Euro 2025 ~ A morning wander on a beach ...

With nothing planned for this day, I started it early with a very long wander on Juno Beach. The only company I had were a couple of horses and their riders. With the tide out the beach was absolutely huge, it reminded me of the beach at Dunkirk I wrote about in my recent blog titled ~ “Euro 2025 ~ Normandy”.

While walking along the water’s edge enjoying the very peaceful surroundings and the perfect light warm wind, my thoughts were consumed more with the past than the present. They went back to the early morning hours of Tuesday 6th June 1944, and to the hell that was unleashed upon the first wave of Canadians from the 3rd Infantry Division, who came ashore under a constant barrage of enemy fire. That morning 381 volunteers from Canada died on the beach or just south of the adjacent sand dunes ~ for someone who has a passion for remembering and preserving their memory, the thoughts were more than overwhelming for me.

On the sand dunes, I found this little memorial, perhaps the creation of a visiting relative ...

At another stop behind the dunes, I came across a German Pillbox ~ “Cosy’s Bunker”. It was named after Lt. W.A. “Cosy” Aitken of the 10th Platoon, B Company, Royal Winnipeg Rifles, who on his own stormed and captured it on D-Day. That morning on the beach, B Company suffered 78% casualties.

Also behind the dunes is a Canadian tank ~  “One Charlie”, a Churchill AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) tank from the 26 Assault Squadron Royal Engineers 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade, which landed on Juno Beach at Graye-sur-Mer on D-Day morning.

Unfortunately, it was stopped on the beach by a massive bomb crater not long after leaving its landing craft and the crew were forced to escape the stricken vehicle. Four were killed and two injured in the process.

The tank remained buried on the beach for over 30 years until it was recovered, restored, and placed on display. Today it stands proudly just metres from where it fell to rest, as a memorial to all those who landed on Juno Beach.

In accordance with his last wishes, the ashes of Bill Dunn, the driver of One Charlie, were scattered next to the tank on November 8, 2014.

 

This morning’s experience, turned out to be much more than just a morning wander on a beach ~ may we never forget.

 

After this, I drove a little further west to the town of Arromanches and Gold Beach, where my relative Hugh Wright (Royal Engineer) landed. I got a much better views of the remains of Port Winston (Mulberry B), which I wrote about in the recent blog titled ~ “Euro 2025 ~ Gold Beach, The British Normandy Memorial and Ryes British Cemetery ...”.

Arromanches was a busy little town with lots of D-Day tourists. As I wandered around the narrow streets viewing the many “WWII War Heros” banners hanging from street poles, I wondered if I was perhaps retracing the steps of Hugh ~ he was killed later in Belgium.