One Day British D-Day Tour
One Day British D-Day Tour _______________________________________________________________________________________
British D-Day Tour in general:
On this full-day tour of the British landing sectors on D-Day, you will visit the most important sites:
Pegasus Bridge, Ranville British Cemetery, German strongpoint WN 17 Hillman , Sword Beach,
Juno Beach (just passing through), Gold Beach (Ver-sur-Mer, Arromanches/Mulberry B Harbor and
the Longues-sur-Mer German Gun Battery).
Along the way and on site, you will hear how the largest military operation in history was planned and prepared, what units were involved, what their objectives were, and how victory was achieved.
Locations we will visit on this day:
Pegasus Bridge (Bénouville)
Capturing and holding the bridges over the Caen Canal (Pegasus Bridge) and the River Orne (Horsa Bridge) was one of the 6th British Airborne Division's primary objectives on the night of D-day. The seizure of the bridges was to prevent the Germans from attacking the British troops landing at Sword Beach in their open flank.
Hear about the daring Coup de Main assault by 170 elite glider-borne soldiers commanded by Major John Howard, who captured and defended the two vital bridges until relieved by British Commandos 12 hours later on D-Day.
We will visit the site where the gliders landed just a few meters from their objective, cross the Caen Canal on the new Pegasus Bridge to see the famous Café Gondrée, the first house to be liberated in France on D-Day.
For a small additional charge, you can visit (without me accompanying you) the excellent Pegasus Bridge Museum. Most of my clients prefer not to visit the museum (a visit easily takes 60-90 minutes) and would like to spend more time at other sites we will visit later in the tour. This is entirely up to you.
British War Cemetery (Ranville)
This beautifully laid out British War Cemetery is often referred to as the 6th Airborne Cemetery as many of the division's casualties are buried in Ranville War Cemetery and the adjoining churchyard. As a wonderful sign of reconciliation and to demonstrate that in dead all men are equal, more than 320 German war dead are also buried here.
Besides the Military Cemetery we will visit Ranville church and its churchyard, where the first Briton killed by enemy fire is buried.
I will take you to some notable graves and you will have time to pay your respects to the men who made the ultimate sacrifice for the liberation of Europe.
Sword Beach - German strongpoint WN 17 (Hillman)
The British 3rd Infantry Division, landing on Sword Beach, had a very challenging objective on D-Day:
to break through the vaunted Atlantic Wall, advance some 12 km inland, and capture the northern part of Caen, the capital of Lower Normandy. The direct approach to Caen was blocked by several German resistance nests, the largest being WN 17 (codename Hillman), 3,5 km inland.
From WN 17, positioned on the commanding ground of Perrier Ridge, you have a spectacular panoramic view of Sword Beach. WN 17 was the command post of the German Infantry Regiment defending Sword Beach and has 18 underground bunkers and well-preserved communication trenches.
Hear about the costly battle to silence this strongpoint and how the 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, finally captured this fortress.
Sword Beach - Colleville-Montgomery Plage
Here on Sword Beach, on the morning of D-Day, elite British and French Commandos under the eccentric Brigadier Lord Lovat landed to knock out several German strongpoints to the east and inland and advance to Pegasus Bridge to relieve the men of the 6th British Airborne Division who had taken the bridge the night before.
You will visit several interesting monuments and a huge German gun casemate, and hear the story of piper Bill Millin, who was just a common soldier at the time of the Allied landings, but became one of the most famous personalities of D-Day on the Allied side after the war.
Juno Beach (just passing through the Canadian landing sector)
To get from Sword Beach to the the 2nd British landing sector, Gold Beach, we will pass through the 9 km wide Juno Beach landing sector where the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division landed on D-Day.
While passing through Juno Beach's three main landing sites St-Aubin-sur-Mer, Bernières-sur-Mer and Courseulles-sur-Mer, you will get a brief overview of the successful Canadian D-Day landings.
Gold Beach - Ver-sur-Mer
Gold Beach is the second British landing sector and was successfully attacked by the British 50th Infantry Division. Here, at Ver-sur-Mer, a fearless Briton made his way into the historiography of D-Day.
We will follow Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis' incredible actions which earned him the only Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery in the Commonwealth forces, awarded on D-Day.
Gold Beach - Arromanches-les-Bains
Arromanches-les-Bains, a charming seaside resort, is inextricably linked to one of the greatest engineering feats of the Allied landings in Normandy, the artificial Mulberry Harbor.
On a spectacular vantage point, you will hear about the planning, construction and use of this artificial harbor and you can admire its remnants, still defying the sea almost 80 years after its construction.
Gold Beach - German gun battery at Longues-sur-Mer
The Longues-sur-Mer battery was the most advanced German artillery battery on the invasion coast. Its four 152 mm guns, mounted in huge concrete casemates, threatened both the Allied landings at Omaha Beach and Gold Beach and had to be taken out at all cost.
You will visit the four gun casemates with the original guns still inside. You will hear about the failed attempts to silence the battery by aerial bombing before D-Day, and the fierce battle between the battery and Allied warships on D-Day. The damage inflicted on the bunkers and guns during this duel can still be seen today. If time and weather permit, we will also visit the impressive observation bunker perched on the cliff, which featured in the war movie "The Longest Day".
Tour summary:
Tour title:
One Day British D-Day Tour
Tour price:
350 EURO
Start:
09:00 a.m.
End:
06:00 p.m.
Duration:
9 hours
Lunch break:
Tour includes 45-60 minutes lunch break, price not included
Pick-up/drop-off location:
Place Quebec, Bayeux.
Please note:
The suggested itinerary does not include time for a museum visit. If you would like to visit a museum, the itinerary can easily be adjusted to accommodate such a visit. However, since a museum visit easily takes 60 to 90 minutes, we will not be able to spend as much time as originally planned at other locations.