Tag: Canadian cemetery

Wandering through history on the country roads of Normandy

Oh, my goodness, how will we ever go back to oatmeal or yogurt for breakfast?

Blue skies and sunshine warmed my early morning walk to the boulangerie. Lance had made me promise to bring back a generous selection of pastries, and I think I fulfilled my mission. After breakfast, with the GPS set for Juno Beach, we drove through one picturesque little village after another. Every few minutes, one of us would remark on cows in a green valley or a glimpse of an ancient manor house or flowers climbing a curving stone wall. In places, the roads are so narrow that cars must take turns in passing through. At Juno Beach, where 14,000 Canadians landed on D-Day, a raw wind and cloudy skies set a more somber note.

Canada House may well have been the first house on French soil liberated by seaborne Allied Forces. Over 100 Canadians of The Queen’s Own Rifles were killed or wounded here soon after landing. Not far down the beach is a German bunker.
Photo of D-Day showing Canada House and troops carrying bicycles for traveling inland
In 1944, the sands of Juno Beach were lower, and soldiers scaled the seawall with ladders, no doubt under heavy enemy fire.
The site of the Church of Notre-Dame in Bernières-sur-Mer was donated by Bishop Odon, brother of William the Conqueror. The building dates to the 12th and 13th centuries. The bell tower, with its three bells, one of the tallest in the region, became a navigational landmark for ships.
I lit a candle in this sacred space. My prayer was for peace.
Looking down on the Canadian cemetery from one of two stone towers near the entrance.
Maple trees shade flowered rows of markers, and some of the family epitaphs are in French. My favorite read: We’d give all the world and more, to see you come smiling through the door.
History met us once more at Le Green Howards, where we had croque monsieur (toasted ham and cheese sandwiches) for lunch. Around the corner was a statue memorializing that British regiment, which landed at Gold Beach. Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis of the Green Howards received the only Victoria Cross to be awarded on D-Day.
Late afternoon back in our courtyard