Canadian Airborne Tour D-Day and Beyond
This tour begins in the morning at Drop Zone V concentrating on the airborne landings of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. The tour moves on to the Château-de-Varaville, in 1944 a German occupied Battalion HQ where a brief but bloody battle was fought in the darkness during the very first hours of D-Day by Canadian Paras of ‘C’ Company. We then move into Varaville itself and to the strategically important bridges earmarked to be blown by the Canadian Airborne Engineers – the stories around the bridges are truly remarkable. We then trace the movements along the Bréville Ridge to Le Mesnil Crossroads, the scene of many skirmishes during a prolonged ‘War of Attrition’ that lasted near on a month. Lunch is taken at the Café Gondrée, the first house to be liberated on D-Day.
After lunch we look into the action at the famous Pegasus Bridge. We then visit the Pegasus Memorial Museum where one may find, among many other items of interest, a dedicated Canadian Airborne Exhibit. We end the day with an emotional visit to Ranville – firstly to an aid station where many Canadian Airborne troops were treated and then to the CWGC Military Cemetery where many of the fallen Canadian Airborne found their final resting place, including the harrowing story of the Rousseau brothers.
This tour has been designed to give a comprehensive overview of the Canadian Airborne involvement on D-Day and the period thereafter.
Tour Itinerary
Day 1
Drop Zone V
Château-de-Varaville
Varaville Bridges
Robehomme Bridge
Bures Bridges
Troarn Bridge
Bréville and The Ridge
Château-St-Côme
Le Mesnil Crossroads
1 Canadian Para Battalion HQ
*** Lunch at Café Gondrée ***
Pegasus Bridge
Pegasus Memorial Museum
Ranville Military Cemetery
This is a 1-Day Tour and as we only do a minimum of 3-Day Tours this needs to be attached to another tour. Many people add this to the Canadian War Experience 5-Day Tour or you can exchange it for one of those days. Alternatively, for example, you could add this to British or American Tours and formulate your own ideal tour – often this is added to our British Airborne Tour and where any sites are replicated others are added. Our tours are very flexible so please just ask.
If family members were involved I can also tailor the tour to focus on specific units, sites and areas of interest.
Please feel free to CONTACT me for additional information.
To view what other people have had to say about Pegasus Battlefield Tours you can go to Tripadvisor or read the other reviews on this website that date back over 15 years.
3 day tour of 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion's involvement on D-Day
Our tour with Gary, retracing my father's footsteps as a paratrooper with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, was both informative and emotional for me. The research and detail in Gary's preparation was evident and presented with respect. Gary was able to lead us right to the spot that my father landed on D-Day, which is something that I will never forget. We enjoyed it so much, we are going back next year to cover my father's time in Belgium.