Trip to Normandy and Arnhem 2004

Normandy 60th anniversary, I have to say it was an amazing few days.


This is Peter Hutchins & Harry Ashurst, we met these 2 lovely old fellas onboard the ferry just as it was leaving Portsmouth. Since ive become very good friends with Harry who lives up in Lancashire, Peter lives in NZ and had quite a d-day story.

Peter and Harry's story can be found here on the excellent Combined ops website, if you scroll down to Sword beach Peter's story can be found there. Also this was his forst trip back to Normandy in 60 years.
http://www.combinedops.com/LCT_PAGE.htm


This is Bill Lumsden (RHC) and Don McArdie on Sword Beach



Brian Guy (Sapper) asked me if i would go to Hermanville war cem, and place a wreath there for him, and it was an honour to do so.



Hermanville war cem


Brian's wreath 2nd plinth up

[ 18. August 2005, 04:41 PM: Message edited by: ham and jam ]

 

Colleville Montgomery march by 2000 Normandy vets












Wally Harris and Son, Wally won the MM and was in REME

 

2000 NVA members gathered round Monty's statue, just like when Monty used to give his speeches.




Para drop on DZ N

Talk about well posistioned, we were staying at the Ranville campsite and at the entrance to the camp are the corn fields on DZ N. several hundred Paras dropped that afternoon.

It was pretty amazing to see paras dropping out of this dakota, and with the old fashioned chutes.

 

After the Para drop we headed down to the Pegasus memorial museum, Cafe Gondree and the 3 gliders.


Bob Ham Ox and Bucks but not an original Coup de main. Bob signing my book resting on the old bridge.

Walking across original bridge








Pretty speachless when Wally Parr turned up at the cafe, apparently a regular when he is well.



My first meeting with Tich Rayner (glider4)


Colonel David Wood MBE, Legion d'Honneur on the right and Major Freddie Scott on the left. Major Scott is responsible for one of the maps in Denis Edwards book.

 

Sgt Ashton Ox and Bucks stood up




Dougie Allen, who was in the 5th glider to land


S/SGT Peter Boyle co pilot of glider 3


Richard Todd at Cafe Gondree just before Teresa Gondree's speech to the paras (we actually managed to get a free glass of wine (not champagne) because we had befriended a couple of Army aircorp pilots

I have to say it was an amazing day, to meet just about all the remaining Coup de main vets who went to Normandy is something I will never ever forget.

This is my prized possesion

 

Thanks for sharing these GREAT pictures H&J! Absolutely first class. Great to see all these gents in their full glory.

Martin and I have had our 'jabs' about signed editions, but this one must beat the cake!!! What an master piece for yor library!

 

Absolutely - a great memento of a great day !

 

Amazing! wish i was there!

 

Superb stuff, Andy!

 

Thanks for the comments guys, its quite sad to think though that a gathering like last year will probably never happen again.

It was truly amazing, and out of meeting some of these vets friendships have been struck up, went to lunch with David Wood last year at his home in Devon. Im sat there eating at this mans table and thinking, wooaaah this is not happening

Well Sunday the 6th was not as busy as the other days in the Ranville Benouville area. Of course security was really stepped up, and a few people I know who were not staying in the area could get nowhere near it, where as on the other hand staying in Ranville we just walked to where ever.

First thing was the service at Den Brotheridge's grave and then the service in the main war cem.


This pic is taken infront of Dens grave, the lady in the hat center is Penny Bates, Major Howard's daughter, lady to the right of her in the black is her daughter. Top right there is a lady in blue bending down? this is Margret Brotheridge of course the daughter Den never got to see.


Colonel Tillet, he took over D coy from Howard after his crash, and was the CO during Varsity.

David Wood did a speech during the small service and mentioned Greenhalgh who was in glider 3 and drowned in the pond as the glider crash landed, he was really the first to die but obviously not through enemy fire.


Dens grave after the service

It was really hotting now, and after being sunburnt from the last couple of days it was quite uncomfy standing in the heat, but when you see these old boys in blazers and berets you think, "what am I complaining about".
The service at Ranville was very well attended and it was a struggle to find anywhere to get a view. Applause broke out as the great James Hill took his seat.




Airborne memorial after the service



After the service it was a mad dash down to Pegasus bridge for the coup de main march past.

 

We couldnt get a good view of the service that was being held near to where the gliders landed. My wife managed to find a spotlight thingy to stand on and she filmed the service with the cam corder. I knew they were going to march back across the bridge, so I went and found a place actually on the bridge and climbed up to get a good view and waited.





Coup de main vets walking across the bridge being led by a band playing the theme tune to the longest day

In the front row from left to right is Wally Parr, Tom Packwood, David Wood and Bill Gray.
In no order, in the back is Peter Bright, Nobby Clarke, Dougie Allen, Tich Rayner. Now going from memory so please dont shoot me if im wrong, the vet in the black beret is Haslett the only living Sapper of the coup de main who was on the 2nd glider to land.



I felt a bit sorry for the 7th Para vets, the ox and Bucks get all the glory, but it them that did most of the fighting once they took over that night at Benouville and Le Port, they assembled on the bridge and waited for the Ox and Bucks to come back from the service


And that is that, from Normandy 2004, ill put some pics of my trip to Arnhem on next.

Andy

 

Before our Arnhem trip we went down to have lunch with Brian Guy and his good friend Richard Harris, then later that evening had a meeting with Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron in London.





