What a Long, Strange, Wonderful Trip it Was

To those of you who have been reading the G-2 Blog, my apologies for the silence on this end. Once the leadership tour got gowing, my time was not my own. Anyway, I'm back in Beantown now and will try and fill you all in on a fantastic trip. After the group arrived at Paris, we made our way to Normandy and stopped off at La Roche Guyon. Yep, this time we found it. A beautiful chateau on a very picturesque corner of the Seine. What was particularly interesting were all the observation and machine gun positions we saw on the cliffs along the route. All I can say about the chateau was that the field marshal sure knew how to pick them. A beautiful spot-even if a bit removed from the Normandy coast. I had just finished a new, and highly critical, biography of Rommel, so having the chance to stop at his headquarters was even more special. It was a quick stop, and before we knew it it was off to the Omaha Beach hotel.

We checked into the hotel and had our first official G-2 dinner, which benefitted not only from the presence of Jack Agnew and Jake McNiece-our two guest veterans-but an impromptu concert by Steph's friend Peter, I did not stick out the whole affair, but from what I understand it ended with women in the resteraunt dancing at the table. Not sure how much truth there is to that story, but the next morning Jack did say he got lots of hugs.

Our first day along the beaches started with visits to Pegasus and Merville Batteries. All of the sites, as expected, were really wonderful-particularly the Pegasus Museum. If you have never been, it is a must see. It was at the museum that we met some of Jack's groupies-who had driven all the way from Bastogne to visit the vets-and Agnew suckered a captain in the French Foreign Legion out of his beret. Following the museum we went to Ranville and paid our respects to Dem Brotheridge and the other British paras buried at the Ranville Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. It was then on to a variety of British Airborne sites. Although the visit was short, I was again reminded that the British airborne operation on the left flank of the invasion is much, much more than Pegasus Bridge and certainly calls for an extended visit.

The next morning it was off to Ste. Mere Eglise to discuss "that other Airborne outfit." After a stop by the church and the airborne museum we went down to LaFiere to talk about the battles waged there. For me, the highlite was actually walking the causeway from La Fiere to the Caucigny church. Unless you walk it you really can't understand the task facing the 82nd. If you have, your left wondering how anybody survived. At the end of the causeway we discussed De Glopper and his posthumous Medal of Honor. Then it was on to Chef du Pont, which was the other bridge taken and held by the 82nd. It was early in the trip and everyone seemed to be going strong so we also stopped at Utah Beach and museum and La Meziers, the place where Harrison Summers should have earned the Medal of Honor for the attack he led on the WXYZ Complex. Last, was a side trip to Craignes, the site of a heroic stand by the scattered troopers of the 507th and French civilians that ended in one of the worst, and most overlooked, SS attrocities of the war. If you ever have a chance to stand on the high ground where the Americans held, you will easily understand why the Germans wanted it so badly.

After a day with the 82nd, it was important to "make amends" to all my friends in the 101st. So, we spent the day going over the actions at Brecourt Manor, Grisbeq Battery, Ravenoville and Stopka's Strongpoint, Aungoville Church, Couloville and Hieseville. No pun intended, but one of the best parts of the day was our stop at Ste. Marie du Mont. The weather was perfect and after seeing the evidence of fighting in the church, the group was able to climb up to the top of the church tower. I've been up to the top of the church a number of times, but this was the best. Clear skies covered the whole area and you could see almost the whole way to Point du Hoc. The other notable event of the day was Steph's brush with disaster. Now for those of you who have travelled with Steph in the past, you know how serious he takes that bus driving thing. Well, the bus got stuck in the mud outside the Marmion Farm! Fortunately the farmer was soon on the scene and able to pull out the bus. I guess there is a first time for everything, but I just want to go on record and say that before Steph pulled down the driveway of the farm I mentioned that it looked a little muddy and that it would be ok if we just parked on the side of the road......

Having discussed the airborne operations at some length, it was time to focus in on the landings. Given the built up area near Sword Beach, our visit was short, but after taking a look at the 3rd Division Monument we drove up to the Hillman Redoubt Complex-getting some idea of what it must have been like to maneuver a tank through the narrow Norman streets along the way. On the morning of June 6 the redoubt was one of the fortifictions that held up the British advance inland and doomed the drive to Caen. It is a wonderfully preserved bunker complex that I have been fortunate enough to visit before. This time, however, luck was on our side. The redoubt is not on most American's itinerary and I seldom see buses there. I was surprised, therefore, when we pulled into the parking lot and saw another bus. We then went down into the bunkers and met a whole group of British vets. Many were from WWII, and there were others from the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq, etc. After a few good natured "limey" remarks by Jack, the two American vets and the Brits had a high old time catching up, swapping stories and addresses and taking pictures. One of the best moments was when Jack ran into a vet who was from Swindon; it gave Jack a chance to brag about all the girls he had dated during the war. It was also very touching to see the attention paid to the two 101 guys by veterans of the Brit Airborne, one of whom had lost a leg in an accident and another who was a double amputee from Northern Ireland. It was great and only stopped when the VERY British tour operator started honking his horn and stomping his feet. I think the vets would all still be there if the Brit's tour operator had not broken things up!

