1046 (Fordhouses) Squadron

Tour De

France 2008

A souvenir booklet

14 cadets, 1 ex-cadet and four members of staff flew the flag for 1046 when they

embarked on a squadron camp to Normandy. 1046 Officer Commanding, Pilot

Officer Steve Baker, had worked tirelessly in planning the trip and 6 months of

dedicated effort were about to come to fruition.

The idea of squadron trip to the D-Day beaches was first mooted at the 1046 Dining

In in 2007. Mr Les Bouts, a staunch supporter of the squadron, offered to help with

financing a trip if the squadron wished. The challenge had been set and the wheels

were put in motion to make this happen. The intention was to make this a camp with

minimal cost to the cadets but to maximise the benefit to them by taking on such a

trip. No camp can take place without sufficient numbers of staff and a staff team of 4

was quickly pulled together – PO Steve Baker, Adult Flt Sgt Keith Vickers, CI Emma

Hobson and CI Gary Hazlehurst. With the staff team in place, the cadets could now be

asked whether they wanted to go to Normandy. Not surprisingly, there was a

phenomenal response with the trip potentially over subscribed twofold. At some point

in the future, it was inevitable that some cadets would miss out but a limit was set at

15 cadets as the capacity of the squadron minibus.

With this desire to undertake the trip, planning in earnest had to begin with

fundraising high on the agenda. As much as it was hoped that the majority of funds

would be found from charitable donations, it was felt that this could fall someway

short of what was required and that the cadets selected for the event should undertake

some fundraising of their own.

Of course, it is difficult to fundraise unless you have a target figure, and the proposed

trip had to be costed in detail. Different ferry crossings were explored, the costs and

locations of campsites, budgeting for food and fuel, the hiring of a van to transport the

equipment, entry fees for museums etc – all had to be taken into consideration to

enable a final budget to be set. Pilot Officer Baker burnt the midnight oil in compiling

all of the information and very soon a planned itinerary was published. As the

departure day got nearer, so expectation began to rise along with the trepidation

associated with such an exercise. Did everyone have passports? Did everyone have

their European Medical card? Had everything been properly cleared through wing,

region and HQ? Could anything stop us?

Despite a last minute hitch with a cadet inexplicably pulling out of the trip four days

before departure, it was all systems go and on Saturday August 9th

, 1046 set out on

the journey of a lifetime.

Saturday August 9th

Departure time was set for 4pm on the Saturday afternoon and the cadets and staff

arrived at the Squadron suitably laden down with equipment (Flight Sergeant Vickers

with larger and heavier bags than most). As the equipment was laid out, there were

concerns that everything would squeeze into the bag of the VW van hired for the

occasion. Thankfully, camp chairs and other oddments could fit under the seats of the

minibus so with a few strategic shoves on the rear doors of the van, we were loaded

and ready for the off. Our first destination was Poole Docks as we were booked on the

overnight Brittany Ferries crossing from Poole to Cherbourg. Traffic was reasonably

light on the motorway network allowing for two stops on the way down. The weather

forecast had been poor and the wind and rain were increasing notably the further

South we travelled. There was some concern that the ferry may be delayed but a

phone call home to check on the Internet allayed those fears. Check in etc on the ferry

was smooth and straightforward and within no time we were location our reclining

seats for the journey. Little did we know that a number of the group would not be

using their seats throughout the journey. The ferry left Poole on time making sedate

progress out into the channel. Once out at sea, people soon began to feel ill as a

moderate swell near the coast became a rough sea out in open water. 60 mph winds

have a negative impact on the smooth passage of a ferry and the boat pitched forward

and back and side to side throughout the crossing to France. A number of cadets

searched for a place to feel comfortable while others tried extremely hard to sleep

through the worst of it. This all came as a bit of a surprise to Flight Sergeant Vickers.

As soon as Keith’s head had touched the rear of his seat, he was away in the land of

nod and he somehow managed to sleep for the whole journey.

