Op Normandie - Bayeux Tapestry

BAYEUX TAPESTRY

 

The Bayeux Tapestry chronicles the events leading up to the William Duke of Normandy’s invasion of England in 1066, the landing on the south coast, and the defeat of Harold of England at the Battle of Hastings.

It is believed the Tapestry was commissioned by Bishop Odo, William’s half-brother, and made in England in the 1070’s. The embroidered cloth is nearly 70 metres (230 ft) long and 50 centimetres (20 in) tall. It depicts the events in 50 scenes.

Bayeux Tapestry

It was probably displayed in churches and castles in Normandy and in England, to tell the story of how Harold betrayed William, and how the latter defeated him at the Battle of Hastings. Over the centuries it was displayed annually in the cathedral at Bayeux. It was displayed in Paris in 1804 by Napoleon, and by the occupying German forces in 1944.

It now resides in a former seminary in Bayeux.  

Bayeux Tapestry Museum

 

 

BAYEUX TAPESTRY NARRATIVE

In 1064, Harold, the brother in law of the King of England sails to Normandy, but lands in Ponthieu to it's north, and is taken prisoner by Count Guy. On hearing Harold's plight, William, Duke of Normandy demands his release. Count Guy accedes to William's demand takes Harold to William.

Harold joins William in his battle against Duke Conan of Brittany, finally defeating him at Dinan. William rewards Harold for his assistance. They both return to Bayeux where Harold swears a solem oath on holy relics to support William, before returning to England.

Harold swears an oath to William and returns to England

  On 5th January 1066, King Edward dies, and on the 6th Harold was crowned as King.

Harold is crowned as King of England

 The news of Edward's death and Harold's coronation reaches William in Normandy. He is furious, claiming that the throne of England is his, and decides to invade England. An invasion fleet is built, stores and men loaded, and the Norman army sails for England.



Norman Invasion Fleet

The south coast of England is reached on 28th September 1066, the Normans landing at Pevensey, and then set off to Hastings.

Norman Army lands in England

 At Hastings they construct a moote castle and begin strengthening their base.

William builds a castle

 On 14th October 1066, Norman cavalry sets off in search of Harold's forces, and very soon contact is made and the Battle of Hastings begins.

Battle of Hastings

Fierce fighting ensures, and it is the Norman archers and cavalry which gain the upper hand, when Harold is killed by an arrow in the eye. With Harold dead, the battle is over and William the Conqueror becomes King of England.





Harold is killed by an arrow in the eye

William the Conqueror
King of England

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Op Normandie - Bayeux

Bayeux was founded as a Gallo-Roman settlement in the 1st century BC under the name Augustodurum. The city was largely destroyed during the Viking raids of the late 9th century but was rebuilt in the early 10th century under the reign of Bothon.  The cathedral was completed by William Is half brother Odo, Earl of Kent and dedicated in 1077.

Bayeux Cathederal
Notre Damme

In 1066, William I, Duke of Normandy invaded England and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings. William became King of England  and became known as William the Conqueror. To record the events leading up to and including the Battle of Hastings a tapestry 70 meters long was woven. It was displayed in Bayeux Cathedral.

Bayeux Tapestry
Harold Crowned King of England

Bayeux Tapestry
Battle of Hastings

The city began to lose prominence when William moved his capital to Caen.

Bayeux had a turbulent history. It was burned to the ground by Henry 1 of England following the defeat of his brother in the struggle for the rule of Normandy. Under Richard the Lionheart the city prospered. During the Hundred Years War it was repeatedly pillaged until captured by Henry V in 1417. The city returned to French control in 1450 when it was recaptured by Charles VII of France following the Battle of Formigny.

Bayeux returned to prosperity and  stone buildings began to replace the old wooden structures.

Bayeux Water Mill

On the 10th May 1940 Germany invaded France, conducting two main operations. The first operation was a push through Belgium engaging allied forces who had advanced into defensive positions. The other operation being a thrust through the Ardennes, along the River Somme, then linking up with the forces attacking Belgium in order to surround allied forces.

