which my great gran treasures. As my great gran has never been abroad, my Dad decided to treat her to a d-day landing tours so that she could see the places where her husband served his King and country.

There were nine of us in our party setting off for our tour back in August last year. Luckily, the weather was great as we set off for Heathrow where we were booked on a flight to Paris. My great gran absolutely loved Paris and regaled us with stories and anecdotes that her husband had told her over the years. Apparently, he was a bit of a boy and, despite the wartime conditions, he managed to enjoy Paris once he arrived there. However, there was a not so small matter of battling across the countryside after the brutal landings before he and his troop reached the capital.

The tour of the landing beaches was really interesting. I learned so much about this part of history that I hadn’t really studied before. I’ve seen “Saving Private Ryan” (who hasn’t these days?) so I was aware that this was a huge operation with very many casualties. The film portrays the horrors of war very effectively and I was worried about what my reactions would be when we visited the actual beaches. I was even more concerned for my great gran – not only has she seen the film, but she’s heard first hand stories of these events and knows how terrible it really was.

However, Omaha Beach was calm and peaceful – instead of gunfire and explosions, there was the tinkle of happy giggles as holidaymakers and their kids enjoyed the sands. We could see the German bunkers and shell holes that still mar the cliff faces and it didn’t take much to imagine how the battle must have raged – and just what a difficult job it would have been to land on this beach that was so heavily defended from prime positions.

My great grandfather’s older brother was there that day, but sadly lost his life before reaching the shallows, as did two of his closest childhood friends. My great gran had brought with her floral tributes to each of them, including her husband and she laid these gently in the waves on the outgoing tide. We all stood quietly, watching them float away while my great gran dabbed at her tears.

Although this really was a bitter sweet way of celebrating my great grandfather’s life and achievements, my great gran thought that the d-day landing tour was a really fitting way of paying tribute to her husband and the brave men who fought alongside him.