Author Archives: ColinAuthor

Normandy July 2014 – Day#06 – Tuesday 29th July

August 4, 2015 – 10:44 pm

Beer & chips Our final day saw us back into England and a visit to the Sperrin Brewpub with its Victory Beers named because the pub that they’re served at has been modified to look like parts of an English Man o’ War during the Napoleonic Wars  – very interesting… & the beer wasn’t bad, […]

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Normandy July 2014 – Day#05 – Monday 28th July

August 4, 2015 – 10:43 pm

The baker’s son Our last day in Normandy was quite amazing to say the least as we met up with M Gilbert Raimbault. Gilbert used to live where Barrie & Stuart do now… but he lived there during the Second World War when his father was the baker in the village! He told us that […]

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Normandy July 2014 – Day#04 – Sunday 27th July

August 4, 2015 – 10:41 pm

Return to EPSOM The day started with some more photos of the Operation EPSOM area – necessary as I’d not taken all of the ones that I wanted before my camera battery had died realier in the week. So, fully charged we set off again. The start point was where we’d left off – the […]

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Normandy July 2014 – Day#03 Saturday 26th July

August 4, 2015 – 10:38 pm

Breakfast in BLUECOAT So, an early start saw us at the museum at St Martin des Besaces as we’d been invited to join in with the celebrations commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the village during Operation BLUECOAT. We missed the breakfast, but saw the band who played & marched from the Salle […]

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Normandy July 2014 – Day#02 Friday 25th July

August 4, 2015 – 10:36 pm

Roman ruins Today saw us in Normandy, but rather than initially focusing on the period between 1939-45, or more particularly, June – August 1944, we decided to go back much further in time and visit the Roman ruins at Vieux which managed to survive all of the fighting for the nearby Hill 112… ‘though one […]

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Normandy July 2014 – Day#01 Thursday 24th July

August 4, 2015 – 10:34 pm

White horses and bad backs So, our second trip to Normandy this year started with its usual diversion via a pub… but this time, it was as part of a Mission. Unfortunately, in June, Eain & Muir Findlay weren’t able to join us in Normandy as Eain had badly hurt his back, but for that […]

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Normandy June 2014 – Day#13 Wednesday 11th June

June 1, 2015 – 9:55 pm

A final brewpub with a Great English name Back in England and another brewpub – the George & Dragon at Swanscombe – but I’m beginning to wonder whether this blog is more about beer than wartime research!!

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Normandy June 2014 – Day#12 Tuesday 10th June

June 1, 2015 – 9:53 pm

Poppies and cemeteries Back on the road & another poppy field reminding us of the blood that was shed in these areas 100 years ago. We soon arrived at Rancourt which appears to be unique in that there are German, French and British Commonwealth cemeteries all relatively close to each other. Then, having passed the […]

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Normandy June 2014 – Day#11 Monday 9th June

June 1, 2015 – 9:49 pm

Menhir hunting We had decided, as it was also the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War to pick up a few key sites on our way home… but first we went even further back in time to satisfy Glyn’s attachment to strange lumps of rock plonked in the countryside by our […]

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Normandy June 2014 – Day#10 Sunday 8th June

June 1, 2015 – 6:46 am

Mullberies Sunday saw us begin our winding way homeward. For a change, we decided to head north towards the beaches & one of the first sea-born sights to greet us was the remaining pieces of the Mulberry Harbours; an amazing feat of engineering born of the realisation that it would take time for the invasion […]

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