Normandy: A Personal Journey
5000 Canadians stormed the beaqch of the French town of Dieppe.
I was given a tour by the Cemetery's Director and was surprized when he showed me the graves of the "Niland" Brothers... They were two of the four brothers that were Steven Spielberg's Inspiration for his movie "Saving Private Ryan"
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This German pillbox is actually in St. Malo but it so demonstrates the violence of the invasion. These are the results of American Tanks taking on a German machine gun pillbox. It is close to 25 cm thick steel. It is interesting to note that there is only one hole which penetrated the metal.
Normandy A Personal Journey
by David Cale ®
It was D-Day plus 65. .The day was gray and blustery and a cold wind, blew in from the sea, typical June weather for Normandy. As It was high tide, I did not have to walk a great distance to the water's edge, so I walked straight out from the beach until I was standing, gazing out to sea, knee deep in the cold English Channel waters.
I had traveled for five days North from Paris to Dunkerque and then exploring on my way down along the coast of France to Caen, and to the D-Day invasion beaches of Normandy. Driving north I crossed the river Orne at Pegasus bridge, which marks the Eastern edge of the D Day invasion. From there it was a short drive to the beaches. First Gold and Sword Beach, where British troops landed and then my objective Juno Beach where my countrymen, Canadians, came ashore.
On a day similar to this, June 6, 1944, D-day, this six kilometer stretch of beach from Courseulles to St-Aubin sur Mer was newly christened -in blood- Juno Beach. It was here that Canadians of Toronto's Queen's Own Rifles, Regina Rifles, and Royal Winnipeg Rifles and others jumped into heavy surf and struggled ashore into the teeth of strong German resistance. Many of the German bunkers had not been destroyed by the preliminary bombardment, and until they were "silenced", these inflicted heavy losses.
Many of the Canadian Amphibious Tanks went straight to the bottom in the heavy seas, as they were not equipped to handle the heavy seas.
At the end of the day "The German dead were littered over the dunes, by their gun positions", a Canadian journalist reported. "By them, lay Canadians in bloodstained battledress, in the sand and in the grass, on the wire and by the concrete forts. ..They had lived a few minutes of the victory they had made. That was all." Three hundred and forty Canadians had given their lives. Another five hundred and seventy four had been wounded. This was just the beginning. In the days to come Canadians would see some of the bloodiest fighting of the invasion.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid cale
The sun was low in the west casting a golden beam of light on distant figures far out from the shore appearing as if they had come from the sea.
I sat down and wrote: Sea Of Remembering The sky opened spilling itself golden into a darkened sea a sea of remembering
In the distance vague figures running, running still hunched, in antic frenzy
Memories, memories of the once so young hazy in dreams just over the horizon Golden smiles and brave waves with a look behind their eyes last seen in nineteen forty four
The sky opened spilling itself golden onto a darkened sea a sea almost forgottenjuno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldiertanksunset
Juno Beach
Time seemed suspended. I had an uncanny feeling I had been here before. I walked the beach, watching as the tide took the water half a kilometre out. This beach was so familiar; but nothing beyond it. At some point I turned and walked back towards the houses lining the beach, some looking just like they had prior to the invasion.
The beach storage houses are a modern addition... you can rent one for the summer.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldier
La Place Du Canada
One of these old bullet scarred German bunkers remains, renamed "Place du Canada." The Queen's Own Rifles memorial plaque describes the battle that day which and asks you to try to imagine what it was like.
The trouble was I couldn't and suspected that only those actually there could ever grasp what took place. I took a deep breath. The salt spray smelled of the iodine rich seaweed strewn on the beach, the surf crashed and roared, and the grey-green sea was empty of the madness of men.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid cale
Looking down the beach I saw I was no longer alone. A figure was sitting on the low concrete wall that formed the edge of the bunker. She sat with knees up to her chin, wrapped by her arms and a thick white wool sweater.Her long dark hair was being tossed by the wind around her face, pale in the deepening twilight.
We both sat in silence, separated by twenty or so metres, lost in the twilight of our thoughts. After some time I looked up and she was gone. With her departure the spell of the place was lifted and I headed back to the B & B.Looking down the beach I saw I was no longer alone. A figure was sitting on the low concrete wall that formed the edge of the bunker. She sat with knees up to her chin, wrapped by her arms and a thick white wool sweater.Her long dark hair was being tossed by the wind around her face, pale in the deepening twilight.
We both sat in silence, separated by twenty or so meters, lost in the twilight of our thoughts. After some time I looked up and she was gone. With her departure the spell of the place was lifted and I headed back to the B & B.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldiertank
Juno Beach stretched from Ver-sur-Mer to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer . In the middle approximately half way was Berniers sur Mer where I had stopped.
It is here that I stood at the sea's edge, looking towards the land, trying to imagine what it was like for the soldiers that day. This was their view as they rushed towards the sea wall, the artillery and the machine guns of the Germans.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldier
La Maison du Queen's Own Rifles
One of the houses that survived the invasion.
You will often see this house in footage of old WW2 film of the landings of D-Day. There it is seen just as the Landing Crafts front door open and machine gun fire cuts down a number of men.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldier
A little further down the beach was the new Juno Beach Center, a museum remembering the Canadians who fought here.
http://www.junobeach.org/Centre/index.html
Juno Beach is peaceful now but at times you can feel that this is "Place of Power ." Many travelers who come here experience unexpectedly powerful emotions when they arrive here. I was one of them.
