Argonne & Verdun

Had a good long sleep last night and didn't have to load onto the bus until 9:30. Unfortunately, I didn't get up early enough to go see the cathedral in Reims, nor did I stay up late enough last night to go. Ah well, I guess I'll have to do it next time or see it virtually on the web or just pretend the next cathedral I'm in is that one. For those of you who are interested this is where most of the French kings were crowned from Philippe Augustus in 1180 to Charles X in 1830. It is also where Joan of Arc helped get Charles VII crowned.

We continued in WWI today and our first stop was the Pennsylvania Memorial in Varennes. It's a memorial to the 28th division which Earle's father served in as an engineer. There was in poignant quote here on the monument that read, "The right is more precious than peace". I think this is attributed to Woodrow Wilson. I wonder if he would have said that after seeing what we're going to tour later today. An interesting sideline regarding Varennes: this is as far as Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette got when they were trying to escape Paris in 1791. Though in disguise, they were recognized here and taken back to Paris under much tighter security than before. They had only been a day's ride (~30 miles) from the safety of the Austrian empire. Getting caught and going back to Paris meant the end for them. They were beheaded in 1793 - most unchivalrous: first him then her.

Next stop was the 200' monument at Montfaucon. The site commemorates the victory of the 37th and 79th divisions of the First U.S. Army on September 27th, 1918. I was surprised to learn that George Patton fought here. He lead the 7th tank brigade as a Lt. Colonel. The tanks were too light and got wiped out by the heavy guns on the hill. Patton rallied his troops and charged the hill with his pearl-handled colts blazing in each hand - how Patton-esque or is that John Wayne-esque.

We continued on to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery which is the final resting place of 14,246 soldiers. It is the largest American military cemetery in Europe. In addition to the headstones, there are 954 names engraved on the monument listing those who are missing. It's a staggering sight, especially as you walk amongst the headstones and see dates between September and November 1918 over and over again ... or see marker after marker for an unknown soldier. The Americans entered the war in April 1917, but didn't participate in large scale until June of 1918 in the Aisne-Marne campaign (see yesterday's post). In the span of less than half a year, the Americans lost so many lives and most of the 14,246 buried here fell in the campaigns of the First U.S. Army from September 26 to November 11, 1918. The photo is of me an' Earle. Those of you who knew me many years ago may make a wry comment.

We stopped for lunch in the small village of Bras-sur-Meuse. I had made a small sandwich this morning comprised of french bread, salami and cheese. That an apple tided me over nicely; although, I did mooch some fries from those who ordered lunch.

We were soon back on the road and headed for Verdun. The two sites we toured here were enough to turn anyone from war equals glory to war equals hell. In fact, the first floor of the Verdun Memorial is entitled "The Hell of Verdun". The battle started on February 21, 1916 and lasted for ten months. In the end, 378,777 French and 333,000 German soldiers were killed, wounded or missing. No strategic advantage was gained. Next to the memorial is the town of Fleury or I should say was the town of Fleury. We were told the town, like eight others in the area, was never rebuilt after the war and we could tour its ruins. All we saw were shell craters, small bits of masonry and markers. The photo is of the school - there's nothing left. They decided not to rebuild the towns as they had been ground to dust and any previous habitants who were still alive had long since relocated. Many said nothing would ever grow here again; although, as you can see in the picture, life is indomitable.

Our last stop was the most disturbing: the Ossuary at Douamont. It is the final resting place of 130,000 remains of unidentified German and French soldiers. The bones were collected out of the chaos of a battlefield that was torn up for over four years with lines moving back and forth over the same ground and artillery jumbling and thrashing the corpses beyond recognition. There are eighteen alcoves in the monument, each with two granite tombs that correspond to a sector of the battlefield where the remains were found. There were so many remains found that they had to open up extra 12,360 ft3 burial vaults at each end of the monument. The Ossuary sits on Thiaumont and overlooks Douamont military cemetery where there are another 15,000 French soldiers are buried. Hard to believe that only two years after dedicating this site, the world would be at it again.

