The Coast of Donegal - Part I

For a long time, I've wanted to photograph the Donegal coast, particularly since the “Wild Atlantic Way” was invented a couple of years ago. I planned to do it last January, but had to cancel when a vicious Arctic storm descended on the north west and closed many of the roads. The opportunity presented itself again in June, even if the time was limited, so I tried to cover as much as I could in less than two days.

The weather was not favourable, with cloud, wind and rain, and no chance of rising or setting sun lighting up the landmarks.

Despite it not being on the coast, I began with Barnes Gap, viewed from the lake, Lough Mourne. You have to open a gate and follow what city dwellers call a “cow path” to get to the lake. Entry is not forbidden, but there is a pumping station there, fenced in and covered in “Keep Out” signs. Closing the gate is a good idea, as there are cattle in the enclosed part.

Barnesmore Gap seen from Lough Mourne on the Ballybofey-Donegal Town road

Then I headed for the Fanad peninsula, most of which I had never seen before. I had, of course been to Ramelton and Rathmullen as well as Kerrykeel, but I had never been to Portsalon or to Fanad Head. The scenery is magnificent for much of this journey, although the roads are not exactly straight or wide. But, the traffic is light, and the drivers courteous, so it's an enjoyable experience. The beach near Portsalon, known as Ballymastocker, was rated the second most beautiful in the world a few years ago in a poll conducted by Lonely Planet, and you can see why. The only thing it lacks is the weather, and that's out of our control. On this early June evening, the entire population of the second most beautiful beach in the world consisted of one woman and one dog.

Ballymastocker Strand at Portsalon in the Fanad peninsula

Fanad Head lighthouse no longer inhabited but well preserved

On day two, I headed straight for Creeslough, and Doe Castle. I managed somehow to miss Doe Point, but I'll get it again. Once again I had to navigate very tiny roads with only one lane. If you meet a vehicle, one or other has to reverse! Having visited the old Castle and read all the warning signs, I continued on towards Dunfanaghy. I passed the signs for the Ards Priory and for Marble Hill Strand, but stopped to photograph the beautiful seafront at Portnablagh.

Doe Castle down a long narrow road

The seafront at Portnablagh

Following that, I headed for Horn Head, surely one of the most remote places in Ireland. I drove right to the end of the “road” and, to my surprise, found a few vehicles parked there, some with foreign registrations, including Dublin!

Cliffs near Horn Head

The view over Horn Head

The next stop was to be Bloody Foreland, but following the signs only worked for a while. Eventually, I came to a “Y”, neither of whose legs pointed to Bloody Foreland. I took the wrong one, so that landmark also awaits another day! I ended up in Dungloe in time for lunch.

I then retraced my route to see Burtonport and Kincasslagh, the home of Daniel O'Donnell.

Near the harbour at Burtonport

The strand at Kincasslagh

I passed by the Keadue Rovers football field where Packie Bonner was first discovered. Only the road separates it from the sea. After that I took the road to Gweedore and afterwards turned right towards Dunlewey. I wanted to see and photograph Errigal, the Poisoned Glen and the ruined church near Dunlewey. The first thing I noticed as I neared Dunlewey was a church on a hill which I stopped to inspect. It was, of course, the wrong church, quite new and in daily use. The abandoned church is right at the Poisoned Glen, but is not a burnt out ruin as is sometimes mentioned. It fell into disuse and disrepair when the Dunlewey estate disintegrated, having been built for the people of the estate in 1853. It was built of white marble, quarried less than a mile from the site. The roof was removed in 1955 due to safety concerns. The attached graveyard has just a single headstone. The church is said to be haunted, but I didn't wait long enough to find out, mainly because of a vicious shower of Donegal rain powered by a gale-force wind. But, I got a few decent photographs, even if I say so myself.

The Poisoned Glen named after the legendary exploits of the legendary Balor of the Evil Eye

The white marble abandoned Dunlewey church at Dunlewey Lake

Errigal mountain fronted by the haunted church

I then returned to Dungloe and took the road to Crohy Head, to see the head and Maghery Strand. There are actually two strands there, and I didn't know which was the real Maghery strand! It's actually the bigger strand, as you would expect, but I like the smaller one better. Crohy Head was seen from a distance, for fear of becoming part of the Atlantic Ocean due to the gale-force wind at that time. I did photograph Crohy tower, but didn't risk positioning to try getting the sea in the background.

