Honfleur
From the coast at Calais we planned our journey south to take in the traditional French fishing village of Honfleur before thaking in our first D-Day site, the Merville Battery and then finish our journey at our rented Gite at Isigny sur Mer.
Honfleur is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie. Its inhabitants are called Honfleurais.
It is especially known for its old, beautiful picturesque port, characterized by its houses with slate-covered frontages, painted many times by artists, including in particular Gustave Courbet, Eugène Boudin, Claude Monet and Johan Jongkind, forming the école de Honfleur (Honfleur school) which contributed to the appearance of the Impressionist movement. The Sainte-Catherine church, which has a bell-tower separate from the principal building, is the largest church made out of wood in France.
A quick panoramic view of the harbour area. Spot Eddie at the end begining his very lengthy picture taking process !
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It's a very medieval town with streets full of medieval buildings and old fashioned charm. The local drink of Calvados is much in abundance The Merville Battery This was the first of the many D-Day sites we would visit and actually made me quite emotional, especially as it was brave British lads that took this position. The Merville battery was a German gun emplacement whose guns overlooked Sword Beach and would bring mayhem down onto the beaches. So it was up to the British Airbourne Division to take this postion hours before the landings were due to take place. Out of a force of 750 men due to take the Battery, Colonel Otway could only muster 150 men at the start line due to the scattering of the paratroopers due to fog and flak. There's a quote at the Battery from one of the younger soldiers who stood by Otways side..."There's not many of us is there sir.." Just imagine for a moment being there and so short of numbers and you know you still have to have a go at taking this heavily defended position. They had lost their explosives and had nothing to clear the minefields. Upon Otway's comand they charged the battery firing their guns from the hip on the run. They charged straight through the minefield which led to numerous casualties before engaging the enemy in firefights and finally hand to hand combat before taking the postiion. The story of this action is told in the musuem displays in each of the casemates (the gun bunkers). In one of them is a sound and light show that attermpts to re-enact the events of that night - and very lifelike it is too and you have to block the urge to duck as the sound of bullets riccocheing off the metal in the bunker you are stood in envelop you with the surround sound on full volume. You hear the explosions, the chaotic shouts of the German defenders culminating in the charge of the Brits and hearing their voices as they fight their way into the bunker that you are stood in....before finally giving way to silence and some very reflective and moving music. Here are two links that provide further detail on the assault of the Merville Battery, i highly recomend you take time to read them.  The view on the approach to the Battery today.  The french guide we met was able to tell us the history of the plane and even showed us it's position in the flight on the way to Normandy and who flew it etc. All the details are here at the site. The plane was also involved in the Arnhem drops and othe missions from WWII.  |
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It was from these wires overhead the paratroopers would shuffle to the door before jumping out into the void and whatever fate held for them..  ..however, Eddie has'nt quite mastered jumping out of a plane lol...  The view from the cockpit window  Me stood in front of one of the casemates (bunkers) with more to the left  sat on top of the main bunker..reflecting on what had gone on here..  Some of the displays in the casemates are quite moving with original artefacts and contemporary accounts and letters.  Generaloberst Dollmann (centre) inspects the Merville Battery on the 25th May 1944. On the far right is Oberleutnant Raimund Steiner, the commander of the Battery. At the time that the 9th Battalion attacked, Steiner was at an observation post on the beach 
and here is the link for the official Merville Battery web site http://www.batterie-merville.com/?lang=en/ |
http://www.batterie-merville.com/wp-content/uploads/media/pano/pano_en.php
And if you are really into the events and histories of the men who went through the action, here is the obituary of Colonel Otway. It's an interesting read especially the part about the reunion with the German Commander of the Battery and his gutless refusal not to shake his hand...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1524734/Lieutenant-Colonel-Terence-Otway.html
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