While we believe that the Nazis were ruthless fanatics led by a fascist dictator, it is a sad fact that there are despots and their acolytes around the world today who think Hitler was a hero and who would happily massacre anyone who doesn’t agree with them. Maybe they would change their mind here in Normandy where the scars of war caused by Hitler’s murderous regime are still evident in the gravestones of soldiers, sailors and airmen. More than four thousand allied servicemen are buried here at Bayeux – many without known names…
It was a suitably sombre day when we visited the beaches where, exactly 80 years ago, British, Canadian and American troops launched the greatest seaborn armada in history to free Europe from the Nazi yoke. This is Juno Beach at Courseulles-sur-Mer where the Canadians landed on June 6th. 1944 - D-Day …
Five thousand ships landed 156,000 troops on the Normandy beaches on the first day and a total of 326,000 troops and 50,000 vehicles were ashore within a few days. We will be visiting many of the beaches and museums, but first, we visited the city of Caen, the home of another infamous ruler. This was his castle… 
In war, as in life, there are two sides to every story. So, while we believed that the owner of this castle, William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, led an armada of Normans across the English Channel and seized the English crown from King Harold following the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the French don’t see it that way. While there is no photographic evidence of William’s invasion, there is a 200-foot-long embroidered tapestry, (the Bayeux Tapestry) celebrating William’s victory. Was he an invader? Or was he invited to accede to the English crown on the death of his cousin, King Edward I, as the Tapestry suggests?
No photos of this precious artifact which was made for the consecration of Caen Cathedral in 1077 are allowed, but this is a part of the tapestry showing his ships preparing to set sail in 1066…
And here he is charging into battle against King Harold…
William the Conqueror is buried here in the Abbaye des Hommes in Caen…
And this is his tombstone…
Now the sun is shining so we are headed back to the D-Day beaches and the many museums celebrating this historic event. This is the memorial to the more than five thousand allied servicemen who died on the beaches on that fateful day in June 1944…
As is often said, “If we don’t remember history, we are in danger of repeating it.”
This featured blog entry was written by Hawkson from the blog Blissful Adventures.
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