The German Blitzkreig quickly overpowered the Allies, forcing the British Expeditionary Force to evacuate through Dunkirk. Another operation launched on 5th June 1940 outflanked the French Army on the Maginot Line. Paris fell on the 14th June.

An armistice between France and Germany was signed 22nd June 1940, and France was divided into various zones, primarily the Occupied Zone under German control, and the Free Zone where Marshall Petain formed the Vichy Government. Bayeux was in the German Military Zone.

On the 11th November 1942, Allied forces invaded Vichy French North Africa in Operation Torch prompting the Germans to occupy the Free Zone and take control.

For French people, life in German occupied France was marked by daily privation, in the curtailing of freedom and the lack of vital needs, like food. The German requisitions were the principal cause. In Normandy, many farms provided food to the occupying troops who were mostly stationed on the coast.

German Orders to the French People

German Propaganda and Orders
Battle of Normandy Museum

 Resistance to German occupation and the collaborationist Vichy regime was also organised on French territory. From the beginning of the German occupation, acts of resistance by individuals or by small groups became manifest: the laceration of public notices, graffiti...

German Orders and French Resistance Graffiti
Battle of Normandy Museum

As the war progressed, members of the Resistance organised in networks or in the maquis. The networks were clandestine organisations, which established escape routes for prisoners, arms caches, leaflet distribution, sabotage and intelligence.

The German reaction to resistance was brutal. Deportation and executions, as well as reprisals against innocent civilians were perpetrated by the occupying forces. Deportations of French Jews and other people were also a feature of Nazi rule, many thousands loosing their lives.

Bayeux Town Hall

Bayeux Town Hall
WW2 Memorial

In 1943 the Allies had began to plan the invasion of France, and Normandy was chosen as the location for Operation Overlord. In preparation for invasion the French Resistance would undertake actions to hinder the Germans. On 5th June 1944 the BBC broadcasted the message "the dice are on the mat", the code to initiate action. The Resistance cut German communications, hindered road traffic by felling trees and reversing road signs, as well as sabotaging the rail network.

On 6th June 1944, the Allied forces landed on the Normandy Beaches.

Bayeux lay in the area of GOLD BEACH, the 50th (Northumbrian) Division Area. By the evening of June 6th, the British had landed 25,000 men on Gold Beach and were in control of a quadrilateral measuring roughly ten kilometres by ten. Most of the day’s objectives has been achieved. The advanced elements of the 50th Division were within sight of the N13 trunk road and the outskirts of Bayeux on the evening of D-Day.


Men of 50th (Northumbrian) Division move inland
-Day 6th June 1944

On 6th June German forces had withdrawn towards Caen which was to become their main effort for the defence of Normandy.

Bayeux became the first French town to be liberated on 7th June 1944.



British Troops Bayeux June 1944

On the 14th June 1944, General De Gaulle, the leader of the Free French arrived in Bayeux which was to become the initial seat of government for the newly liberated French people.

General De Gaulle
Bayeux 14th June 1944

Bayeux 1944

Bayeux 2015

Bayeux has played a prominent role in two invasions that have changed the course of British history. The Norman invasion of England in 1066, and the Normandy invasion in 1944. The Bayeux memorial bears the names of more than 1,800 men of the Commonwealth land forces who died in the early stages of the campaign and have no known grave. It's inscription transcends the centuries linking the two notable invasions.

"NOS A GULIELMO VICTI VICTORIS PATRIAM LIBERAVIMUS"

“We, once conquered by William, have now set free the Conqueror’s native land.”

 



Bayeux Memorial

 

 

Op Normandie

 

Trip to Normandy to explore Bayeux and take in a few other sites.

 

 

Bayeux Cathedral - Notre Damme

Cider Farm - Ducy St Marguritte

Le Conquerant Bayeux

Woodhorn - Poppies Weeping Window

As part of the World War One Centenary Commemorations the 14-18 NOW Art Commission staged a poppy sculpture at the Tower of London.

The Weeping Window was a cascade of ceramic poppies pouring from a high window at the Tower of London.

