In July 2009 I took a five day trip to France that was being organized through my work.  A group of about seven of us, all historical buffs, went on this visit to Wartime sites in Normandy and sites of historical interest. We were each given a topic to research before we left and then when we arrived at each destination the person who had been assigned that topic would tell the group the history of it. We met very early on the Monday morning, climbed into the mini bus and headed down to Dover where the first place we would visit was. It was really hot weather that week and we found ourselves at our first stop in the afternoon of Day One, sitting on the grass on the top of the White Cliffs of Dover at Capel Le Ferne, overlooking the English Channel, which is where the memorial to the Battle of Britain of 1940 stands, with one of the group relaying the history of what happened during that Battle. From there we piled back into our mini bus, boarded a Le Shuttle at the port of Dover and travelled underneath the English Channel through the Channel Tunnel arriving at Calais on the afternoon of the first day. The port of Calais was much different in 2009 to what it is today. After a quick stop for something to eat we were back on the road again heading towards our hotel just outside of St Omer. We arrived at our small country hotel which is no longer there now, in the early evening and after being assigned our rooms and washing off the dust of the first day's travel, we went down for an evening meal. Several of the group went for a walk after dinner. I stayed in the lounge and chatted then went to bed. The following morning on the second day we were going to some sites around St Omer, leaving after breakfast, one of the group said to me " I have found something last night on my walk that you would appreciate." She pointed to the large group of tall trees on the other side of the road from the hotel. As several people were still finishing their breakfast I had time to go and look. I went down a grassy track past some old barns, turned a corner and there before me in a clearing, in the middle of the trees was a beautiful old small Abbey Ruin. It reminded me of what Sawtry Abbey as a ruin might have looked like. I don't know how I could have missed it the night before, I quickly took some pictures and then we were back on the road, heading towards our second stop at La Coupole, a Nazi stronghold sitting high up on the cliffs. where the V2 Rocket Bombs were being developed, from there we went to the fortress of Mimoyecquues, built between 1943 and 1944 this was a site originally designed to house the V3 bombs however it was never completed as it was captured in 1944 during Operation Crossbow. We visited several other Wartime sites which were part of what was known as the Atlantic Wall. Battery Lindemann with three 406mm guns between Calais and Cap-Blanc-Nez. The Lindemann guns were emplaced individually in turrets, protected by massive concrete casements four meters thick.  By 1944, these guns had fired some 2,226 shells at Dover. Batterie Todt, a group of gun placements, made of thick concrete and the concrete emplacements at Cap Blanc Nez which were mainly a mixture of observation bunkers and personnel bunkers, these bunkers and pillboxes were all set amongst the dunes. Our last site to visit here was Blockhaus d'Eperlecques or the Watten bunker as it was known, one of the many sites where the V1 Flying Bomb or Doodlebug as it was better known as was launched. This was the site that I was assigned to research and my presentation to the group was about Operation Crossbow and the bombing of Peenamunde in 1943 when the RAF and the allied bomber commands destroyed the V1 test site. During the Allies constant bombing raids the Ski sites in France as the were designated because they resembled a ski ramp, including the one at Watten, were eventually put out of action.  An interesting fact that I wasn't aware of until I began researching this subject was, many of the Allied American bombing missions of Operation Crossbow were flown out of Conington Airfield by the 457th Bomb Group, one of our local historical military sites. Our next destination was Le Harve where we would cross the Pont De Normandie Suspension Bridge that spans the Seine river and on down towards Hon Fleur.  As we were approaching the suspension bridge at Le Harve it felt as if we were almost driving vertically, the approach was so steep. We arrived at Hon Fleur which is a beautiful little port town, originally built for trade, it was fortified by one of the Kings of France during the Hundred years War. We ate here and explored a little then it was on to our second hotel in Caen in the Department of Calvados. Caen is a historic Medieval Norman town dominated by many large historic buildings, one being Caen Castle, built of Caen stone, a soft, buttery colour quarry stone, it was built by William the Conqueror when he was Duke of Normandy. There were also the impressive buildings of two large Abbeys. The Abbey of Saint-Étienne, dedicated to men known as The Abbeye Aux Hommes (The Men's Abbey) a Bendicitne monastery founded by William in 1063 which is also where he is buried and the other is Abbaye de la Sainte-Trinité, the Ladies Abbey also known as the Abbeye Aux Dames De Caen. This abbey was founded as a Benedictine nunnery in the late 11th century by King William and his wife Matilda of Flanders and she is buried here. The third day would be dedicated to the D Day Landing Beaches of the Normandy coast and other historical sites which I cover in part two of this article. See links below to a picture gallery of places mentioned here in part one and a link to part two.

Part Two - The D Day Landing Beaches and other Historical sites

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Picture Gallery - Part One