Compiegne & Belleau Wood

Ran again today and this time the Regos joined me. It was another relatively short run, but this time we headed into the center of town and down to the beach. The Grand Hotel, right on the beach, is a beautiful old hotel and, if I ever come back, I'll make it a point of checking out accomodation there.

We got an early start and left Normandy for Reims. On the way we stopped at Compiegne where the armistice was signed to end World War I on November 11, 1918. Yes, we're going back in time to WWI today and Compiegne is a fitting place to start. It was at this exact same place that Hitler insisted that the French sign the armistice that signaled their capitulation in June, 1940. Clearly, there is a great deal of animosity, wounded pride, and resentment here on both sides. Both the French and the Germans maintain their offers for peace were in no way humiliating or denigrating to the other side and yet both seemed to go out of their way to make sure it was. Marshall Foch in the First War asked the German delegation who they were and why they were there when he knew full well the answers to both. The Germans asked Foch what he had to say about an armistice. Foch responded that he had no proposals to give. What Foch wanted them to do was surrender and ask for an armistice! When the Germans asked for cessation of hostilities, Foch refused as they had not yet agreed to terms. In fact, after they met with the German delegation, Foch instructed his generals to press the attack as the enemy was disorganized and falling back on all fronts. When Hitler had his chance for revenge, he required that the rail car in which the WWI agreement was signed be brought back to the same spot and that he sit in the same chair that Foch did. The Germans destroyed the site and took the rail car back to Germany as a war trophy (where they subsequently burned it). They left up the statue of Foch, however, so he could look upon the ruins of his achievement. Even though the original car was no longer there, we toured a museum that housed another car that was of the same type and vintage and had been restored as a replica.

After Compiegne, we travelled to Belleau, the site of the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Museum and the battle site of Belleau Wood. Over 2200 soldiers are buried in the cemetery, many of whom are U.S. Marines of the 4th Marine Brigade who died first stopping the last German offensive and then retaking the hill in Belleau Wood. This site is sacred to the Marines as the battle claimed more casualties than all their previous battles put together. It was also the first time the Marines gained international recognition. The Marines were determined to distinguish themselves from the Army. When General Pershing issued orders to the Army of the Expeditionary Force not to cooperate with the press, the Marines took the initiative and invited the press to accompany them since the orders were for the Army and not the Marines. As a result, almost all of the press coverage at that time went to the Marines, even though there were a great many contributions from the Army at and around Belleau. The Superintendent of the Cemetery relayed to us several anecdotes of how the Marines distinguished themselves. First the Germans quickly realized that the Marines were crack long-range riflemen. Presenting yourself as a target in daylight at 600 yards was a costly mistake. Because captured Marines kept insisting they were Marines and not Army, the Germans thought they were an elite group from the upper-class of American society. One Marine recently commented, "%#$!, they got that backwards!"

Tonight we're staying in Reims and tomorrow night we're in Luxembourg.

Juno & Gold Beaches, Longues sur Mer Battery

I woke up refreshed this morning after sleeping right up until the wake-up call at 7:30. Called home and then went down to breakfast before jumping on the bus at 9:00. We are only touring two beaches today so we got a relatively late start.

Our first stop was the Pegasus Bridge. Most bridges were blown up by the resistance, pathfinders and paratroopers to prevent German reinforcements from arriving at the beaches. This bridge, however, was a crucial link for the allies to push forward off the beaches and into Caen and it had to be captured intact. British Commandos landed just after midnight on the 6th in three gliders. They quickly captured the bridges and then held out the entire day (the longest day) against fierce counter-attack. I think these were the first shots fired on D-Day.