Weeping Window Tower of London

The exhibition was temporally staged at Woodhorn Museum, Ashington.

Weeping Window Woodhorn Museum

Woodhorn Museum Winding Gear

Woodhorn Museum Miner Memorial

Coltman Trench

Another visit to the Coltman Trench at the Staffordshire Regiment Museum's reconstruction of a First War One Trench System.

Staffordshire Regiment Museum - Coltman Trench

 

The Coltman Trench



Coltman Trench - Selfie





Seaham Tommy Statue

The Seaham Tommy monument is located at Seaham Harbour.

Tommy Monument Seaham

 

Seaham Harbour

Seaham Tommy and War Memorial

Standing 9ft 5ins tall the statue was built out of special corteen steel and was installed to mark the centenary of the start of the Great War. It was only expected to remain in place for three months, but after winning the hearts of hundreds of visitors to the town, it was decided that it would be exhibited permanently.

Seaham Tommy Monument

Seaham Tommy Monument

Seaham Tommy Monument

Seaham Tommy Monument

 

HOW ADRIFT IN THE WAKE OF THIS GLORIOUS SLAUGHTER

HE’S SEEN MANY A SOUL CLEANSED IN FILTHY WATER

 

SEEN GODLESS MEN REACH OUT FOR THE BIBLE

AS LEAD TORE THE FLESH FROM BOTH FRIEND AND RIVAL

 

SOON HOME TO JOY AND CELEBRATION OF KIN

DRUNKEN SLAPS ON THE BACK OF FAVOURITE INN

 

BUT HEAVY IN HIS POCKET LIES A SMALL PIECE OF CARD

AND THE NOTE WRITTEN ON IT WILL BREAK A MOTHERS HEART

 

Hermitage Castle Scottish Borders

The Hermitage Castle is situated  in Liddlesdale in the Scottish Borders.

Hermitage Castle

 



Hermitage Castle Liddlesdale Scottish Borders



The Hermitage Castle occupied a key strategic position in the Scottish Borders and was fought over many times by the English and Scottish.

 

 

The original Castle was built on earthworks in the 1240's, this being developed 120 years later with the commencement of the present stone building.





Hermitage Castle Liddesdale Scottish Borders

In the 16th Century the Hermitage was adapted to counter the threat posed by gun powdered artillery by the construction of earthworks  (a Ravelin) in front of the castle and gun holes punched through the thick castle walls

The practice of the time was to lay siege to a castle and fire cannon at the base of the walls with the intention to weaken and then ccreate a breach. The Ravelin would help prevent this.





Hermitage Castle Liddesdale

Hermitage Castle Liddesdale selfie



Hermitage Castle Liddesdale old entrance


In 1603 when James IV of Scotland also became James I of England, the Hermitage lost it's strategic interest, it was abandoned.

Menin Gate 30,000th sounding of Last Post

On the 9th July 2016 the Last Post was sounded at the Menin Gate for the 30,000th time.

Thanks to @GeertBourgeois & @CWGC for their support for #lastpostieper app - See you tonight. http://t.co/C3QJcjBzEQ pic.twitter.com/EVz7VKYvcn

— Last Post Ass. Ieper (@lastpostieper) July 9, 2015

As part of the commemoration of the milestone the Last Post Association have developed an app, issued an brochure and published a book. The main picture for each of these features the Last Post Ceremony of Saturday 6th October 2012. On parade were the Tyneside Scottish Branch Royal Artillery Association, Tyneside Scottish Cadets from Northumbrian ACF, led by the Somme Battlefield Pipe Band.

Op Drum - Menin Gate Ceremony 

 

Last Post Association app entry screen

Last Post app 

Last Post Association Book
Somme Battlefield Pipe Band and Tyneside Scottish on parade

Last Post Association book: The Last Post, 30,000 daily tributes to the fallen of the Great War

Order the book

Last Post Association Supporting Material

Brochure Last Post Association

Exhortation & Kohima

On parade at the Menin Gate
Somme Battlefield Pipe Band and Tyneside Scottish RAA

Tyneside Scottish RAA on parade

On parade at the Menin Gate