Sunday August 10th

It was a group of very tired and green looking members of 1046 squadron who

touched down on French soil in the early hours of Sunday morning. Cherbourg

greeted us with light rain but, even after the rough crossing, it felt like the start of an

adventure. With 17 people on the minibus, we were expecting a few hold ups through

passport control but the process was very efficient and friendly and we were soon co-

ordinating the journey to the campsite. It was no surprise to see the only people awake

on the minibus being the two members of staff sitting in the front and the miles passed

serenely by. Given the paucity of traffic on the French road network on a Sunday

morning, we were making excellent time so an impromptu stop at a service station

was called for. Some of the cadets stirred to use the bathroom facilities but were

immediately put off by the lack of French plumbing (thankfully facilities on the

campsite were superb otherwise we may have been faced with a few medical issues).

While the CO tested the plumbing to its full capacity, the rest of the staff enjoyed a

coffee and pastry before acquiring museum leaflets and returning to the sleeping

masses.

The campsite was situated to the South of Bayeux at Martragny. As we were to find

out later in the week, the Chateau de Martragny was used as an allied airfield

immediately after D-Day (commissioned on June 26th

) and it seemed appropriate that

the place we should rest was linked directly to the reason why we had made the trip.

On arrival at the campsite, we were allocated tent pitches which were otherwise

occupied. A further conversation later, and we were moved to pitches closer to the

facilities within the site. Pitching seven tents and one gazebo in three distinct areas

took some planning but we soon had everything planned and the 1046 machine went

into action. This burst of activity had given the cadets a new lease of life and within a

short space of time the tents were erected and 1046 had well and truly arrived. With

hedges between the pitches it enabled us to have a staff area, a food kitchen together

with Sapper Martin Lambeth and a cadet area. With everything neatly laid out, there

was time to explore the campsite before a spot of lunch and the first of our many

visits. The campsite was an absolute gem with a well-stocked shop, clean shower

blocks, bar / restaurant (not used by anyone including the staff!), a laundry, swimming

pool, tennis courts and fishing pool. All of these facilities, except the bar, were to be

sampled throughout the week.

Following a brief staff meeting, the

original itinerary was discarded

following the poor crossing and it was

decided that the first port of call should be

Arromanches and Gold Beach.

Arromanches lies within 10 miles of

Martragny and after a short journey we

pulled on the car park overlooking Gold

Beach. PO Baker, as became the norm,

negotiated a parking fee for us (it was free to park the minibus), and we disembarked

to see the D-Day beaches for the first time. By now the weather was glorious and the

hot sun was to burn those unsuspecting individuals (mainly me). In the park

overlooking Gold Beach are a number of German gun emplacements and these paint

an evocative picture of the bombardment that must have faced the Allied forces as

they landed on the beaches 64 years

ago. Posing for a group photograph by

one of these emplacements, Sergeant

Emily Nutt threw her bag into the

cavernous centre. Rather than feeding

her concern that the bag had gone

forever, Cadet Daniel Jones quickly

‘rescued’ the bag from the abyss and

nothing was hurt except a little pride.

We continued to explore the

memorials in the parkland with a

superb view out to the Mulberry

harbour, still standing despite the action and weather, before catching the free road

train into Arromanches town.

Arromanches is an attractive seaside resort

with miles of golden beaches and a

pleasant esplanade. There is no escaping

its strategic importance on June 6th

1944

and we visited the museum dedicated to

the events of D-Day, which sits in the heart

of the town. The museum itself contains a

multitude of items from that time in

addition to a well-constructed model of the

making of the mulberry harbours. There

are two films showing different aspects of

D-Day in and around Arromanches which

are well worth seeing and add to the knowledge that Arromanches was in the centre of

things on that fateful day.

Upon leaving the museum, everyone was treated to an ice cream providing it was

ordered in French. Thankfully, we didn’t stick to this otherwise only 5 of the Group

would have enjoyed the refreshment. We allowed for some free time to enable people

to explore the town and the beach. Not surprisingly, the beach was the major

attraction and, while the cadets enjoyed a frolic in the surf, the staff contemplated

Arromanches and Gold Beach on D-Day. For all of us, it was easy to visualise the

sight from the sea and the sheer scale of the job ahead. From a personal point of view,

memories of my late father-in-law, a veteran of Gold Beach, came flooding back, and

my admiration for him and his colleagues knew no bounds.

Our return to the campsite was a noisy

affair with the tiredness from the previous

night long forgotten. As a first day, this

could not have been better and everyone

felt as though we had truly arrived in

Normandy. The lack of sleep did take hold

as the evening wore on and lights out

came as a relief to everyone.