The ruin of Crohy Tower at Crohy head

Strand near Maghery Strand near Crohy Head on the west coast of Donegal

After that, I thought that I might reach Narin/Portnoo before night, but this didn't work out partly due to taking the back road south from Dungloe, the one with the grass growing in the middle! It eventually joined the main N56, and I took the turn for Dooey Strand. Once again, this is a “long and winding” road, and narrow, and up and down hills. Eventually, I reached the strand, just as the heavens opened. (Did I mention the Donegal weather? I grew up in Donegal!). To photograph it properly requires ascending in a helicopter, or by levitation, or else moving a long way to either side of the beach. In the circumstances, none of these options was available. But, I'll return in better weather. The one consolation was a pair of portaloos installed in the parking lot. After that, there was no point in continuing. Watch this space for Part 2!

Boat at Ramelton in the late June evening

Washington DC and Civil War Battlefelds

Seven days in New York

We went to New York to inspect four grandsons and to witness the first communion of the second eldest. We encountered late spring/early summer weather, which is very pleasant in New York, a contrast to the searing heat of high summer and the numbing cold of winter. After a week there, we were to travel to Maryland by train, but a freak crash near Philadelphia closed the line, so we had to switch to Greyhound.

Patrick's Day Parade in New York, New York.........

Frederick, Maryland

In Maryland, where we stayed 16 days, we hired a car in order to visit some tourist attractions. This car turned out to be the oddest car that I have ever hired. It was in perfect running order, and had new tyres, but it also had 180,000 miles and the most rust that I have seen on a car since the 60s. The “check engine” light was also on! But, it was cheap, and did the job. It was also unlikely to seem attractive to thieves or kidnappers.

Not exactly the car we hired, but, next time .....

Day one in Washington DC

Our first trip was into Washington DC, and we brought along our trusty Sat-Nav system. But, our TomTom kept bringing us to the wrong hotel. Suddenly, I realised the reason. When it asked for the street number, it refused to accept the correct number, and insisted on a number between 1700 and 2100. So, it kept bringing us to the wrong place. Eventually, after many long loops, I solved it by going to “Points of Interest” (POIs), and finding the hotel name in the list. It clearly uses the actual co-ordinates for POIs, as it brought us there directly.

Having parked the rusty car at the hotel, the next task was to acquire Smart-Trip cards. So, we went, complete with passports, to the nearest Commuter Store, where a grumpy woman issued the $2 cards with $10 credit on each. She had checked that we were over 60 (“Seniors”) and got us to fill out long forms. These cards are worthwhile if you are a senior, as after traversing the city for three days, we still had $4 credit left on each of the cards!

The Department of Finance otherwise known as The Treasury

The White House with lawns, fountains and spectators

We decided the first afternoon to just get a feel for the overall layout, so we walked to where we had a view of the Capitol building, and then walked miles to the White House, via the Washington monument. The Capitol is covered in scaffolding, which was very disappointing. But, leaky roofs need to be repaired, even if they're on top of the American legislature building. Huge crowds throng around the White House, and the railings make it difficult to get a decent photograph. A stepladder or an orange box would be very useful here. We then walked all the way to the huge Lincoln monument. The crowds made it difficult to see the structure. From the front of the monument you can see the Washington pillar as well as its reflection in the lake. The Vietnam memorial wall is only a short distance from the Lincoln, and is a very impressive sight, with 57,000 names engraved on a black marble reflective wall. They appear to be in no particular order, which makes it difficult to find a particular name. They are actually ordered based on the date of death. It's so sad that so many young people died in an unnecessary war.

After this, we ate in a very bad restaurant in a place called Foggy Bottom, on the edge of Georgetown.

The statue of Abraham Lincoln inside the giant memorial structure

The Washington Monument seen from the Lincoln Memorial

The Vietnam Wall with 57,000 names arranged by date of death

Day two in Washington DC

Next morning, it was the turn of the legendary national cemetery, so we took the metro three stops to Arlington. The cemetery was opened as a result of the Civil War casualties, and covers some 250 hectares. There is a wide drive leading to it, covered in tour buses, unloading organised groups wearing identical t-shirts. These come in a range of gaudy colours with printed messages on the front or the back or both. One group had the initials “LH” on their backs, which appeared as “Licking High” on their chests. Presumably, Licking is the name of a place! The huge cemetery had hordes of people all over it. The biggest concentration of people was around the Kennedy grave and eternal flame. There is only one other president buried in Arlington, William Howard Taft. The other highlights here are the Iwo Jima memorial, the womens' military monument and the unknown soldier construction. The latter has a ceremonial changing of the guard every hour on the hour.

