Between Monday 25 – Wednesday 27 July Bob led a group of parliamentarians to Normandy where they visited the D Day beaches between Caen and Cherbourg. The tour started by first visiting Southwick House near Portsmouth which was General Eisenhower’s Forward Tactical Headquarters for the invasion and where he made the fateful decision that the invasion would start on 6June 1944.
Having crossed to Le Havre via Britany Ferries the group then visited the British and Canadian Sectors, going first to Pegasus Bridge, SWORD, JUNO and GOLD beaches before Bob laid a wreath at the British War Cemetery in Bayeux. They spent the night in the Hôtel le Lion d’Or nearby (where Churchill stayed when visiting in 1944) before the next day going on to visit the American Sector and specifically OMAHA Beach, the Pointe du Hoc, UTAH Beach, Brécourt Manor and finally Sainte Mère Église. They then returned to England on a ferry from Cherbourg.