Greetings all

Have had some late nights and computers weren't always accessible so I've got some catching up to do...

Back to last Monday...after the visit to the battery we continued along the coastal road through those marvellous old villages to Juno Beach, whcih as you may know was the one of 5 landing beaches on DDay and the one that the Canadians were responsible for. Back in 2003 the Juno Beach Centre was opened. Rather than being a museum of artifacts, it is multi-media centre that tells about Canada, its history and geography (remember that most of its visitors are French and British) and it's entire involvment in World War II, not just the invasion.

After the visit to the centre we walked along the beach. 60 years later it hardly seems real that this beach had seen such a fierce battle. While I spent time with the boys, Nancy wandered the beach deep in thought and remebreance, and chose some racks and shells to bring home for our bathroom.

It was a windy day and people were flying kites and windsurfing. I read where one woman had written that she was offended that all these people were treating the beach so lightly and not recognizing the significance of it, until it dawned on her that their pleasure and freedom to do this very thing is why the invasion had to occur. Her comments rang in my head all day.

We next headed a bit more down the coast, still along Juno Beach, to the next town called Berniers Sur Mer where one of the houses that is very visible in photographs of that sector of Juno Beach ón D Day is still standing. They say it was the first house liberated in France and, in fact, it is now called The Queens Own Rifles House, and has a Canadian flag flying. Dad called this the most memorable part of the day, even the trip.

It was getting late in day, even later after we got way lost, but we managed to find the Bretteville Sur Laize Canadian War Cemetary where over 2700 Canadian soldiers are buried. Most of these soldiers were not killed on D Day. The cemetary is about 60 km's from the coast and so those soldiers/airmen placed here are those who where killed along the Canadian lines of advance. Although I had wanted to visit a Canadian cemetary in Normandy, my other purpose was to find the grave of an uncle of a colleague. O. Thomas Arbo is the uncle of my colleague Wanda, and I understand from here that he was killed on Juno Beach but several days after Day. Prior to leaving Canada I googled his name and was lead the Veteran Affairs Canada website where I learned the cemetary and his grace reference.

It was raining when we got to the cemetary later in the day and his grave was not where the reference. I was extremely disappointed. We double check our reference with a book onsite but still couldn't find it. At this point we spread out and starting searching the rows around it where I finally found it, not where VAC said it was.

After getting some photos of the headstone Nancy and I wandered up and down the rows reading their names, unit, age, date killed and any special inscriptions. Many of these inscriptions were personal in nature and obviously from wives and family. (Interesting that the Canadian cemetary headstones has these inscriptions. The massive American cemetary at Omaha Beach does not). Nancy found the grave of a young man from a BC unit and placed a Canadian pin, that she had on the lapel of her coat, on the earth in front of his headstone. A very tounching and personal moment.

We had more than an hour's drive back to our B&Bs, so after a meal in Caen we were quite late getting back to Pont L-Abbee.

Click on the photos for a larger view


O. Thomas Arbo's (Wanda's uncle) grave at Brettville Sur Laize.


Nancy and the boys on one of the bunkers at Longues Battery (note our Canada caps)