Monday August 11th

A late start was the order of the day as staff and cadets recharged their batteries from

the day before. PO Baker and FS Vickers first port of call was the Hypermarket in

Bayeux for essentials (food for the evening meal and the packed lunch). With the staff

away, it gave the cadets time to have a leisurely shower after breakfast to be fully

geared up for the day ahead. Today’s first point of call was Juno Beach and the

Canadian museum. The museum is situated in a fishing village called Courselles-sur-

mer and the harbour with fishing boats and pleasure craft is one of the first things you

see. We parked at the Juno Beach museum and had the opportunity to see D-Day from

the Canadian perspective. Here in the

UK, we often have an insular view of

war being only concerned with the

British involvement. If ever a museum

changes that perspective, then this is the

one. Full of opportunities to interact with

the exhibits, the museum tells the story

not only of the Canadian troops involved

in the landing on Juno Beach but of the

people of Canada, their way of life

leading up to the war and the decision to

join World War II. This museum is very

personal telling moving stories of individuals. It does not sensationalise the events but

tries to look at things from the individual point of view. We all felt that this had been

achieved and with the opportunity to watch films, listen to recordings and look at the

exhibits at your own pace, this museum is a real must for anyone visiting the D-Day

beaches. We moved from the museum to Juno Beach itself and, again, the imagery of

the war is there for all to see. Picture boards tell the story and help with the

visualization. Juno appears different to Gold as the cliffs are less pronounced and the

topography has changed in the proceeding years (the dunes in 1944 were much

narrower). Looking back from the beach and the tide line to the dunes, you can see the

emplacements and a vivid imagination is not required to understand the death and

destruction that emanated from those blocks of concrete.

Lunch was taken in the bus and the group

descended on Courselles-sur-mer. There had

been a fish-market taking place as we arrived

but this had been packed away with the

remnants in bins by the harbour side (as

spotted by FS Tom Kendrick when he lifted

the lid). Courselles is a typical French seaside

town and is a pleasure to walk through. At the

harbour entrance stood a carousel and, as is the

tradition among air cadets, wherever there is a

fairground, they have to take part. It felt right that we should be incorporating normal

holiday fun as well as showing the respect due to our ancestors 60 years previous.

Everyone was allocated free time in Courselles however a number of male cadets

found a shop selling fishing tackle and began stocking up for their competition against

the staff to be held on the campsite. PO Bake was somewhat taken aback to see all of

this sudden enthusiasm for fishing and, as our fishing ‘expert’, he knew that the

pressure was on.

From Courselles we took the coast

road aiming for Longues-sur-mer

and the German Battery. For the first

time on the trip, the minibus missed

the turning (I didn’t see the sign) and

once we doubled back, the van was

already on site. We fully expected

this to be a short visit – maybe 10

minutes to see what was there and

then move on. What we did not

expect to find was a row of German

encasements, some with guns still in

situ, swarming with people. This site

is free of charge and is a perfect example of how to preserve and demonstrate

historical sites. To be able to get up close and personal to such an integral part of

World War II was truly inspiring. There were no ‘Keep Off’ signs, no ‘Do not

Touch’, in fact, the opposite is true. Here you are expected to explore, feel,

experience, imagine. Down a small track heading towards the sea is a German

command post. Of all the things at Batterie de Longues, this is the one that captures

the imagination. To be able to climb in it and on it, to take the position of the German

commanders of the day and look out to sea, this is why we came on this trip.

Afterwards, we were talking about this site and we all wondered whether this would

exist in Britain. We all decided that it would be sanitised with no access into the

command post, stewards telling you what you could and couldn’t do and someone

collecting money on the gate. I can’t

help but think that the Normans have

this right and my attitude towards

them has changed immeasurably. We

had originally planned to go to another

site but Batterie de Longues had

proven to be a lengthy but worthy

stop. On the way back to the campsite,

we pulled the minibus into the car park

of the local chocolate museum and a

number of cadets took the opportunity

to visit. Purchases were few and far

between as the prices were on the high

side of extortionate.