We missed this ceremony, but we were lucky enough to witness an actual military funeral, including colour party, detachment of soldiers, gun-carriage, and riderless horse with reversed stirrups. There are around 30 funerals here every day, so it's not a rare sight. Another notable feature of the cemetery is the range and quality of trees throughout the area.

General view of part of the huge Arlington cemetery

The graves of John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy and the eternal flame

The monument to women soldiers at Arlington

We came upon the National Gallery of Art by mistake while looking for the Smithsonian Gallery of American Art. In contrast to the Smithsonian, this one features not so much American art, but features the great Europeans and others. Manet, Monet, Gauguin, Degas, Picasso, Pissarro, Cézanne, Rousseau, as well as Rembrandt and Van Gogh. There is even a Vermeer, and, rarer still, a Leonardo Da Vinci (Ginevra de Benci), the only one on the American continent. This museum is well worth the trouble, although it does not quite match the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

The only Leonardo Da Vinci painting on the American continent

The Air and Space Museum has two buildings, but we settled for the original downtown building. It is full of items commemorating milestones in aviation and space travel. In the space section, the Apollo 11 Command Module was prominent, as well as the moon landing craft. It also features another Apollo command module which ferried people to and from the Skylab Workshop. The back-up Skylab Workshop is also there for visitors to walk through. There are also a number of nuclear missiles from the good old days of the cold war. In the aviation section Charles Lindberg's original Spirit of St. Louis aircraft is there in all its glory. There is also the Bell X-1 aircraft in which Chuck Yeager became the first to break the sound barrier. And the little red Lockheed aircraft flown by Amelia Earhart, which she called her “little red bus”, still looks like new. This is the craft in which she flew the Atlantic, landing in a cow field in Derry in May 1932, 15 hours after taking off from Newfoundland. The story of the Wright Brothers, who started as bicycle mechanics, is also well illustrated. One of their bicycles, which sold for $42, is on display. But, so is the fully restored aircraft in which they made their first flight using a powered engine. They used a very scientific approach to the problems of heavier-than-air flight, involving the construction of the first wind tunnels. Their system of steering is still employed in fixed wing aircraft. At the fourth attempt, this machine, with Orville Wright lying flat on the lower wing, flew around 300 yards at a height of ten feet.

The Wright Brothers' first ever flying machine

Amelia Earhart with her "Little Red Bus" which landed in county Derry

The Skylab space station - a backup copy of the station actually launched

The Museum of American History is really worth a long visit. Even a full day might not be enough to study each section in detail. We went in the afternoon and returned the following morning. It covers every aspect of history, social, political, technological. In transport, there is the caleche in which Abraham Lincoln drove to meet his death in Ford's Theatre. There are also two huge steam engines from the great days of the American railroad. The political history covers all the wars involving America, including the war of independence, the civil war, Korea, Vietnam and the two world wars. The reason given for Korea and Vietnam is the same : “to prevent communist expansionism”. And, on WW2 in Japan, there is a statement that America deliberately targeted civilians in its fire-bombing of Tokyo, an undefended wooden city, and in its use of nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I'm not sure if this matches the official American account of what took place. The histories of Korea and Vietnam are quite brief, and there is a helicopter on display which was used in Vietnam. On the civil war, I found out that the number killed was much greater than I had imagined, 620,000. It also explains how prosperous the south was before the war, and how much that prosperity depended on slavery. There were four million slaves at the start of the civil war, one eighth of the total population. The south has never recovered its economic strength.

There are exhibits tracing the history of music as well as the progress of the civil rights campaign. I also learned that Alexander Graham Bell's mother and sister were deaf, which is why he began experimenting with sound. This led to the development of the telephone.

Perhaps the most recent exhibit is a battered piece of the heating system salvaged from the 70^th floor of one of the Twin Towers.

We celebrated all this by eating in a high class Indian restaurant neat Chinatown.

Abraham Lincoln's caleche which brought him to Ford's Theatre on his last night

The controversial statue of George Washington

 The Smithsonian Museum of American History

Day Three in Washington DC

Six days after the end of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was murdered in Ford's theatre, by an actor,

John Wilkes Booth. Later on, the theatre was bought by the state, as was the boarding house across the street where Lincoln died the morning after he was shot. Both houses can be explored, but tickets have to be booked well in advance, which we had not managed to do. Eleven days after the assassination, the killer was shot dead while resisting arrest. Eventually, four co-conspirators were tried and hanged, and four more were given terms in prison. Ironically, Booth was one of Lincoln's favourite actors, and Lincoln had previously invited him to the White House.

Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was shot in 1865

Gettysburg

One of the decisive battles of the Civil War took place here in 1863. It was the biggest battle ever fought on American soil, and the bloodiest with over 50,000 either dead, injured or missing. It was the second of three incursions by the confederates into union territory, and was a decisive and critical defeat for the southerners. The Soldier's National Cemetery was opened here some months later due to the casualties in the three-day battle, and it was at the dedication ceremony for the cemetery that Lincoln made his famous speech, known as the Gettysburg Address. The speech actually took less than two minutes to deliver, but had a powerful message. The main speaker at the event, Edward Everett, spoke for nearly two hours, and wrote to Lincoln afterwards that he hoped that he had got as close to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as Lincoln had in two minutes!

 The monument to the Gettysburg Address containing the text as well as the invitation to speak

The Gettysburg cemetery for Union soldiers killed in the 3-day battle

The battle memorial at Gettysburg cemetery near where Lincoln delivered his address

Monocacy – the battle that saved Washington DC

The battle of Monocacy Junction in July 1864 was during the third and last invasion of the north by the confederates. The capital city had been left undefended and Robert E. Lee saw an opportunity to threaten or capture it. He despatched Jubal Early with 15,000 troops complete with artillery, and a hastily assembled force of 6,600 was assembled near Frederick, under Lew Wallace, to hold up his advance. Despite being outnumbered, the largely inexperienced troops fought with great bravery, and held up the advance for a whole day. This allowed time for an army to be moved to guard Washington.

The barn on the Thomas farm. The farm was central to the day-long battle

The Gambrill water-powered mill, used as a field hospital, to which the Union troops retreated

Antietam – the bloodiest day

The battle of Antietam was fought over a single day in September 1862, and was the first attempt by the confederates to invade the northern union states. The battlefield lies between the small town of Sharpsburg and Antietam creek, and is now a peaceful and beautiful place. But, it was the scene of the biggest slaughter on a single day in American history. The fighting lasted from 07:30 in the morning until around 6 pm. The Union army was led by George McLellan, who later contested the presidency with Abraham Lincoln, and Robert E. Lee led the southerners, with the Union having an advantage in numbers. One of McLellan's generals was Thomas Francis Meagher, the exiled United Irishman. At the end of the day, some 23,000 men lay dead or wounded. Some were never accounted for. The worst slaughter took place in an area known as the sunken road. What was initially a good defensive position became a death-trap when over-run by the Union army. Neither side won the battle, but a draw was like a defeat for the Confederates, who retreated in good order two days later.

The Dunker church was in an area defended and held by the Confederates at some cost

Examples of the artillery types used at Antietam

Burnside's bridge over Antietam Creek with "witness tree" still standing - taken by Union army late in the day

End of blog entry.

Spring 2015

In the unrelenting gloom of March weather consisting of grey skies and continuous drizzle, it's difficult to find anything interesting to write about in a blog.

The big excitement here has been the departmental elections, where two representatives are elected for each canton, one male and one female. These go to make up the “conseils generales” which run each departement. The big winners were the UMP and their allies, otherwise known as “Sarkozy's party”. They now control 67 departements while the PS (socialists) control only 34. Before the election, the PS had 61! This was slightly surprising, as the UMP was is disarray when Sarkozy took it over a few months ago. It was riven by internal feuds and financial scandals, although this seems normal in French politics. The other big success was the National Front (FN) of Marie Le Pen, who went from 2 representatives to 62, but didn't win control of any departement. So, a big shift to the right has taken place.

The plane crash in the Alps was also a huge story, even though the flight had no French connection other than the flight path. But, because it crashed in France, they had the first shot at determining the cause, including the right to decode the orange coloured “black box” voice recorder. The prosecutor for Marseilles made no bones about the initial findings that the co-pilot deliberately flew the aircraft into the side of a mountain while the captain was in the toilet.

On a more local level, my poor old next-door neighbour has died, or, as the French say, disappeared. She was 89 years old, and had been in and out of hospitals and nursing homes for the last couple of years. The last time she came home, it was somewhat unexpected, as we thought the end had come. But, before her return, two trucks arrived and began to unload hospital-type equipment. The driveway, for a time, looked like a scene from “Emergency Ward 10”, with hydraulic beds and gantries for drips. So, she was installed in a home hospital type of arrangement. At least four people would visit her every day, femmes de menage, hommes de menage, nurses and, sometimes, doctors. As she lived alone, a person was assigned to spend the night with her. I was sometimes blocked from driving out or in by the number of cars parked at her door. But, after several weeks, we saw a blue light flashing early one morning, and an ambulance took her away never to return.

