August 10, 2013

Finest Hour 125, Winter 2004-05

Page 16

ROAD TO VICTORY

Normandy to Berlin: the 21st International Churchill Conference

2024 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 41st International Churchill Conference. London | October 2024

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TEXT BY PAUL H. COURTENAY & NIGEL KNOCKER OBE PHOTOGRAPHS BY VIRGINIA IVES, DANIEL MYERS, NIGEL KNOCKER & JUDITH KAMBESTAD

Messrs. Courtenay and Knocker are respectively vice chairman and chairman of the International Churchll Society, United Kingdom.

Since 2004 was the 60th anniversary year of D-Day, it seemed appropriate to stage this conference on a D-Day theme. Planning started over two years before the event, which was initially seen as a standard three-day gathering; but it soon became apparent that the proximity of Normandy to the chosen venue at Portsmouth, England could not be overlooked. Once this feature had been added to the schedule, it didn’t take long for someone to suggest, “Why not go the whole way to Berlin?” Thus an ambitious programme in three phases was constructed: Portsmouth, Normandy, the Rhine and beyond.

Phase I: Portsmouth, 24-26 September

Two hundred thirty-one members of The Churchill Centre and Societies and their guests assembled at the Portsmouth Marriott, where they were joined by forty-six members of the (U.S.) World War II Veterans Committee. The first morning was devoted to naval operations on D-Day, which had been masterminded by Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, commander-in-chief of the Allied Naval Expeditionary Force; some 5,000 vessels of all sizes took part. The Admiral’s two sons, David and Charles, described the mammoth operation and gave an insight into their father’s challenging task.

By a happy coincidence the Admiral’s own father, Brigadier General William Alexander Ramsay, had been Winston Churchill’s Commanding Officer in the 4th Hussars at Bangalore, India in 1896-97. (“The Colonel consults me on nearly all points,” WSC wrote to his mother.) Completing the story, Fanny Hugill, who had been a “Ramsay Wren” in 1944, described what it had been like working at such intense pressure during the build-up to D-Day and later in France.

Everyone was then ferried up the hill behind Portsmouth to visit Southwick House. This had been Admiral Ramsay’s headquarters, and also accommodated General Eisenhower’s forward headquarters when it was established in May 1944; here the Supreme Allied Commander took the decision, following a 24-hour postponement due to atrocious weather, to launch the invasion on 6 June. The original wall map, showing the shipping routes across the English Channel, was eagerly scanned, while a recording of Eisenhower’s 6 June broadcast to occupied Europe was played. Alison Gregory, another “Ramsay Wren” who had worked at Southwick House, was much in demand, explaining her role there and posing for photographs beside a picture of her working in the same room in 1944.

Back in Portsmouth Major General Milnor Roberts, an Omaha Beach survivor who heads the U.S. WW2 Veterans Committee, gave a vivid account of his experiences at this famous place; it was certainly sobering to hear first-hand recollections of what had to be endured and overcome. He received a standing ovation.

A similar reception was accorded Geoff Barkway, one of the glider pilots who were the first to land in Normandy and begin the liberation of occupied Europe at 00.16 hours on 6 June 1944, when they flew three Horsa gliders to Pegasus Bridge on the Caen Canal, and three to the bridge over the nearby River Orne. This astounding feat—flying a heavily laden aircraft several miles into hostile territory and then landing without an engine but with pinpoint accuracy, in the dark, in a very confined place he had never seen before—was described with graphic recall, and with such understated humour that the audience was not sure whether to laugh at Geoff’s amusing delivery or to weep with awe at the magnitude of the challenge which confronted him.

The men of the Glider Pilot Regiment had not only to deliver their loads of troops to their targets, but (because there was no immediate way to get home again) had then to pick up their own weapons and join in the action. Barkway was badly wounded in the ensuing battle for Pegasus Bridge, losing an arm. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for this exploit, described by the commander-in-chief, Allied Expeditionary Air Force as perhaps the finest piece of precision flying in the whole war. It was a privilege to hear such an inspiring tale from a key participant sixty years on.

At dinner in Portsmouth’s D-Day Museum, amid fine displays of D-Day material, Phil Reed described the new Churchill Museum in London.

The following day was devoted to a number of first-rate presentations on the D-Day theme. Professor David Stafford spoke on Churchill and the Special Operations Executive and later on Ten Days to D-Day, his new book which relates personal stories of a number of individuals as they lived—and died—through this period. Professor David Reynolds gave a most informative account of “Churchill and the Second Front: When? Where? How?,” setting the whole gigantic enterprise in its historical setting. His new book on the writing of Churchill’s war memoirs, In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War, is being welcomed enthusiastically.

