Twice this trip was cancelled due to Covid. To finally be on my way is a thrill. Thank you to my dear husband for indulging my history/traveling fascination. And to my children, No, I am not too old to do this on my own!
Stephen Ambrose, an American historian, author, and professor of history, put this tour together. If you have watched the epic Band of Brothers series on HBO you have seen his work. If you haven't; I suggest you do.
We will follow the route of the men of the 101 First Airborne Division, EZ Company, and other brave companies as they landed in England in preparation for the D-Day invasion and their campaign across Europe to eventually defeat the Nazis. Thousands of hours of interviews with D-Day veterans went into the planning of this pilgrimage. In the summer of 1944 our soldiers were under the delusion that they were going to be home by Christmas but Hitler had one last major offensive up his sleeve.
Hitler's last stand. The Battle of the Bulge.
The tour starts in London with a visit to Churchill's War Room; the underground nerve center for Britain's war effort. The same room where the fate of the world hung in a precarious uncertainty. I wonder if you can still smell Churchill’s cigar?
A visit to the Imperial War Museum will be my second time there. Always happy to go back and see what I missed. The last time I was standing in front of an exhibit of Hugo Boss designed SS uniforms and (The Nazis were the scum of the Earth but they had some fine uniforms.) two perfect, young, blonde, blue eyed German boys were also looking at the exhibit. In a time gone by they might have worn those uniforms. They were obviously admiring the cut of the cloth and the medals and I so wished I could understand German at that moment to hear what their comments were.
Maybe they found a similar one in Grandpa’s closet??
Bletchley Park, where the Enigma Machine is housed, (watch The Imitation Game) and Southwick House, the command post of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force are next. But I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. Again, thrilled to be on my way. 😊