The funeral service was somewhat bizarre. It took place in the big Catholic church, but didn't feature any priests or mass. Two men in plain clothes conducted the ceremony, read prayers, shook holy water and spouted incense. One of them read a short account her life. Only 18 people attended, not counting the four funeral directors. We were all invited to walk round the coffin and splash holy water on it. She had no children, but had a few nieces and nephews. By the time she died, most of these were no longer on speaking terms with her or with one another. One niece and one nephew attended. She was buried in the next departement, about 80km from here, where she had lived at an earlier stage of her life. Until illness and old age wore her down, she was a terrific gardener, who grew everything from lettuce to oranges. Only a couple of years ago she dug a bed for broad beans while a femme de menage tidied the house! The garden will now go to the dogs, and the fate of the house is very uncertain. I suspect that it is in the charge of the nursing home, and they will sell it to recover their fees.

The other big “drame” was the crash of the helicopters in Argentina a couple of weeks ago, killing some top sports stars. The most high-profile was the much-loved Camille Muffat, one of their best ever swimmers, olympic gold medal winner. A bronze medal boxer was also killed, as was one of their greatest sailors, Florence Arthaud, a woman in her fifties who had won the translantic single-handed race (the Route du Rhum) in 1990. She survived a car crash which left her in a coma when she was 17. It happened while filming a reality television programme along the lines of “I'm a celebrity.....”. Two helicopters flew into one another in a bizarre case of pilot error.

The spring weather has been awful, mild but wet and dreary. It's ideal for planting, but also ideal for weed growth, and weeds don't need much encouragement. I've planted quite a few items in an attempt to re-model the garden, and they're doing fine. But, the battle with the weeds is only beginning.

Another downbeat story concerns my French teacher. She's an old lady in her 80s, and had been deteriorating as time passed, getting thinner and thinner. Anyhow, a few weeks ago she was a passenger in the car with her husband, when he had some kind of a “turn' and crashed the car, activating the airbags. She was injured facially (by the airbag), and her husband also had relatively minor injuries, including broken ribs. They spent a few days in hospital, and were then shifted to a retirement home about 50km away. Unfortunately, the husband died suddenly a few days later from an embolism. However, she is recovering, and even managed to send me an email, having never previously used a computer. But, sadly, she won't return as a French teacher.

The French were very pleased that Ireland won the six nations, but were not impressed by their own team, or by the strategy and tactics of their manager Saint Andre. I can't understand how he is still in the job, given the talent at their disposal, and the dismal performances. But, they did enough to stop the English winning, - just about!    

World War Battlefield Tour Autumn 2014

This something that I should have done years ago, but it's better late than never. At last, I headed off on a tour of the northern French battlefields of both world wars. First of all, WW2.

The “tour” began at Utah beach, the westernmost of the five beaches used to land allied troops and equipment on the 6^th June 1944, otherwise known as “D-Day”. The beach itself is just a beach, but there are several monuments and other artefacts to remind the visitor of what took place and who was involved. This was one of the two American beaches. Around 200 were killed on this beach during the D-Day operation. 

Two unidentified people at Utah Beach

A few miles inland is the little town of Sainte Mere Eglise, which hosts the Airborne Museum. It features in the film “The Longest Day” where a paratrooper (John Steele) gets attached to the church steeple by his parachute. The church still sports a parachute with attached dummy hanging from the roof. Despite being surrounded by German soldiers, Steele lived to tell the tale. The paratroop drops took place inland from the beaches, a few hours before the scheduled landings, in the hope of smoothing the passage inland for the beach landings. Thousands of aircraft, including gliders, dropped tens of thousands of troops, but most of them landed in the wrong place for many reasons, including weather and pilot error.

The dummy paratrooper on the church where erroneous drops took place on D-Day

A Sherman tank outside the Airborne museum in Sainte Mere Eglise

The following morning, having first viewed the famous Bayeux Tapestry, we visited the Battle of 

Normandy museum in Bayeux. This provided a useful overview of the entire Normandy campaign, which began with D-Day, but lasted for months, and incurred huge casualties on both sides, perhaps 200,000 killed on each side.