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Nearby stands the monument symbolizing the Croix de Lorraine and commemorating the return of General de Gaulle in France
The setting sun catches the stainless steel surface making it glow in the setting sun.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldier
Croix de Lorraine with the French Flag.
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Over the next few days, I visited the other invasion beaches. At Arromanches the skeletal remains of the artificial "Mulberry Harbour"* , still surrounds the bay.
*An artificial harbour made by sinking giant hollow concrete "caissons" and surplus ships. used to make up for the lack of natural harbours in Normandyjuno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldiertank
Towering over the beaches, the great guns of "Battery du Longues" were still in their massive concrete emplacements, only
one of which had been destroyed, prior to the landings.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldiertank
Gives new meaning to the term "Toy Gun"
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My son Daniel who accompanied me on another trip to Normandy in 2006.
Inside one of the turrets of the Batterie du Longues guns.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldiertank
An explosion in this bunker did this.
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I felt an impossible yearning, to have been there, to have fought evil, at a time before ambiguity, when "They" were bad and "We" were good. The last "righteous war." One that had to be fought as the possibility of the Nazis gaining world domination was quite simply, not an option that could be entertained. But was this a righteous war? Not many would argue that WW1 was, and this war after all was in a way WW1 part 2.
There is a dichotomy that fuels all wars, "them and us". Patriotism is defined by this and it is usually expressed religiously... God is on our side, and it is God's will that we fight and kill the "evildoers".
I realize now that I was yearning to have a sense of meaning that is one of wars most addictive and seductive traits. War is like heroin to many. Its most potent effects are, escape from the mundane consumer life, the rush of feverish emotion at patriotic rallies, the incredible brotherhood of the battlefield which is often more intense and meaningful than marriage, the adulation of those back home, and of course women.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid cale
The Maple Leaf found on all Canadian Headstones
I was haunted by the question.
Their stones stand silent in the setting sun,
why is it that I can leave and they can not?
Allied Flags Juno Beach
Further along the coast was the decimated strong point at Point du Hoc, its six 155 mm guns taken and destroyed by 225 American Rangers, led by Col J. Rudder, who fought to scale the 33 m cliff and take out the guns before H-Hour. By the time they were relieved, 2-1/2 days later, there had been 135 casualties.juno beachddaynormandyarmycanadian armyqueens own riflesfranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldiertank
Row, upon row, upon row, of white crosses interspersed with many Stars Of David.
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Finally there was Omaha Beach the place of the most savage fighting of D-Day and above it the huge American cemetery with over 9000 American dead. Row, upon row, upon row, of white crosses including General Theodore Rosevelt Jr. who died because he insisted on landing with his men on D-Day. The narrative is continued below.
View Mapddayomaha beachnormandyarmyfranceww2warjune6saving private ryanimagesremembrancedestroyedbunkernazisdavid calesoldiertankamericancemeterynovember 11
Omaha Beach
None of the simple small ground
level plaques marking each grave with name and rank indicated that the SS or Hitler Youth ever existed. I wondered which were just conscript soldiers caught up in the whirlwind and which were fanatical Nazi's There was no way to tell which of these had deported Jews to death camps, or summarily executed civilians. Here they lay, just like all the others, the pride of Hitler's "Master Race", their blood required, to save Germany's soul. In between each section of graves were groups of five crosses of the same black volcanic stone.GermanNormandyarmyFranceww2warjune6imagesremembrancedestroyedNazisdavid calesoldiercemetery21000dead
Turning south from there I came to what seemed to me the saddest and most disturbing place of all. The German Cemetery at La Camba. In the centre, on top of a large grassy mound, surrounded by red roses stand two shrouded figures.
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But that was five days ago and twenty thousand men of the La Cambe Cemetery, surround me.
Nazi soldiers, the ashes of hate, lying cold and dead under my feet.
Recently I had been in Israel, where I visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial. There I watched a group of young Israeli conscripts on their
mandatory tour. One of them, a young woman who couldn't be more than eighteen, was standing in front of a huge photograph of a Nazi soldier preparing to execute a mother and her child. I watched as she put her hand back to the Uzi machine gun slung across her back.
There was a crackling sound. I glanced around alarmed in this supercharged atmosphere. When I looked back, it's source became clear as I could see how white her knuckles had become. I wondered, what she would be prepared to do so that, It, would never happen again.
What about me? I have hated, hated deeply -the school bullies that were so much a part of my childhood, the right wing politicians whose actions, I as a Union activist, passionately believed were unjust, even evil. Ideologies have cost this world so much.
Looking at that red rose on the black cross, my gut reaction said hate. Hate those I thought were "them"
and not "us." But in that moment I recognized that the only difference between "me" and "them" was that their hate had already consumed them.
The closing words of the poet Wilfred Owen's wrenching description of a soldier drowning in a sea of poison gas came to mind. He sarcastically quoted the Greek poet Horace, extolling the glories of war,
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" (It is sweet and proper to die for one's country.) War, in the
defense of freedom may be necessary at times but there is nothing sweet or glorious about it.
It is those Ideologies that take us to war time and time again. And worse, without reconciliation we are doomed to reproduce the very evil we fought.
War is the ultimate failure of imagination.