The first beach we hit was Juno where the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division came ashore. We stopped in Bernieres where the Queen's Own Rifles supported by the Fort Garry Horse (armored regiment) captured the town at first light on the 6th of June. The photo shows the first house liberated in the amphibious assault and became the Canadian command post in this sector. We moved on to Juno Beach Center in Courseulles. An excellent museum has been set up here by Canadian veterans and volunteers without government finance. The museum documents the interwar period in Canada, Canada's entry into the war and the all the contributions of Canada and her men and women from bolstering defenses in England after Dunkirk to the final push in Germany in the spring of 1945. It's definitely the best museum we've seen thus far and includes radio addresses from the period, personal stories of veterans and a host of maps, descriptions and pictures. If you decide to come over here, I highly recommend it.

We did lunch in Arromanches, which is at the center of Gold Beach where the right wing of the British landed. We dined on crepes (I know not very manly but surprisingly good and I have more appetite than pride). Mine was stuffed with ham and egg and sweet peppers: delicious. Again, the meal was washed down with cider. I could make a habit out of this. Arromanche is also where the allies built one of two artificial harbors in Normandy. The other was washed away in storms a couple of weeks after being built, but the harbor here stayed operational for five months and deposited 346,000 men, 39,000 vehicles and 110,000 tons of supplies into Normandy.

To close out the day we stopped at the Battery at Longues sur Mer where there were four 155-mm (6") guns threatening the beaches. These guns implacements were built in '44 and were of better construction than those we saw at Pointe du Hoc yesterday. The Germans had significantly improved their use of steel-reinforced concrete. Three of the four guns survived aerial and naval bombardment. The naval bombardment did silence some of the guns however as the soldiers couldn't stand the concussion of the direct hits of the extremely accurate naval gunners. One hit from the HMS Ajax was so accurate, or lucky or both, that it entered the aperture of the emplacement and apparently exploded in the breech which subsequently touched off the rest of the ammuntion to dramatic effect. This is the only gun in the battery that was destroyed.

On the way back we just happened to stop by the fortified chateau of William the Conqueror. The fortified outer walls were not significantly damaged during the war; although, the chateau itself was completely destroyed. Of course we had to snap some photos.

Pointe du Hoc, Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial, Omaha Beach, & Sainte-Mere Eglise

I woke up early this morning and went for a short run to help me get acclimated to the place and time - very refreshing in the cool of the morning. We had a great breakfast with pretty much anything you could want including brie and camembert, fresh eggs and boiling water in which to cook them, and a variety of meats, fruit, cereal, etc. The coffee was strong and aromatic and there was steamed cream so you can whiten your coffee without cooling it off.

We headed off to Pointe du Hoc at 8:30, but had to stop back at the museum in Caen to pick up another guide for today and tomorrow. Helen specializes in Normandy and is adding extra color to our tour of the landing beaches and the Battle of Normandy. Pointe du Hoc is a staggering location for a battle. The Germans considered it impregnable to an amphibious assault and I can see why. The US Rangers who attacked this position had to scale 90' high sheer cliffs and attack a similar sized defense force at the top who were secured in bunkers with machine gun nests. Mission impossible if ever there was one. To make matters worse, the Rangers ended up at the wrong point at dawn and lost the element of surprise as they had to traverse the bay against the current and consumed almost an hour of precious time before they could even begin their assault. As they began to scale the cliffs, the enemy would hurl down grenades and cut or dislodge their grappling lines. Despite the odds, however, they did manage to take the position and hold out for two days until they were relieved by the infantry coming up from the beaches on June 8th. While the 155-mm guns at this location were not there when the Rangers gained the top, they surreptitiously discovered them some distance back in the hedgerows and disabled them. The guns never came into play on D-Day, but the position cost the Rangers 135 men of from the original 225 that attacked.

