Irish Naval Association during their visit to Normandy in May 1998

Monday 11th May 1998
50 members of the Irish Naval Association departed from Rosslare (South East Coast of Ireland)
on the Irish Ferries "Normandy" bound for Cherbourg in France which we reached 20 hrs.later.

.
....................................The US War Cemetery .................The US War Memorial at the US War Cemetery

On Day 2
Arrived in Bayeux and paid a visit to the British War Cemetery and a tour of the Battle of Normandy Museum
.
....................The British Cemetery............................................The Battle of Normandy Museum

Day 3
We drove on West to Pointe Du Hoc where German Soldiers pinned down US Soldiers on Omaha Beach. We then travelled on to the landing site code named Sword and then to the Pegasus Bridge. We visited the US War Cemetery where over 10,000 US Soldiers were laid to rest after the D-Day landings. We ended the day with a visit to the town of Caan and the Peace Museum.

.
Ken Perfect (center) survived the D-Day landings. (and pictured right) Sgt. John Steele caught on the Church Steeple.

. .
........................Pegasus Bridge.................................................The German Cemetery.
Day 4
Before heading back to Cherbourg to catch the evening Ferry for Ireland we drove to La Cambe and paid our respects at the German War Cemetery where over 21,000 German Soldiers are buried.
We then headed to the town of St. Mere Eglise where the US Paratroopers were dropped off course into the Town, as a result Sgt. John Steele got caught high up on the steeple of the local Church. He hung there for hours before he was cut down by German Soldiers and remained a prisoner until the end of the war. We understand he died in 1966.

During a visit to the Naval Base at San Diego in March 1998 we met Col.Frank DeMartini (retd.) who survived the D-Day Landings. When he heard that we would visit Normandy in May he asked that should we visit the US War Cemetery would we pray for his many friends that were lost during the Invasion. This we did on the 13th May 1998.