Field Marshal Lord Bramall then related his “Reflections on Normandy.” As a young infantry officer he had taken part in the Normandy battles; much later he rose to be Chief of the General Staff and finally Chief of the Defence Staff, so he was able also to give an overview of the campaign from a wide perspective of experience. Celia Sandys finished the morning’s programme by highlighting her book on her grandfather’s inspiring leadership, We Shall Not Fail. She recalled many of Churchill’s broadcasts and other speeches with recorded extracts, bringing the story alive.

Later, everyone had a chance to visit the dockyard, to see such interesting historic items as the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s warship which foundered in 1545 and was raised from the sea in 1982; and HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar in 1805. The conference dinner took place aboard HMS Warrior, launched in 1860, the world’s first armoured battleship. Down on the huge gun-deck, at tables spaced between each of the cannons, everyone was able to absorb the atmosphere. Honorary member and Churchillian actor Robert Hardy spoke on the longbow (on which he is a leading authority), many examples of which had been recovered from the Mary Rose after more than four centuries under the silt on the sea-bed.

The final sessions in Phase I included contributions by two British veterans: Jack Cross, a Royal Marine who had commanded a sub-section of six landing craft on D-Day, and Frank Rosier, who was severely wounded near Le Havre after surviving the initial D-Day battles as an infantry soldier. Both gave moving accounts of the reality of taking part in the D-Day landings. Robin Brodhurst, author of Churchill’s Anchor (the first biography of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound), spoke on “Churchill and the Normandy Campaign”; this was a most interesting account of the Prime Minister’s personal involvement and included a number of unfamiliar photographs of his visits to France.

Before hearing Randy Barber describe next year’s conference in Quebec City, Lady Soames brought the main programme to an end with a personal account of her visit to Berlin and the Potsdam conference in July 1945, when she acted as ADC to her father. Quoting from letters sent to her mother at the time, she recaptured the atmosphere of those days and gave wonderfully drawn accounts of the leading characters in the drama, such as President Truman and Marshal Stalin, and the various social activities for which she had certain responsibilities. This was a most informative and memorable session, which made for a fitting conclusion to Phase I of the conference, and was a valuable prelude to Phase III in Berlin.

Many thanks to ICS (UK) treasurer Tony Woodhead and Dan Myers and Karen Linebarger of The Churchill Centre in Washington, for their unfailing support and assistance before the Conference and during Phase I. Thanks to John and Ruth Plumpton and Judy Kambestad, who handled the recording of the full proceedings for eventual production of a DVD and video, which will also be accessible on the Internet. This will be an invaluable record of what took place and will no doubt be eagerly acquired by those who attended as well as by those who could not be there; its main value, however, will be its availability to universities and schools as a tool for learning about the epic events of June 1944 through a permanent medium which will be unique. We appreciate John Crookshank’s contributions as public relations manager, and the advance planning assistance of Bill Ives and Dan Myers. For their help at Portsmouth we are grateful to Craig and Lorraine Horn, Virginia Ives, Judy Kambestad, Ruth Plumpton, Brian and Jean Singleton, Mary Simonds and Robert Courts. —PHC

Phase II: Normandy, 26-30 September

Ferries from Portsmouth to Normandy brought 173 members (plus the forty-six with the U.S. Veterans Committee) to a number of hotels in Bayeux and Caen, including the Churchill Hotel at Bayeux. From this point in the programme the whole party was split into five groups and toured the various sites separately, meeting up occasionally. General administration (travel, accommodation and guides) now passed to Old Country Tours, headed by Peter Lockwood, with ICS(UK), as client, taking a supervisory role. Not for us one or two sample landing places: All five beaches were visited (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword), each different and with its own problems.

The American landings at Omaha, and the scaling of the cliffs at neighbouring Pointe du Hoc, were special places of pilgrimage due to the very large loss of life there. Each group laid a wreath at the nearby U.S. cemetery with its 9,386 graves. The village of St. Mère Église was another well-known site in the U.S. sector; a dummy of the unfortunate John Steele, whose parachute caught on the church tower, can be seen dangling where he originally landed. The excellent U.S. Airborne Museum in the village was another notable port of call.

In the British sector Pegasus Bridge (where a stone marker and plaque show where Geoff Barkway landed his glider) and the Merville Battery were among the places visited. Wreaths were laid at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Bayeux with its 4,868 headstones. At Arromanches the excellent museum contains a scale model of the Mulberry harbour there; lifting one’s eyes from the model, the remains of the actual harbour can be seen through the adjacent window: a dramatic sight. The Bayeux Tapestry was not to be missed; this 230-foot long “strip cartoon” is over 920 years old and is a vivid and enchanting contemporary record of the 1066 Norman conquest of England.