Later in the morning we hopped the bus over to the Cemetery and Memorial off of Omaha beach. Over 9000 servicemen and women are buried here in addition to a memorial for 1,557 missing in action. Not all are from D-Day or even WWII. For example, Quentin Roosevelt, younger brother of Theodore Roosevelt Jr., is buried here. He was a pilot who got shot down in WWI and was re-interred here at the request of the Roosevelt family so that he could be laid to rest next to his brother. Teddy Roosevelt (no, not the President, but his cousin) was a Brigadier General and the only one to come ashore with his troops on D-Day. He died of a heart-attack in July of '44 and received the Medal of Honor for his inspiration of the troops on D-Day. Earle Fries, the veteran who put this tour together, paid his respects to a friend lost in the war and placed a single red rose on his headstone. The curators of the memorial were very gracious to Earle and had him sign a special guest book for veterans and presented him with large packet of information plus two memorial flags. We are very honored and blessed to be travelling on this tour with Earle. It seems more authentic and helps us travel back to that era and have some appreciation of the gravity of the situation. Earle is also helping us on the spiritual aspect of this journey as he lead a devotional this morning comparing Joshua's invasion of the promised land to Eisenhower's invasion of Normandy. Both had to exhort their troops to be strong and courageous. However, Ike had to do it knowing that many of those young faces staring back at him would not survive the next day. We too have our battles to fight and need to be strong and courageous in the Lord, even if our battles pale in comparison to the intensity, ferocity, and brutality of D-Day.

We had a late lunch on Omaha beach. I had "Special Rapido" which is chopped meat with gravy - not too shabby. I also enjoyed some of the local apple cider; it's as refreshing as the morning run and not near as hard on the body. Looking at the beach at low tide, it's impossible to fathom men running in full packs across several hundred yards of this wide-open (read no cover) beach before hitting shale and then some marsh just to get to the cliffs where they get to take on machine gun nests to get to the top. A C-130 buzzed the beach today which added a brief adrenaline rush but no where near the same as having machine guns, mortars and 155-mm guns all vieing for their pound of flesh.

We ended the day at the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mere Eglise. This was a critical D-Day objective of the 82nd Airborne. If you remember the movie, "the Longest Day", this is where John Steele got hung up on the church steeple in his parachute and spent most of the day playing possum. Inside the museum is a C-47 Dakota that carried the airborne troops and towed the gliders used in the pre-dawn assault on June 6, 1944. Much of the museum is dedicated to the people of Saint-Mere Eglise and the special relationship they have with the American Airborne. As the first town liberated in France, they have a deep respect and admiration for those boys who came and sacrificed for someone they never knew. But the French people paid a terrible price as their town was largely destroyed and many of their people risked and lost their lives during the battle.

On the bus from CDG to Caen to Cabourg

Once everyone arrived we jumped on the bus and headed towards our hotel, Hôtel Mercure, in Cabourg. On the way we stopped at the museum in Caen for a few hours. We took in a thirty-minute film that covered most of the war … ok, it was twenty-five minutes of D-Day and Battle of Normandy and five minutes from there to Berlin. The museum is built on top of the bunker of German HQ in western Normandy. It's dubbed a “peace museum” but has exhibits on WWI, WWII, and the Cold War. I guess they subscribe to the theory of détente or peace through strength or some such.

In another interesting twist of irony, we saw a bunch of these posters along the roadside. Our guide told us these were in support of the French Fascist Party. They don’t have any seats in government yet, but had a strong showing in the last election and made it to the second or third round. Interesting is probably not the right word – disturbing is better. One would think after suffering so much under fascism, France would have no tolerance for such politics. OTOH, it’s not politically correct to be intolerant of anything but intolerance! :)
Our guide is Jon and he his half-French, half-English and lived in Italy. He’s got a great style and has been very informative. Conveniently, our bus driver is also named Jon and they will both be with us until Berlin.

Time to go take a dip in the pool and get ready for dinner.

Arrival at CDG

Everyone arrived safely at CDG and we met up with the other Canadians who arrived the day before me.

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Checking out of Marriott CDW

For those of you celebrating with me, it was a bit premature. Free internet access came with my €30 room upgrade which I didn't realize I had requested. Ah well.



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