Wild Bill


Babe

Then we went to Aldbourne the next day where these two Easy company vets were visiting and Bill inspecting their guard of honour




Our first destination in Holland was the Schoonoord cafe or Airborne pub No1



Then we saw these guys at the Hartenstien


The vet in the wheelchair is L\C Arthur Adams of the 7th battalion Kings Own Scots Borderers


The lady to my left is Bill Fulton's wife, if anyone does not know who Bill is, he was the first British Para onto Arnhem bridge, a google will bring you much info about him. Hopefully if Bill is well he will be in Arnhem again this year. The lady furthest right, told me a very sad story, her husband who died a few years ago had fought at Primsole bridge, and he fought at Arnhem bridge and survived the war. He was out walking the dog one night and as he was crossing the local bridge he died of a massive heart attack.

On his gravestone his wife put "He had gone a bridge too far".

 

Some Paras/royal artillery

This is Bob Jones 1st Para squadron RE, he was captured and spent the rest of the war as a POW.
We spent a good hour talking and drinking with Bob and his wife Vi (who was lovely) and some of Bob's other friends who were also POW's




That evening we went to Arnhem bridge for the march past and service at the airborne monument.





March past led by Tony Deane Drummond

 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I cannot imagine how overwhelming it would be to be able to speak with these veterans. What they have seen and survived!

 

Cheers mate, yea I know what you mean, and as somebody who is rather shy it makes it even more harder to talk to them. But you know once they get going theres no stopping them.

Meeting these men is something I certainly wont ever forget, I try to tell people who have the chance to go to these places to do it, because they are fading fast, and it just wont be the same when they have gone, and no longer grace these once battlefields.

Andy

 

We went to the para drop at Ede and the place was packed. I live in the London area and often see many traffic jams, but I think this is the first time in my life that ive ever seen a bike jam

I didnt take too many shots of the drop as I was mainly filming it.



A good Dutch friend of mine took us to Eindhoven that afternoon as he had got seat tickets to sit with all the veterans during the special parade that was being held, talk about being right in the thick of things. Afterwards there was a big fo in the town hall where there were hundreds of veterans, British, American, Dutch and Polish, it was an amazing evening.


US Naval band entertaing the vets and crowds with WW2 era music. The parade was excellent, lots of WW2 vehicles and re-enactors.





My Dutch friend is a big Band of Brothers fan and he wanted to go and meet Wild Bill Guarnere and Babe Hefron who were in town also, they were on a band of brothers tour, and thats how we met them in London. We found them at an Irish bar and as usual surrounded by people wanting books and things signed.

 

Congratulations on meeting Bill Guarnere and Babe Hefron. I recognized them from watching the Band of Brothers DVDs. Ordinary men placed in extrodinary circumstances. Thanks for sharing your good fortune with us again.

 

On the Sunday because of security we could not get into Oosterbeek war cem, so we had to stand outside the grounds and listen. But when the service finished we watched as the vets came out and one of them was this fella, Arthur Winstanley, who is in Martin Middlebrooks excellent book Arnhem, arthur very kindly signed my copy on the page that he is mentioned. Even more amazing is that arthur had tandem jumped the day before at the para drop along with a dozen or so other vets. What was amazing to me was that Arthur had trouble walking and needed a stick, and here he was the day before jumping out of a plane.



Glider pilot


Jack Clegg, Gerry Taylor and Norman Lythgoe 3 NVA members

This next veteran is also in Middlebrooks book
this lovely man is Fred Jenkins, he was with 10th battalion. When he landed, a chute near him was on fire, he checked the chute to see if anyone was in it, but luckily there wasnt. But there was a mortar bomb nearby and the heat from the fire set it off. Fred ducked, but a soldier nearby wasnt so lucky and had his nose blown off. Fred took care of him until he handed him over to MO's

 

Harry Caddow



Harry with Monte Cassino medal

Well Harry was with the 5th (Scottish) Para battalion but before that he was with one of the Highland brigades and fought in North Africa.


Talking to Harry and his brother Douglas who was with the 1st Airborne and a market garden vet unlike Harry




It was tricky trying to talk to Harry with his ex Para friends behind also my wife getting in on the picture with Douglas


The 5th were ready for action by March 43 and under the command of Lt Colonel Mackenzie saw their first action on the 9th July 1943 during the invasion of Italy.
They came ashore at Tarranto and headed towards their objective, a town 12 miles away. Apparently as the town was taken and secured the battalions pipe band marched up and down the town’s main street playing the tune “Johnny Hope”.
The 5th stayed in action with the 1st Airborne division until November, the main part of the division was then brought back to England. The 2nd parachute brigade of which the 5th para battalion was part, stayed behind and was renamed the 2nd Independent Parachute brigade, they remained as the only Parachute representative in the Mediterranean.

2nd Parachute brigade then came under command of Brigadier Pritchard and were attached to the 2nd New Zealand Division. They were soon in action at the river Sangro which was on the left flank of 8th army, what made matters worse was that the river was in flood and the going was really muddy. The 5th lost many good soldiers at this place, Harry told me that the Kiwis were brilliant fighters.

Harry and the 5th battalion along with the 2nd New Zealand division were then sent to Monte casino, Harry got a special Cassino medal for fighting here.
Next stop was Operation Anvil/Dragoon and the invasion of Southern France. Harry’s battalion were wrongly dropped 20 miles inland by the USAAF C47’s, but even so the 5th were very successful in taking their objectives.

 

That sure is a shelf of medals that Harry has there. It is amazing that his blazer can hold it all. Said it before, will probably say it again, you are a fortunate man and I thank you for trying to share your experience with us.