Normandy 2011
 
KRAL Visit to Normandy 7-10 July 2011

The background to this trip is that we, as a Branch of the Association, went to Normandy in 2007 and saw that there was nothing to mark the presence of 5th Kings or 8th Irish on Sword or Juno beaches respectively, where they had served as beach groups on D Day and beyond.  By July 2009 we had arranged, supported by the Regimental family, including T Force, and the Mayor and council of Hermanville for a memorial to be unveiled at the 3 Division memorial site to commemorate 5 Kings.  We had also placed a marker on Juno Beach at the Canadian Juno Beach Centre for 8th Irish.
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The group consisted of me, Lt Col (retd) David Chadwick, Major (retd) Eddie McMahon, Captain Mick Hunt, Captain (retd) Eric Jones, Peter Bamford, John Butler, Terry Caffrey, Stan Castell BEM, David Dunbabin, Sally Greenwood and Norman Pickles.
The purpose of this trip was to honour the men of those 2 battalions, to check on the condition of the memorial and marker and to renew our links with the village of Graye sur Mer.  The other purpose was to enjoy a few days with convivial company in pleasant surroundings.
We started in Bootle with an Easirent van, then Townsend Ave and off to Portsmouth to collect Eric Jones and catch the 14.45 Brittany Ferry to Ouistreham to arrive at the Hotel Mercure at dusk in the rain.
8 July started with laying a wreath at the 5 Kings Memorial.  I can report that the monument is in excellent condition and will hopefully feature in the next edition of Major and Mrs Holt’s Normandy Battlefield Guide.  We moved swiftly on to Hermanville military cemetery, where the dead of 5th King’s are buried, to lay another wreath.    The next port of call was Juno Beach to find the 8th Irish Marker and them to St Martin’s church in Graye sur Mer.   The village church, which dates back to the 11th Century, contains a plaque and standard placed there by the 8th Irish in 1984.   The mayor and parish opened the church for us.  The Mayor, M Lachevre, with his secretary Mme Karine Flauvel accompanied by a number of villagers and members of the press attended as we laid a wreath.   There followed a reception in the town hall.   M Lachevre was presented with a Duke of Lancaster’s plaque to establish the connection between 8th Irish and today’s Regiment.  He in turn gave us a plaque of the village crest.  We managed to extricate ourselves once the champagne had been drunk and drove to Bayeux where David Dunbabin laid a wreath at the grave of his uncle, who had been killed serving with 8th Irish.
That ended the formal part of the trip.  After lunch we visited Pegasus Bridge and the nearby Airborne museum finishing the day with the Tyhpoon pilots memorial at Noyers Bocage.
The plan for Saturday was for Arromanches, Omaha and Utah beaches and the American cemetery at Omaha beach.  Unfortunately Eric Jones suffered a bad cut to his head, which meant his being taken to the local hospital by a fire brigade ambulance where he remained until Wednesday.  He was then flown home.  Eric will tell his story elsewhere.  This meant we had to curtail our programme of visits so someone could accompany Eric until later that evening.  Most of us were able to visit all but Utah Beach and Terry Caffrey laid a wreath at the American Cemetery.

The return trip, sadly without Eric, was uneventful and we were able to reach Townsend Avenue by 18.30.
My thanks to all particularly Stan who drove, Peter and Eddie for looking after Eric in hospital, Dave for the photos and for the support of all in carrying out the programme.
David Chadwick
To see the report in the local French paper please click here
 
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