Fanatic ANZAC Halfsquad Normandy AAR (It’s long)
You may also know us as the two guys in outrageous shirts in J11 holding a Gavutu-Tanambogo map.
My friend and ASL buddy Darryl Lundy was going to Europe to see a friend and wanted to know if I’d like to visit France with him for a bit. By France did he mean Normandy? Yes. Did my wife say I could go? Yes. Did I go? Hell yes! I was Darryl’s guide – having been to Normandy a few times before and knowing where to get the best souvenirs, the best books in English and which museums to avoid.
Is everything in this AAR true? Mostly, some things may have been exaggerated a little. No prizes for guessing correctly. No insult to the French or their language is intended There are bound to be some spelling mistakes – be kind.
Day 1 (8 August) – Fly to Singapore and meet up there (he’s from NZ you know….) Have a few games of a card game called Battle Lines. Watch a lot of movies on the two flights, including RAID with Danny Boon. It’s good to warm up my French language skills, though even a professor of the Sorbonne would have a hard time finding fault with my excellent French. Not quite the case with Darryl though……
Day 2 – Arrive in France – stay at a hotel in Roissy (many airport hotels are here) to recover. Played a game of MiG Alley in the foyer of the hotel before we check in, which I won.
We also had a game of PB 4 Killean’s Red from the Pegasus Bridge HASL. I had the Brits and lost my two leaders on turn 1. My win:loss rate vs Darryl is about 1:2 so it seemed that another loss was coming my way. However, my Paras fought well and CC was their friend (as it turned out to be in all the scenarios we played) and victory was mine.
Day 3 – Pick up the hire car and off to Saumur (big tank musee – that’s museum in French you know). We passed by a great many Liberty road markers near Le Mans. We took a few photos of the bigger tanks while standing next to them but agreed that the Merkava (a modern Israeli tank and one of my favourites of all time) appeared to be the widest. For the rest of the trip, the width of everything from dirt roads in bocage to McDonald drive-throughs would be assessed in relation to the width of a Merkava, which would probably just crush the obstacle anyway. We stayed in Angers which is a nice city and well worth a proper visit, as is Saumur. Though I have been to France a number of times (hence my excellent French) I had never tasted the delights of escargot (that’s French for snails you know). Lots of butter and garlic help them go down. Not bad but I’ve had some now, no need to go overboard and do it twice.
Day 4 – We left Angers and headed over to St Nazaire, location of a massive (double the size of the largest American-style shopping mall you’ve ever seen) submarine base, and subject of a LFT HASL. The concrete sub pens were very impressive, though the tour through the cold-war era French sub was less so. The sub itself was ok (and cramped as expected) but the heap of kids whose parents kept repeating touché pas (French for don’t touch) spoiled it a bit. After lunching on saucisse and frites (sausages and chips) we drove to Caen via Mortain, stopping by Hill 314 to take in the scenery. Dinner was at my favourite restaurant in France. An Italian one. They have very nice ice cream.
Day 5 – Darryl took his dive into the world of Heimdal and Histoire & Collections today. He is now addicted. After putting in an Australian flag at the Ranville cemetery for a pilot whose body was recovered in the last few years (I have written a book about his squadron – still looking for a publisher though), we make our way to Pegasus bridge. The museum is good as is the guided talk from staff and we go and have lunch at Riva Bella, just next to Ouistreham. We visit the Grand Bunker after lunch, then the gun battery at Longues-sur-Mer and I put some flags in at the B.11 airfield memorial where Australians flew Spitfires after the landings. Didn’t know that the Australians flew Spitfires in Normandy? Well that’s a good reason to buy my book available at…oh hang on – it’s not published yet.
Dinner was at an Alsatian restaurant. I’d never eaten at one before and neither had Darryl. We did recognise the menu items though and chose sausages and sauerkraut. I quite like sauerkraut, but half a kilo each was just too much. Couldn’t finish it.
That night we played PB 5 Taylor Made Defense. A SAN recalled my Marder right away but otherwise I was doing reasonably well as the Germans and got a PzIV around the back of the Brits to encircle some units. Then the MA broke, and this funny-looking PIAT thing goes flying through the air…….I lost.
Day 6 – We arrived at Arromanches at low tide in the morning and went out to walk amongst the mulberry (artificial harbour) remains and take photos. This was followed by the purchasing of books and a visit to the Bayeux Normandy museum (we didn’t see the Tapestry). We then drove through the Canadian sector towns of Rots, Authie, Anisy, Buron and one of a couple of Bretteville’s that are in Normandy. They also have more than one Tilly and more than one Amfreville. Most are sur-something, meaning they are by-something (usually a river) to distinguish them from each other. We also visited the Hillman fortified position in Colleville-Montgomery and two of my local contacts who have helped me with my book. Dinner was at an Indian restaurant. We ordered poulet vindaloo (chicken). I think the heat in vindaloo has been toned down for France, we were asked if we wanted it to be hot, we both said Oui, and were a bit disappointed. It tasted good, but it just wasn’t vindaloo as we know it. Indian restaurants in Australia make it HOT.