Omaha, the other American beach came next, in the afternoon, and this was where the greatest casualties occurred, with 2000 or so killed on the first day. Having endured a sleepless night in rough seas, wet through and seasick, the soldiers then had to scramble ashore while facing German machine guns and artillery. The area overlooking the beach is a quite beautiful place, and it is hard to reconcile this to the carnage of 70 years ago. The huge American cemetery, in Colleville-sur-Mer, where nearly 10,000 are buried, is very impressive, laid out in ten lots, with an imposing monument and lake at one end. The names of 1500 missing are inscribed on the monument. The visitor centre nearby is also really informative, with films, videos and other displays describing what happened, with many accounts of individual experiences. There are also interviews with survivors and with relatives of some who fell on 6/6/44. 

The American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer

The Memorial at the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer

We also took in the Pointe du Hoc, between Omaha and Utah. This was the scene of a heroic and successful attack by the American Rangers on D-Day. In order to overcome the German strongpoint, the rangers had to scale a 100 foot cliff under fire. 225 made the foot of the cliff, but after overcoming the defenders and sustaining counter-attacks for two days, only 90 survived.

The cliff face at the Pointe du Hoc scaled by the US Rangers under fire on D-Day

Next morning was the turn of Gold Beach, the first of the British beaches, where the famous portable floating harbour was put into commission. Two harbours, nicknamed “Mulberrys” were built in sections in England, for towing to France, but only one made it across the stormy channel. Several pieces are still visible from the shore, and the museum has a working model and a person who explains how it worked. It was quite ingenious in concept and design, and was very successful in practice with thousands of tanks and other vehicles landed using the Mulberry. Over 400 men were killed on this beach during the landings. The town of Arromanches houses the landing (“debarquement”) museum and also a 360 degree cinema, which recreates the sound and fury of the landings with a presentation projected on all sides. A little train provides free travel between the two, which is just as well, as the cinema is at the top of a very steep climb! 

Gold Beach is use as a normal beach with part of a Mulberry harbour in the background

Statue overlooking Gold Beach at Arromanches-sur-Mer

We also inspected the great German gun battery at Longues-sur-Mer. On returning to our camper, we discovered a flat battery, which needed replacement, so much time was unavoidably lost to breakdown, and Juno beach had to be postponed until the following morning.

Unscathed German gun and surrounding casemate at Longues-sur-Mer

Next morning, the new camper battery worked perfectly, and off we went to explore Juno, the Canadian beach. This beach also saw significant casualties, with some 1200 brave Canadians killed during the landings. Here, we were given a tour of two bunkers, a command post and an observation station, by a bi-lingual Canadian student. Since 1944, the sands here have shifted, so the observation bunker, which was on the beach in 1944, is now behind a sand dune. It was used by the Germans to scan the sea for possible landings. The other bunker was a command centre, and much less heavily fortified. (The walls of the observation bunker are 2 metres thick!). The command post was connected by telephone to numerous other installations along and close to the sea front. Each bunker had a maze of tunnels with compartments or rooms for various purposes, including an escape tunnel. The Juno Centre museum was also interesting, detailing the Canadian involvement in WW2. They lost at least 45,000 in the war, having provided almost a million personnel, from a population of 11 millions. Many Canadians signed up due to poverty and lack of employment opportunities at home.

German bunker at Juno Beach at Courseulles-sur-Mer

Inuit (Eskimo) INUKSUK and Canadian cemetery at Juno Beach

The fifth and final beach is Sword, the second British beach, and the furthest east, and we reached there in the afternoon. Again, it looks just like any other beach, with sand and bathing huts. But, more than 600 young men died here on 6^th June 1944. The museum here is contained in an actual German bunker, several storeys high. The building is surrounded by a range of equipment, including tanks, artillery, half-tracks and an anti-aircraft gun. The most interesting exhibit is a reconstruction of an actual landing craft. This was used in the filming of the movie “Saving Private Ryan”.

Sword Beach complete with sand and Bathing huts at Ouistreham-sur-Mer

The museum in a restored multi-storey German bunker at Ouistreham-sur-Mer

Landing craft at Sword Beach museum used in filming of "Saving Private Ryan"

A short distance inland lay one of the “objectives” of the Sword landings, Pegasus bridge. The actual bridge is preserved and is on display in the grounds of a museum in Ranville. Where the story of the action is detailed. For once, the paratroopers landed precisely on target, in two gliders, 30 in each. They took the bridge, assisted to some extent by some slack German defending. (Some of them had gone off with ladies of the night). A full-size replica of a glider is also in the grounds, built to the originals plans and using the original materials. It is bigger than expected, and sitting inside it gives some impression of what it was like to arrive by glider. Thousands of these were used, but none survived intact as the French used them for firewood and other farming purposes.