We continued with the British Beaches, stopping at Juno and Gold Beaches. At Juno we stopped at the new Canadian museum. Again, it is not on many American's itinerary, but if you get the chance, you really should have a look; state of the art and a terriffic story to tell. One highlite was the temporary exhibit on the RCAF, the centerpiece of which were the remains of a Spitfire shot down over Normandy. It was pretty banged up, but the cockpit was intact. They also had all of the pilots effects, etc. After finishing up along the invasion beaches we made a quick stop at Arromanches to have a look at the remains of the Mulberry and finished up at the massive Longues sur Mer Battery where Don went into concrete heaven and disappeared down all sorts of holes, tunnells and bunkers. We covered a lot of ground and, I hope, gave our guests a better appreciation of what the British faced on D-Day and what their contribution was to the D-Day landings.

As impressive as the British Beaches were, our stops along Omaha topped them all. We began this day with a visit to Point du Hoc where I told the story of the two 101 guys who were misdropped near the point and fought with the Rangers. I had to tell the story as soon as I could because as soon as he arrived Jack kept reminding me to tell the story of how the two 506 troopers had bailed out the Rangers. Jack is VERY proud of his regiment! Then it was on to Omaha. It was great to have an opportunity to spend several hours devoted to Omaha rather than the hour or so we usually have. It gave us a chance to get up to the high ground overlooking the beaches in several spots as well as to walk around at a couple of the draws that the Americans fought up at such cost. The visit to the cemetery was, as always, very moving. Prior to the trip I had given each guest the name of a vet from their home town buried in the cemetery so several folks took the time to visit these heroes. Jack and Jake also had a chance to visit several of their buddies buried there. One drawback for them was that as soon as the people in the cemetery saw these two guys in their jump jackets they were mobbed. Treated like rockstars. It eventually got to be a little too much and I finally had to rescue the pair from the clutches of their admirers and get them off site in a golf cart. It does not matter how many times I go to the cemetery, it still gets you right in the gut. I guess this is as it should be.

I think the next day's activities, however, were really the highlite of the trip for me. We devoted much of the day to Jack, Jake and the Filthy 13. Jack has travelled back with me on several occassions but usually it is on a Band of Brothers tour and we don't geta chance to visit Jack's spots. This time it was different. With the help of Paul from Battle Bus tours, we got the two vets and the group down to the bridges at Brevands where the Filthy 13 had been. I had heard stories about the fight there for years, but this was the first time to be there with the men. It was only Jack's second time there and Jake's first. What an experience. The two vets regalled us with their stories of D-Day and the defense of the bridges and most exciting for me, Jack was able to point out his foxhole-it's still there-where Jake and Captain SHettle were, the location of the aid station and the spot where Jack got the sniper that almost got him. What an experience! I'll be posting pictures of this on the site soon. Once we got back to St. Come du Mont Jack and Jake filled us in on the fighting in that town and visited the spot where Jack landed. We then made a quick stop at the Dead Man's Corner Museum before travelling down Purple Heart Lane and the location of Col. Cole's epic bayonet charge. Then it was into Carentan along the route taken by Easy Company. Near the crossroads Jack and Jake interrupted my story by taking us to the spot where Jack and Jake had taken a patrol before the attack. The hedge where the Filthy 13 took shelter while they were under fire from an MG42 is still there and Jack told the story of laying on his back while machine gun bullets shot over his chest. THen it was into the square at Carentan where Jack told the story of the award ceremony that went wrong and Jake added his two cents about the mystery of the girl who was killed. There is a good deal of controversy about what, exactly, happened to the little girl. Most accounts have her being hit by shrapnel and Jake remembers her almost being decapitated. Interestingly, however, the mother of the girl is still alive and is convinced that her daughter was killed by sniper fire. I discounted this until Jack and Jake took us to the nearby church where Jake told the story about going up into the church to root out three snipers-two French men and one French woman. I now have another puzzle to try and solve.

I always think that most people do not "close the loop" on their Normandy Tours and I was determined that this would not be the case with G-2's trip. To remidy this we first went to Villar's Bocage to talk about SS tanker Wittman's single-handed annihilation of a British armored column and the impact this battle had on the British attempt to break out from the beachhead. As Jack pointed out, if the Brits had had the Filthy 13 along, the disaster never would have happened. We finished up at Mount Ormel where we visited the "Corridor of Death" and the hill where 600 Poles stood in the way of the German Seventh Army as they attempted to escape the Falaise Gap. Again, the view from the heights was fantastic and you could really see the whole battlefield. The carnage was aweful, and as the guide at the museum pointed out, even after more than 60 years the bodies of missing soldiers are still found with regularity.

