Year 6 Pupils visit to Normandy 17th-20th May 2024

What a privilege to accompany the Year 6 pupils on their visit to France this year! During our stay we visited The British Normandy Memorial (above). It stands just outside the village of Ver-sur-Mer overlooking Gold Beach, one of the two beaches where British forces landed on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) 80 years ago today. It records the names of all those under British command who lost their lives in Normandy between 6 June and 31 August 1944. On the columns of the memorial are the names of more than 22,000 men and women. The majority of these names are those of the British soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who lost their lives on D-Day and in the weeks that followed.

In addition to this amazing place, we also visited Honfleur on 17^th May, Bayeux to view the tapestry on 18^th May, Falaise Castle later that day, Arromanches 360 cinema plus the American Cemetery and British War Memorial on 19^th May.

In every place we visited, there were huge efforts being made to prepare for today’s 80^th Anniversary International Celebrations. We were fortunate to be part of something so special allowing us and future generations to understand the scale of what happened in Normandy in 1944, and the UK’s role in securing Europe’s freedom.