The famous original Pegasus Bridge in the grounds of the museum at Ranville

The full size replica of a 30-seater Horsa glider at the museum in Ranville

The final stop on the Normandy campaign of 1944 was the Caen Memorial, situated conveniently on the Caen ring road. The forecourt is dominated by a giant statue of an American navy man kissing a woman, presumably French. This centre takes several hours to explore, with a mixture of films and exhibitions, but it's worth the effort. It explains the wider context of WW2, but also covers the Normandy situation. Parts of the shattered city of Caen are enclosed in the museum. It was here that the Germans made their final effort to halt the progress towards Paris of the allied armies. They did halt progress for some weeks, but were eventually surrounded by the allied armies. But, the city was flattened, and thousand of civilians were killed. The exhibits presented some surprising statistics, such as the claim that as many as 20,000,000 Chinese died in the second world war. It was also a surprise to discover that nearly 6,000,000 Poles died in the war. The museum also contains some surprising exhibits, including a fully intact Russian MIG-21 fighter aircraft, and sections of the Berlin Wall. There is also a nice restaurant in the building where we had a delicious lunch.

The giant couple kissing outside the Caen Memorial museum in Caen

After Caen, we headed for Beauvais via Lisieux and Rouen. Rouen is a nightmare to traverse, even with a good GPS. The turns are so complex that following the voice prompts in difficult, and we made at least one wrong choice, which cost us some time. We stopped in Lisieux to view the huge Basilica to St. Thérèse, also known as the Little Flower.

The great basilica in Lisieux dedicated to Saint Thérèse also known as the Little Flower

After Beauvais, the following day we headed north towards the WW1 battlefields, starting with Ypres in Belgium. It was called Ypres at the time of WW1, and the soldiers called it Wipers. French was then the official language of Belgium, but that changed in the 30's when Dutch was elevated alongside French. The current name for Ypres is Ieper. The In Flanders Fields museum is housed in the Cloth Hall, a magnificent building devastated by shelling during the war, but now fully restored. This is an excellent museum and covers every aspect of WW1. It took a couple of hours to peruse it and to watch the many short films available. It covers the whole western front, but particularly the Ypres “Salient”. The nearby St. Martin's church close by is also worth a look. The other great monument here is the Menin Gate, designed and built by the British, and completed in 1927. Every night since then (except during WW2) the last post is played there at 8 p.m. Thousands of people turn up for this ceremony, many arriving in coaches. The names of 54,000 missing are inscribed on the monument. The last post is sounded by four buglers from the local fire brigade. We attended on two evenings. On both occasions, colour parties made up of military veterans were in attendance, and other people, mostly military laid wreaths. On the first night, a male quartet sang three very moving laments. On the second night, a woman sang a Scottish lament. Unfortunately, this was followed by a bagpiper who performed a dire wailing match - twice. Immediately after the Last Post, on both nights, a man read from Laurence Binyon's poem “For the Fallen”. An announcement was made at the start requesting that we refrain from any applause. It is a very dignified and moving ceremony.

The restored Cloth Hall building which contains the In Flanders Fields museum

The Menin Gate in Ypres (now Ieper) at night scene of the Last Post nightly

The four fire brigade buglers playing the Last Post at the Menin Gate at 8 p.m.

The following day we visited the Passchendaele Museum, in a former chateau in the village of Zonnebeke. Passchendaele was the scene of the third battle of Ypres, where huge numbers died on both sides, many by drowning in flooded trenches. The ground was so wet that tanks had to be abandoned. The allies eventually prevailed, but at a huge cost. I suspect that it was engagements like this that led to Earl Haig being labelled “Butcher Haig”. The museum has comprehensive information on the war, especially in this sector, and features a range of reconstructed bunkers and trenches. Many of these were built as semi-permanent structures, as this war was bogged down in one place for a long time.

Reconstructed trench at the Passchendaele museum in Zonnebeke near Ieper

The Passchendaele museum in the former chateau of Zonnebeke

Close by is the Tyne Cot cemetery, which gives a better idea of what the battle cost. The cemetery rivals the great American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, with 12,000 graves and a memorial to the missing with 34,000 names. It is beautifully laid out and maintained. In this peaceful setting, it is hard to imagine the horror and violence that took place here 100 years ago. This is the biggest of the British cemeteries, but there are smaller cemeteries everywhere in this region. They are all meticulously maintained and signposted by the War Graves Commission.

