Normandy ICSC(M) 05/08 Staff Ride

I recently spent a few sobering days wandering around the battlefields in and around Caen. It is hard to imagine now what it must of been like on the 6th June 1944 as thousands of men struggled ashore under heavy fire. After 60 years the land is still scattered with craters from the aerial and naval bombardment of the German positions. However many of the fortifications remain remarkably intact, a sombre view of what once was.

Out to sea, battered by the elements stands a memorial to the allied forces ingenuity. The landings would require a huge logistical effort to ensure success and it was felt that it would take time to capture the French ports. Therefore the allies decided to take two harbours with them. These were known as mulberry harbours and although the American mulberry was destroyed by the great storm the British Harbour survived and can be seen to this day.

I sometimes wonder how long these fortifications will stand, will these lumps of concrete and twisted steel become the megaliths of tomorrow. In 500 or 1000 years will people look at these sites in the same way we look at the old burial mounds like Lanyon Quiot or the old stones at Men-an-tol.

I think the most sobering moments of the trip were the visits to the war cemeteries. The American cemetery consisted of 10000 graves. We saw the graves of the characters that the film Saving Private Ryan was based on and also the grave of Theodore Roosevelt, the presidents son. The Commonwealth cemetery was just as moving, and although smaller the number of headstones with the 6th June 44 on brought home the sacrifice that so many made for the freedom we enjoy today.