The Canadian sector at Juno Beach revealed yet more interesting sites, including the places where Winston Churchill came ashore on 12th June 1944, and where Charles de Gaulle landed six days later. At the end of this phase the U.S. Veterans Committee departed, while the Canadian group, as a finale to Phase II, visited Dieppe. Mel Prideaux—who, not long after the Dieppe raid, had himself joined one of the participating units (Royal Canadian Regiment)—laid a wreath in a moving ceremony at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery there; this contains the resting-places of all but two hundred of the 907 Canadians who were killed in the ill-fated 1942 raid or who subsequently died of their wounds. The lessons learnt from this tragic event had played an important part in the outstandingly successful planning for D-Day nearly two years later.
—PHC

Phase III: The Rhine and Beyond 30 September-1 October

Leaving Normandy for the long drive to Ypres in Belgium, 123 members stopped at Ploegsteert (“Plugstreet”), where Lt. Col. Winston Churchill commanded 6th Battalion, The Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1916. There is a plaque on the wall of the town hall commemorating his period of service. Interestingly, there is a small Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery behind the church, containing just seven graves including a Captain A.P. Knocker (The Hampshire Regiment), who was killed on 8th February 1915, aged 25. This was unknown to me and I was extremely surprised to find that I had a great-great-uncle buried there. Later, a stop was made at the memorial to the US 27th and 30th Divisions which had played such an important part in the final days of the First World War.

In Ypres the party attended the daily ceremony, held each evening at the Menin Gate; the Last Post and Reveille are played in honour of 55,000 who fell nearby in 1914-18 but have no known graves, all their names being recorded on the magnificent gateway.

The following day the tour headed northeast towards Antwerp and Eindhoven, taking in the route followed by the British XXX Corps as it attempted to reach the beleaguered paratroopers at Arnhem in September 1944; thence to Venlo, in the Netherlands, near where Churchill crossed the Rhine in March 1945. The night was spent at Aachen, Germany, where Churchill received the Charlemagne Prize in 1956.

Returning to Belgium on the following day, the route went to the Ardennes, where the Battle of the Bulge occurred in December 1944; this was Hitler’s last desperate attempt to turn the war in his favour by attempting to seize Antwerp, splitting the Allied armies and gaining time for the V1 pilotless planes and V2 rockets to have their full effect on England. Some members followed the route taken by Peiper’s Panzers and the site of the Malmédy massacre at Stavelot and Trois Ponts. Bastogne, with its impressive U.S. memorial, was a further highlight of this memorable day.

After a second night spent at Aachen, it was time to take the train from Cologne to Berlin, where the immediate need was a tour of the city’s main landmarks. The next day visits were paid to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, the Soviet war memorial, the Holocaust Museum, Brandenburg Gate, the 20 July 1944 Memorial (where Colonel Count von Stauffenberg’s execution took place after the failed attempt on Hitler’s life), and the Reichstag. The sites of Hitler’s and Goebbels’ bunkers were passed on the way.

The final full day saw a visit to the daunting Sachsenhausen concentration camp, preserved as a reminder of the Nazi regime; thence to the Cecilienhof at Potsdam, where the 1945 conference was held. Later, visits were paid to the three houses at Babelsberg where Truman, Churchill and Stalin stayed during the conference. Returning to the city, a stop was made at the 1936 Olympic stadium, site of the notorious games and where Hitler made a number of important speeches.

On 6 October the conference finally dispersed, while some members remained in Berlin, took cruises on the Elbe or went elsewhere in Europe. It had been a most memorable conference, some of it moving and inspirational, and some it humbling in many respects. Above all, we were able to trace—from Portsmouth’s Southwick House to Berlin—the very considerable influence of Winston Churchill on the closing stages of the war in Europe and the defeat of a tyranny such as the world had not seen before.
—NBK

CONFERENCE BENEFACTORS

Paul & Ellen Alkon • Randy & Solveig Barber
David & Diane Boler • Gary & Beverly Bonine
Nancy H. Canary • Marcus & Molly Frost
Craig & Lorraine Horn • J. Willis Johnson III
Raymond Lavine • Michael & Carol McMenamin
John & Margaret Marshman • John & Ruth Plumpton
Melville J. Prideaux • Charles H. Rowley
Geoffrey H. Sharp • Richard & Jenny Streiff
William Sullivan • Peter Suzuki • Raymond Wiesner