Tyne Cot cemetery where British victims of the Passchendaele battle are buried

We then headed south of Ieper to see the Messines Ridge cemetery. It contains the graves of some 1500 soldiers, as well as a memorial to the 800 or so New Zealanders who died in this area. It was the New Zealand Division who recovered this ridge from the Germans in 1917, but it was lost again a few months later in the German “final push”.

Nearby is the Peace Village, a kind of hostel for youth groups to explore the area and learn its history. It started off as an Irish/British project to bring young people from both factions in Northern Ireland together, against the background of a shared experience by their ancestors in fighting side by side in WW1.

The entrance to the Messines Ridge cemetery 10km south of Ieper in Belgium

Grave stone of Irish soldier in Messines Ridge cemetery

Behind it, and round a corner is the Island of Ireland peace park, featuring a round tower, for which stones were transported from Mullingar, the remains of a former “workhouse”. It is 32 metres tall, a metre for every county in Ireland. The park includes a series of nine stone slabs featuring quotations from WW1 soldiers like Francis Ledwidge, Tom Kettle and Patrick MacGill on the horror and futility of war.

The Irish round tower at the Island of Ireland peace park at Messines in Belgium

Poem by Patrick MacGill from Glenties in Donegal who fought in WW1 and survived

The final memorial in this area was that of the Berkshire regiment at Ploegsteert (known as Plugstreet to the soldiers). The monument is on one side of the road with the cemetery “extension”, while the original cemetery is on the other side.

Memorial at Ploegsteert to the members of the Berkshire regiment who died in this area in WW1

The other two great centres of slaughter in WW1 were Verdun and the Somme. We didn't have time on this occasion to make it to Verdun, but, after Ypres, we headed south towards the Somme. We stayed in a small village near Peronne, a town which featured heavily in the fighting, and which now houses the “Historial de La Grande Guerre” in an ancient castle. The main focus of our visit here was the Thiepval Monument. This huge structure, on top of a hill, was designed by Lutyens, and features the names of 72,000 of the missing. It is visible for miles around in every direction. Nearby there is a visitor centre with all the usual information in many formats. Thiepval Ridge, because of its position, was an obvious military target, and changed hands in September 1916 after a costly struggle. The Germans had held it since 1914, and had dug impressive defences in three lines. Some estimates put British losses in this sector at 400,000.

The monument to the missing on Thiepval Ridge with 72,000 names

The French and British cemeteries attached to the Thiepval monument

Nearby is the Ulster Tower, commemorating the contribution of the 36^th Division. It is a replica of a tower near their training ground at Clandeboye. A friendly couple from Northern Ireland live in the tower nine months of the year, and run the small shop/café and information centre. There is a room inside the tower displaying tributes from various organisations and communities, including the Orange Order and the many unionist political parties in Northern Ireland, as well as town councils and others. There are some tributes from southern Ireland, and poster displays on other Irish regiments including the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

The Ulster Tower near Thiepval a replica of a tower at Clandeboye

Further on, also on the D73, is the village of Beaumont-Hamel. Near this village is a memorial park in honour of the Newfoundland Battalion. There is a small centre near the entrance, manned by friendly Canadian students. Free guided tours are provided on request. The Park is dominated by the statue of a caribou, and contains three cemeteries and several other monuments.

The caribou statue tribute to the Newfoundland battalion whose emblem was a caribou

It also features some original trenches. The cemeteries are the Y Ravine, the Hawthorn Ridge and Hunter's. The latter was actually a shell hole where those who perished were buried. The other two were named after the places where most the victims fell. Y Ravine is a geographical feature near the eponymous cemetery where serious fighting took place. Hawthorn Ridge was a German front line fortification, attacked by the British on the 1^st of July 1916. There is also a monument to the Scottish Highland Division, topped by a black-clad Scotsman in a kilt.

An actual trench from WW1 with added boardwalk in Newfoundland Park

Hunter's cemetery created from a shell hole in Newfoundland Park near Thiepval

The kilted scotsman monument to members Scottish Highland Division who died near here

The park also contains an enormous mine crater, created on July 1^st 1916 when a huge mine was exploded to frighten the Germans. It is not as big as the Loughnagar crater, which is close by, and which was created at the same time. Some claim that the explosion that created it could be heard in London.
Next time we hope to visit Verdun.