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The tour kicked off
from Kingston at 1000hrs on February 19th.
After a short bus ride to Toronto and a lengthy wait
at Pearson International Airport we were on our way.
The international flight was a first experience for
some, but for other more seasoned travellers it was
just another flight. We landed at Charles de Gaulle
Airport around 0800hrs the following day and were
immediately on our way to our first battlefield.
The first day was
tours of battlefields of the Somme, 1916. This
included stops at Courcelette, Thiepval Ridge and
Beaumont Hamel. To our surprise and chagrin, we were
greeted with a snowy blizzard at Courcelette while
trying to view the trenches that the Royal 22ième
Regiment assaulted in 1916. At Beaumont Hamel we
walked in the same trenches the Newfoundland Regiment
attacked in July 1916. We topped off the first day
with a stop at the Lochnagar Crater to see the result
of the mining and counter-mining techniques used in
trench warfare. We spent the evening enjoying the
small city of Arras.
Vimy Grange
Entrance
Day two started with
stops at both a German and a French cemetery. The
majority of the day was spent on and around Vimy
Ridge. We toured the Grange Tunnel system that ran
forward and to the rear of the Canadian sector. After
our tour of the extensive tunnel system under the
ridge, we visited the trenches and craters on the
ridge. Our look at Vimy Ridge was supposed to
conclude with a stop at the Vimy Monument, however, to
our disappointment, it was closed for extensive
repairs. Day two ended with a stop at a German
artillery battery at Farbus, a quick stop at Canal du
Nord and Bourlon Wood. That night, the cadets and
staff wandered the streets of Amiens to take in the
sights.
Tuesday was the last of our tours of First World War
battlefields. A fitting end to the first phase of our
trip was a look at the Battle of Amiens and Canada’s
Hundred Days. The day started with an emotional stop
at Crouy Sur Somme cemetery where a relative of 23241
OCdt. Craig Scott, a fourth year cadet on the trip, is
buried. Despite the snow and cooler temperatures, we
were all in agreement that a picnic lunch was a good
idea at Moreuil Wood,
where the Canadian Cavalry Brigade made a brave charge
at German machine gun posts. After a thorough
look at the Battle of Amiens, we were on our way to
spend the evening in Dieppe.
The day at Dieppe had
the most impact on the cadets and staff. Standing on
the beach, looking at the German defences and the
obstacles that faced the Canadian units, it was easy
for all of us to see why the raid went so terribly
wrong and cost so many Canadian lives. In an effort
to simulate what the Canadians experienced, Major
Boire ordered everyone down to the water line. After
a count of three, we all charged up the beach to the
seawall. The charge up the beach was tremendously
difficult, despite the fact we were armed with only
cameras and not burdened by equipment, ammunition and
weapons as the Canadian soldiers of 1942 were.
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Stops included
Puys, Pourville and Colonel Merritt’s Bridge. The day
concluded with a stop at the Dieppe Cemetery where the
Canadians who lost their lives on the beaches are
buried. It was an emotional experience for everyone
and we all left teary-eyed.
The next day was the
start of our look at D-Day and the subsequent battles.
The first stop was yet another Canadian cemetery at
Beny-sur-Mer. The main feature of our D-Day tour was
Juno Beach. We stood on the beaches in front of the
coastal towns of St. Aubin, Bernieres and Courseulles,
the same villages that the 3rd Canadian
Infantry
Division landed in
front of on 6 June, 1944. After a visit
to the Juno
Beach center, we were on our way to the American
Cemetery at Omaha Beach as well as a look at Omaha
beach itself.
Verrieres
Ridge
As the week drew to a
close, we followed the path of the Canadian breakout
from the beachhead on Juno Beach and the push inland.
We had a magnificent view of the battlefields from
atop Verrieres Ridge. From here, we moved further
inland to view the area where the effort was made by
the Canadians and Americans to close the Falaise gap.
A sidetrack of the tour was a lunch stop in Falaise
where we saw William the Conqueror’s castle and the
enormous statue erected in his honour. The day
finished with a stop at Bretteville cemetery where Dr.
Kenny, one of the professors on the tour, shared the
story of a relative that is buried there. The
battlefield portion of our visit to France ended with
a group dinner in Caen.
The final morning we
were off to an early start as we departed Caen at
0600hrs for the three-hour drive to Paris. Once
arriving in Paris we shared drinks and appetizers with
the Canadian Military Attaché at his home in downtown
Paris. Shortly after, we were free to tour Paris and
take in the sights. The majority of the group stopped
at Les Invalides to tour the military museum and see
Napoleon’s tomb. Of course, everyone made stops at
the tourist attractions including the Eiffel Tower,
Arch de Triumph, the Louvre and Cathedral Notre Dame
de Paris. That evening the cadets and professors
enjoyed different aspects of the Paris night life from
walking up and down the Champ Elysees to exploring the
Latin Quarter while others called it an early night.
The next day we fought the crowds at Charles de
Gaulle airport again and made the long journey back
across the Atlantic and then on to Kingston by bus.
All the cadets on the
trip would like to thank: the RMC Club / Foundation
for their financial support; Major Delaney, Major
Boire and Dr. Hennessy for their expertise and
knowledge that they shared with us both on and off the
battlefields. To the other RMC staff and Peter Dawe,
from the RMC Club who all provided insight and a
perspective which was much appreciated.
We learned far more than we could ever have in a
classroom, both as cadets and as junior officers.
Thanks for the memorable trip. |
