French Resistance in Normandy

French Resistance and SOE in Normandy Tour

The French Resistance in Normandy Tour spends three days touring across the departments of the Orne, Manche and Calvados in Normandy. It delves into all things connected with the Resistance, SOE, Special Forces, Jedburgh Teams, Gestapo and Collaboration.

Although traversing the battlefields of Normandy, one gets the feeling of a parallel secret world – full of danger and bravery. This tour hits the main towns and cities including Caen, Bayeux, St-Lô, Falaise and even Omaha Beach plus many small Norman villages – but for the most part it is the ‘out of the way’ places in the countryside where stories abound.

I have been preparing a book on The Normandy Resistance since 2017 and included in this tour are a collection of sites, personalities and accounts I’ve uncovered during these years of research.

As with all things resistance related the courage and sacrifice of the civilian population often defies belief. In Normandy the resistance networks were mainly tasked with collating and passing on intelligence rather than acts of sabotage, but in the weeks and months prior to D-Day this changed. SOE agents assisted in the organisation of parachute drops of arms, ammunition and explosives in order to attack German troops behind their lines once the invasion began by disrupting road, rail and communication infrastructure. And it wasn’t just the Germans the resistants and allied agents had to be worried about, collaborators were rife, paid informants by the Gestapo infiltrated networks and brought them down from the inside with brutal and horrendous consequences.

So follow the chronology of these events with a tour that gets right to the heart of the French Resistance in Normandy and the clandestine activities of these brave men and women.

As with some of my other tours I’m afraid I no longer put detailed itineraries on the internet because other companies and guides have been stealing them so please contact me for further details.

Gary of Pegasus Battlefield Tours went the extra mile to make our D Day and French Resistance 3 day tour truly fascinating. He shows great attention to detail and strove at all times to make the tour relevant to our individual interests. He is clearly very knowledgable about Normandy and his subject.
I’d have no hesitation in booking another WW2 tour with him.
Thanks again Gary for a wonderful experience.
Best Wishes

Margaret Owen
from Tripadvisor July 2024 (LINK)