Back to camp, and after an enjoyable evening meal the entire group headed to the

fishing pool and swimming pool. Given that most of the lads had purchased fishing

tackle, they were eager to put their new equipment to test. PO Baker and Sapper

Lambeth had brought equipment from home and PO Baker was fully expecting to put

everyone in their place. He hadn’t counted on Cadet Daniel Jones. Jonesy was the

youngest cadet on the trip and had no fishing experience. His initial attempts were

hampered by the length of line etc of the equipment he had purchased earlier in the

day. In fact, the line was such that if had hooked a fish there was absolutely no way

that he would have landed it. On seeing this, I offered my help and soon had Jonesy

set up in a way that would potentially help him catch a fish if one decided to take up

his bait. PO Baker was the first to hook into a fish but the run across the pool ended in

broken line and lost tackle. Much to the enjoyment of the cadets and the chagrin of

the CO, at least we all knew that there were fish in the pool. Back to Cadet Jones and

a stream of bubbles began to appear around his float. He was advised to keep vigilant

as he could soon be into his first fish. Slowly the float began to move and then, it had

gone. Jonesy struck, lifting his pole in the air and sending a small common carp

spiralling in the sky. A certain amount of panic set in but the fish came to hand and I

was called in to remove the hook and release the fish back into the water. It was

celebrations all round as the cadets were out fishing the staff (the staff later claimed

the fish as I had set up Jones’ tackle). It wasn’t too long before FS Kendrick hooked

and lost a fish. Lightning couldn’t strike twice could it? On this occasion it could and

Jones was into his second fish of the night. Carefully de-hooked the fish was released

and a new fisherman was born. Eventually, PO Baker managed to bring a couple of

small carp to the net but the cadets would remember this for a long time. Fishing only

finished when the light became too dim to see. To have everyone around the pool

enjoying a spot of fishing came as a complete surprise to the staff. If anything

highlights the camaraderie of 1046 as a squadron then this was it. Staff and cadets

together having an enjoyable time after a long day a long way from home.

Tuesday August 12th

The night had seen torrential rain and

there was still rain around when we

broke camp after breakfast. Today’s

initial destination was Saint Mere

Eglise and the museum of the 82nd

Airborne Division. St. Mere is about

an hour’s drive north of Martragny

heading back towards Cherbourg.

The village lay on a key crossroads

and was the first town to be liberated

on D-Day. On the night of D-Day,

American soldiers of the 82nd

Airborne parachuted into the area

west of the town. In the early hours of June 6th

, two sticks from the 1st and 2

nd

battalions were dropped in error directly over the village. Most of the paratroopers

were immediately executed however John Steele had the misfortune to catch his

parachute in the steeple of the church. He feigned death for two hours before being

taken prisoner. To this day, his audacious attempt to evade capture is commemorated

on the church where a paratrooper (plastic not real) hangs from the steeple. Inside the

church are two stained glass windows commemorating the event. The 12th

century

church certainly has an atmosphere all of its own and a number of the group remarked

on this. After numerous photo

opportunities, we descended on the

82nd

Airborne museum. This museum

is well thought out with two halls

using aircraft from the time, a Dakota

and a Waco glider, as centrepieces.

The photographs around the museum

clearly showed the devastation of the

village and highlighted the bravery

shown by the paratroopers to elicit

freedom for the villagers of St. Mére

Église.

As we left the museum, we were greeted with a terrific thunderstorm drenching those

that decided to run for the bus. Some free time was allowed in Ste Mere to allow

cadets and staff alike to buy souvenirs and to continue to soak up the atmosphere.

Our next stop was Pointe Du Hoc. At Pointe

Du Hoc, the Germans had built 6 casemates,

as part of the Atlantic Wall, to house a battery

of 155mm guns. An American Ranger

Battalion was given the task of silencing them.

The difficulty lay in the positioning. 30m tall

cliffs had to be scaled to reach the guns. Prior

to the attack (on June 4th

) the guns were

moved 1 mile inland therefore the attack on

Pointe Du Hoc was doomed to not meet its

objective. The site is one of the best managed and most evocative I have ever seen.

The sheer scale of the place hits you as you approach down a pathway. Lying in front

on both sides is a crater-pocked landscape more reminiscent of the moon than anyway

earthly. The depths of these craters are difficult to imagine so we sent Martin

Lambeth into one to be photographed. It was not difficult to visualise the events on

the days surrounding the invasion and liberation. It was also easy to marvel at the

engineering skills of the German army as the casements remain as a monument to

their longevity. As we walked around the site, a number of us began to see events in

the eyes of the young German conscripts manning the guns. They would have seen

paratroopers landing behind them, bombers attacking them from the air and naval

guns bombarding them from the sea. Whichever way they turned, things did not look

good. How would we feel in their

position? It was a question none of us

could answer but it felt right that we

should be aware of all the participants in

the battles. Pointe Du Hoc is a revelation

as far as historic sites go. It is free to

enter; there are no signs to tell you to

keep off, no vendors hawking their

wares. This is a site wonderfully

managed to allow visitors to experience

it for themselves. A lesson learned for

the UK, perhaps?

