Canadian WW battle sites in Europe

Hello,

Currently, I am busy planning a trip to Europe this spring/summer and I would really like to go see some Canadian (as I am Canadian) battle sites in Western Europe- that is, sites that Canadians helped fight at, such as The Battle of the Somme, Verdun, Vimmy Ridge, etc. In my guidebook, (Let's Go Europe 2009, written by American backpackers on a budget), it only lists Normandie (which would be excellent to see just for the spectacularness of the white rocks, apparently, but I digress). Perhaps this is because they had to pick and choose in order to pack in as much as possible into such a compact guidebook? Anyway, are there any Canadians or others on this site who have been to Canadian battle sites from either of the World Wars, who would be able to offer some advice to me regarding the logistics of getting there, from where to day-trip from, "exact" location, etc.?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. (Hopefully this is the proper thread to be posting this in . . . would it be better to post in General Talk or North America?)

Thanks

Steph

If you have info about Normandy, then it should feature Dieppe, where Canadians were used as cannon fodder for a failed invasion attempt.

I was wondering about Arnhem, which I have visited, in the Netherlands and came across this webpage which may be of interest: History Canada Holland. I believe that it was Canadians who liberated Amsterdam.

A few years ago, I visited Juno beach (at Courselles-sur-Mer) on Remembrance Day. There's a museum there that's pretty interesting, and the beach was lovely--even for November. I stayed in Caen and took the bus up a few times. I even met a nice woman who drove me around to see St-Aubin-sur-Mer, which is where my grandfather landed.

There's also a Canadian military cemetery around there, although reaching it without a car may be a headache.

I hear, too, that the Netherlands has some great Canadian battle places to visit. Plus the War Museum in Paris has bits and pieces about Canada's involvement in WWII (although, in my opinion, they show embarrassingly little of what Canadians did).

Try looking up the Juno Beach Centre or contact the War Museum in Ottawa for a complete list of places you can visit. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help!

Thanks for your replys

Tway, I will deffinaltely contact the War Museum in Ottawa about Canadian battle sites, and I'll also google the Juno Beach Center to see what I come up with. Buzzcock, thanks for the website: I'll check it out.

Steph