We covered a lot of ground but the one thing that still struck me was how much we could not see. There are so many stories to be told of the landings-and the subsequent breakout-that I don't think I'll ever see it all-but I'll certainly keep trying!

After getting all but one of the group safely back to the airport, Jack, Jake, Steph, Bill McGuirk and myself drove on to Eindhoven. After getting the vets settled in, Bill and I began our two and a half day tour of the Western Front. That afternoon was spent at the 101st Dropzones; including the woods were the gliders were pushed after Operation Market Garden. For those of you who have been there with me before, you'll be happy to know we are still pulling bits of glider out of the ground. We also made a quick stop at Best and Joe Mann's foxhole.

OUr first full day in Holland took us up to 82nd Country where we had a chance to see the 504 drop zones, MAAS bridge and Nijmegan Bridge. We then went up to Arnhem so Bill could see the bridge and visit the museum. WHile we were at the museum the two men hooked up with a serving American officer who had an afternoon off. Five minutes with the two guys convinced the Colonel that he would be better served by going onto the Island with the vets. Our first stop was at the house where Jack and Jake had holed up in October and November 1944. The two men stayed with the family and were able to "apologize for killing all those pigs and chickens." We spent a long day driving all over the island in jeeps visiting the Filthy 13's spots and taking the Colonel to the dyke where Winter's launched his famous attack at the crossroads.

The next day it was down to Bastogne. Another memorable day as we were able to find several spots where Jack and Jake had been during the siege. We had to do a fair bit of detective work, but after a bit of jumping around found the exact location of the brick pile, the location of the C-47 the Filthy 13 blew up, the building they first stayed at when they got to Bastogne-and where the unit was almost buried alive. It was thanks to the presence of the two vets that I was finally able to understand some of the details of the action around Bastogne and close the loop on a couple of mysteries. We were also able to squeeze in quick visits to the woods at Foy, Noville, etc. etc. It was sad to see that the woods are beginning to suffer from all the popularity. Several of the previously intact foxholes had been destroyed by digging. The most poignent stop, however, was to the building where the Filthy 13 had spent most of the siege. As some of you know, the famous little farmhouse was slated for destruction. Well, we all arrived just as the backhoes were carting away the remainder of the rubble. It really shook Jack up to see it and Jake wouldn't get out of the car; preferring, as he said, to remember it as it was. Jack was pretty upset, saying it was one of the most important spots of the whole war. He took a bit of comfort from the knowledge that there are a few of us who know where the farm was and can still tell the story. His mood lifted somewhat that evening when we were guests of the Paseur family-all 20 or so of them-who have known Jack for years. In addition to a wonderful meal, Jack and Jake had a chance for many, many hugs, and Bill really saw first hand how well the Europeans remember their liberators.

We had been going at a pretty breakneck pace, so after getting Bill off to Amsterdam, Jack and Jake took a couple of days resting while I did some more poking around, including driving around the island in a half track-very cool-having a very lengthy and detailed argument with some of my Dutch friends about what happened at the crossroads-the maps, pictures, books, diaries, etc were flying around like crazy and having a chance to spend some dedicated time studying the Polish battlefields around Driel, an awesome experience.

The boys spent their last day "reviewing the troops" at one of the largest military bases in Holland that had been arranged. The tour of the base included lunch with a general and a tour of the facilities. Greatest part was a stop at a tank company. The outfit was equipped with leaopards and Jack and Jake had a chance to climb all over the tanks. They enjoyed poking around the tank and Jack had a ball looking over the variety of weapons. I loved watching how much the Dutch soldiers were in awe of the guys. They just huddled around the vets as they told stories. It was another instance of being forced to break up the party because of time. It was a great visit and left the men feeling very well. One extra benefit for me was having a chance to begin talking with some of the Dutch Military to arrange a special visit for my Bulge Leadership Group in October. Not only will we have seven Easy vets along, but we are working to have a joint reception with World War II veterans of the Dutch Princess Irine Brigade. Can't wait.

Well, I'm now back and trying to get settled into the new place-did I mention that I left Anna to move for the second time-and trying to wade through the mail, boxes and to do list. Now its time to focus my attention on all the upcoming G-2 trips and I am even more excited about them than ever. Keep an eye on the web site for news on these upcoming trips-you know me-I always have something up my sleeve. I'll be posting pictures of the site inspection on the site soon if you are curious and would love to hear from any of you either on the blog, or at canderson@g-2associates.com if you have any questions on the upcoming trips. God bless to you all, and good luck in all of your historical travels.

Chris