Depart from your chosen UK pick-up point and travel to the port where a coach interchange will take place, you will then join your tour coach for the Channel crossing. On arrival on the Continent we continue to our hotel (passengers joining the tour in Europe will meet the group at the hotel this evening).

Today we look at the first major Allied attempt to effect a large scale landing on the French coast. In August 1942 Canadians and British commandos laid down the lessons for D-Day but at huge cost. We see the area where No. 3 Commando fought its actions on the flanks, and around Dieppe see the Canadian landing beaches, the bunkers that defeated them and look at the use of tanks. We also visit Dieppe War Cemetery.

*Breakfast Included

We move from Upper Normandy with a stop en-route at the superb Saumur Tank Museum, which is France’s national war museum of armoured vehicles, with everything from Shermans to Tiger tanks. We stay in St. Nazaire or Nantes for two nights.

*Breakfast Included

Operation Chariot was the attack on St Nazaire by Naval and Commando forces in March 1942 when HMS Campbeltown rammed the dock gates of the port used by German U Boats. The operation also resulted in the award of five Victoria Crosses. We look at the raid, see the U Boat pens* and have time to visit the U Boat museum (at own cost). In the afternoon we visit the British graves at Escoublac-la-Baule War Cemetery and the German War Cemetery at Pornichet. *Please note: A degree of walking is required when visiting the U Boat pens as this is a vast area.

*Breakfast Included

We depart St. Nazaire and visit the Grand Blockhaus Museum, a superb example of the Atantlic Wall defences in this area. At Lorient we see the huge U Boat submarine pens which sheltered the Nazi U Boat fleet which operated in this area. After lunch we travel to Caen for two nights.

*Breakfast Included

In Normandy we look at the role of American Rangers and British Commandos. At the Maisy Battery we explore a newly preserved gun battery site attacked by the US Rangers, seeing trenches, bunkers and gun pits, with guns in place. We then see Pointe du Hoc where Rangers assaulted the cliffs. In the afternoon we follow the story of British commandoes on D-Day from Sword Beach to the Eastern Flank, visiting the Piper Bill Millin memorial and the Amfreville-Breville battlefield.

*Breakfast Included

Return home.

*Breakfast Included