Our final visit

of the day was

to the

American

Cemetery at

St. Laurent-

sur-Mer. Made

famous by the

opening scenes

of Saving

Private Ryan,

it is a beautiful

yet haunting

place. As far

as the eye can

see stretch

lines of

headstones

each marking

the grave of an American soldier. We decided to let everyone to visit the cemetery in

their own way, in groups, in silence, on their own – the choice was personal. The

impact of the cemetery on everyone was immense. I am not ashamed to say there

were tears in my eyes as I wandered around not least at the chapel at the far end of the

site. In the domed ceiling is a painting which took my and many others breath away.

An angel is comforting a bleeding soldier while a hand reaches down from the skies

above. This image transcends religions and puts war into perspective. Our thoughts

came back to our own cadets who are now serving in the forces and have already

spent many months in the front line. The cemetery gave us time for reflection and

reflect we certainly did. As we neared the end of our visit, at 6pm, the bells within the

memorial play the National Anthem of the USA, Star Spangled Banner. Those

amongst us that hadn’t succumbed to sorrow and tears were finally smitten and it was

a quiet journey back to the campsite for everyone.

Tuesday evening promised heavy rain. After a hearty meal, the group moved on to the

fishing and swimming pools. About half of the cadets headed for the pool while the

rest continued their fishing challenge against the staff. With everyone happily

engaged, the heavens opened. Those in the swimming pool barely noticed while those

trying to fish soon became wet through. As soon as it stopped, the rain began again

with a vengeance and I left the mad fools behind eager to get into dry clothes. The

group were not to be denied and continued until it was too dark to see. Dry clothes

were called for before lights out and the final full day in Normandy.

Wednesday August 13th

Destination Bayeux and a final

day centred on one place. With

Bayeux only a few miles from

Martragny, the intention was to

visit the famous Bayeux

Tapestry before it got too busy.

We duly arrived at the museum

and only had a short queue

before we were filing past one

of the iconic artefacts of British

and French history. The

Bayeux Tapestry depicts the

events surrounding the invasion

by William Of Normandy

(William the Conqueror) of England. The story goes that Edward the Confessor had

agreed to hand the throne of England to William of Normandy, but on his deathbed he

ceded the role to Harold Godwinson. Harold had previously sworn an oath to William

that the crown would be his. William took umbrage at this and took the crown for

himself killing Harold with an arrow through the eye at the Battle of Hastings. We

were all given an audio guide to use as we slowly walked past the tapestry.

Intriguingly, as we shuffled along, the tape matched almost to the number, each scene

that we were passing. Brilliantly done. There are additional exhibits relating to the

story of William’s annexing of the British crown and these were of interest. Our

youngest cadet on the trip, Daniel Jones, found himself the centre of attention when

he acted like a statue to supposedly take a scroll from a statue in the museum. He

stood still for what seemed like an age, not blinking his eyes at all, as our party and

others took photographs of this strange young Englishman, In a lot of ways, this

highlighted the changes that we had seen in our cadets as the week progressed and it

was good to see how much they had grown as people. The shop in the museum

attracted the usual level of interest before we moved on to Bayeux Cathedral.

Bayeux Cathedral was built in the 11th

century. It was

on this site that Harold Godwinson swore the oath to

William that the crown of England would be his. Built

in the Greco-Romanesque style, the cathedral is an

awe-inspiring place and well worth a detour. Our

group spent some time exploring the building before

going our separate ways for a shopping spree around

Bayeux. There was a lovely street market taking place

with watches, scarves and berets being the main

attractions from the 1046 party. It was good for

everyone to be able to let their hair down and also for

the cadets and staff to have a break from each other.

Everyone’s confidence in speaking French had grown

and more were now comfortable ordering the Crépes

and Ice Cream in the local language.

