The tour started early on Wednesday 5 June 2019. And, when we say early, we do mean early. The first people got on the coach at 01.00 in the morning. Via several pick-up locations in the Netherlands and Belgium we set course for France. When just having entered France our dedicated driver got on the bus and we continued our journey towards Normandy. After some discussion between two different navigation systems we eventually picked up a decent average speed again and were on track for an on time arrival in Sannerville.
Sannerville (‘drop zone K’) was the location where a parachute drop was planned on Wednesday 5 June. This drop would be done by some of the large number of Dakota’s that would be flying from Duxford (UK) to Caen-Carpiquet (France) today. As part of the festivities to celebrate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Daks over Normandy event was organised. This would bring together dozens of Dakota’s from all over the world. After a couple of days at Duxford, the aircraft were to fly to France on 5 June, dropping hundreds of parachutists in Sannerville before landing at Caen.
After dropping part of the group in Sannerville (a non-parachute drop) the rest continued to Caen-Carpiquet airport to capture the arrival of the Dakota’s there. The weather was not very cooperative this day, neither was the French Gendarmerie at Caen (when we tried to walk somewhere where we wanted to be). Eventually it all worked out quite OK at Caen and Sannerville and the sights and sounds of 22 Dakota´s were memorable to all. On our way to the hotel in Deauville-Touques the group in Sannerville was picked up again and the long day ended with a fast food meal for the majority.