With batteries recharged, there were two more sites to visit – the Museum of the

Battle of Normandy and the British Cemetery. Our visit to the museum coincided with

the cadets from Welsh No 2 Wing arriving and

we joined them in entering the museum after a

failed attempt by our Welsh colleagues to get

in for nothing. This was the most

disappointing museum of the whole trip.

Whether it was due to the fact that we were all

museumed out or whether it was the disjointed

entrance with the Welsh cadets is difficult to

say. The museum is comprehensive but

contains too many panels of things to read

rather than the mix of audio/visual/textual we

had seen before. This was probably our shortest visit as we made our way across the

road to the British War Cemetery.

As before, there are rows and rows

of headstones but these show signs

of archetypal Britain with the odd

rose and flowers planted around

them. After experiencing the

American Cemetery, this was no

less harrowing. Regiments that no

linger exist, people from regiments

(South Staffs) close to home,

Sailors, Army, Airmen – no aspect

of our forces is ignored, if ignored is

the right word. The American

Cemetery made me angry with the

futility of war, the British Cemetery made me very proud to be British. Yes, it is a

heart wrenching site – how many of these would have been comrades of my father-in-

law? I found the inclusion of some German graves all the more compelling as though,

this cemetery is about inclusion not exclusion. For young future members of Her

Majesty’s Forces, this is a reminder of the important role people of their age, in some

cases, have undertaken for their country. Many tears were shed, by different people

this time, as we took one last look at the lives of these brave people. The trip back to

the campsite was via the

Hypermarket and cadets started

stocking up for the journey

home. Barbecue food was

purchased for the evening –

would the weather hold?

The answer to this was a

resounding yes but was

Martragny ready for a 1046

pool party? Unfortunately, we

will never know as the

barbecue was probably the

slowest ever known to man.

With cadets and staff in their Hawaiian themed outfits

(Flight Sergeant Vickers thankfully wore something

under his grass skirt), the plan was to have a barbecue

by the pool. We soon knocked this on the head as

impractical but due to the barbecue being difficult to

get up to temperature, a number of cadets went to the

pool before it got too dark. The night was a long one

with food being ready eventually. We also saw 1046

attempt to polish off a portion of L’escargots (snails to

you and me). Sam Barker had been determined that

she would try snails some time during the week. To

that end, she tracked some down (slow process) in the

hypermarket and these were to be cooked on the

barbecue. Brave cadets lined up to taste the molluscs

and results were varied. Paolo Bardi seemed to really enjoy them but others, notably

Leanne Whittaker, found that they induced a spell of uncontrolled nausea. All credit

to Sam Barker for buying the snails – the tasting will certainly live in the memory.

Thursday August 14th

Time for home. An early start was called for with a two-hour drive to Cherbourg to

catch the 11.15 high-speed catamaran. Camp was broken quickly and effectively, as

you would expect from a group of seasoned air cadets. The van and minibus were

heavily laden as we exited Martragny and made excellent time to Cherbourg. Passport

control again proved to be of no concern as we embarked on the ferry. The parking

spaces were extremely tight and we had to clamber across other vehicles to make our

way to the seats in the lounge. The ferry left Cherbourg a little late and we were

warned that there was still a swell from the previous days gales (the ferries had all

being cancelled on the Wednesday due to the weather). The journey itself was

comfortable although some members of the party still felt ill. The staff all tucked in to

a hearty lunch although the wooden fork and spoon left a strange taste in the mouth.

The cadets all decided that a meal in MacDonalds on the services was their preference

for lunch so most of them enjoyed the crossing on deck. As we approached England,

the scenery was magnificent as we past the Isle of White and Durdle Door on the

Dorset Coast. We left Poole speedily but for the first time on the trip managed to lose

contact between minibus and van. We eventually met up again at the services where

the cadets celebrated their return to Blighty with fast food. A wet journey home saw

us arrive at the squadron in good time. A rapid emptying of the van and minibus and

everyone was ready for home.

Some weeks after the trip, I have had time to reflect on a wonderful few days. It is

very difficult to pick out one specific highlight as the whole experience was

rewarding. The company and camaraderie of the other members of staff and the

cadets was a delight and the thing that makes 1046 special. To all my fellow

travellers, thank you for making the trip so enjoyable. To other squadrons who may

want to give it a try, go for it. To the people of Normandy – merci beaucoup, a

bientot.

Gary Hazlehurst

Civilian Instructor

1046 (Fordhouses) Squadron