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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-07-18, Page 2rage. 2 -*-luau/ Ss. s1, Wednesday,. July 18, 1979 Overload 2 returns to The group attended services at Biernieres Sur Mer and Courseulles on June 6. Mr. Greer's division landed on Juno beach - . between Courseulles and Biernieres. . On June 7 they attended •a ceremony at the city hall in Caen. Randolph Ackert, son of , Mr. and Mrs. Jack Ackert, took part in the Caen ceremony as .a member of the Canadian Forces Honour Guard. Mr. Ackert is, stationed in Lahr, Germany. • The group toured France and Holland visiting war cemeteries and memorials and doing some sightseeing. They were in Paris and at Virny Ridge and St. Julien. They were to Bernet' of Zoom, Mook, Arahem, Holten and Grosbe ek as well as Amsterdam in Holland. Mr, Greer's one regret is that he was not able to complete his ambition to take a picture of all the graves of the 38 men who died in his division. The group wasto stay in Caen about 10 miles from the beach and he had intended to rent vicar and tour the area at his. leisure. Instead;,the group was'. placed in a hotel in Rouen about 80 miles from the coast and they spent three hours each day travelling from their hotel to. the coast, and back again. Itis impossible to find the graves at random . said Mr. Greer. The pictureshe does have of the graves, were taken as he found the graves by chance. Each cemetery has a register book listing the names of those who are •buried there with directions to the . . grave. But there were long lineups to see the book and then it wasa long walk through the cemetery to find the particular grave. As a result there just wasn't time to visit each of the graves., Mr.. Greer wanted to see. He was also disappointed that he was unable to rent a car and poke around in the nooks and crannies, where he• had been during the war: He remembered a house in., Caen where he spent three s in the attic • during the war:The chimney of this house wasblown off by a projectile from an enemy tank or gun. At the time, the men in the attic did .not know what had happened and quickly left the house but could Ifind. nothing. After returning to the attic for a time, . when they went outside later that day; they noticed the stones from the chimney laying about the house: Mr. Greer is sure they passed this house on their bus as they drove through Caen, but as they were .touring by bus Mr: Greer was unable to stop. Mr.. Greer recalls .they never saw the French during their . stay in France. The French either'' moved ahead of the Germans as the allies drove them out orstayed in their Cellars. They couldn't risk aligning themsel- ves: with the allies' in case the Germans forced 'them out and .returned. Mr. Greer was'"a member of the Recogniz- ance team which went •ahead. of their troops to learn_ the, enemy positions. When:, the recognizance team went ahead into Belgium they were greeted by crowds who lined the road throwing flowers. Mr. Greer remem- bers writing home how he, felt like the queen as . she proceeds through a crowd gently waving her hand '•and smiling. • By the time they moved into :Holland, in September the people knew' the allies were ' in _Europe to stay. • Mr. Greer remembered the food shortage in Holland when he was there during the war. He found it surprising that .now they, throw out food that jsn't eaten. He can'. remember eating dehydrated potatoes be- cause the ration truck had not arrived and no matter how the cook served them, the men could not get used to them. There was always some left the men would not eat. and the children of the nearby villages would. line up outside the cook tent and eat •all the potatoes they could. Mr. Greer was invited to'a Dutch family's home for Sunday dinner and found the only course served was potatoes. They were cooked in two huge pots similar to canning pots. The family would heap large cereal bowls full with these potatoesand everyone had 'a second helping. The children ate as much as the adults. And there was no butter adds Mr. Greer. Although he was disappointed he could not tour by car,. Mr. Greer enjoyed the trip. He is keenly interested in history and, finds it. fascinating tolearn the date an old building was built., • • If he had theopportunity he would return to Europe again. lie still has the desire to visit the graves of all the men who died in his division. And he would like a chance to poke around. in places he was in during the war, nay This church in Biernieres was used as a marker for the troops when they landed along- the beaches of France during the D Day Invasion 35 years ago. HELP. The Lucknow Figure Skating C'lu, Through the Subscription Drive to The. Lucknow Sentinel EFFECTIVE FROM JULY 2 THROUGH JULY .31st, 1979 The Old Ship is a pub near Oxted where. Clarence Greer?was--first stationed . when he-- went to England during World -V/0 II. While in England hi June, Mi. Greer . and two of his comrades returned to trite, pub where : they had spent. some of their evenings While at Oxted. 11, 'This memorial at Biernieres • Sur Mer was built on the German bunker that stood there during the ' war. A service: commemorating the anniversary of thea. D'; Day invasion:. was held at this memorial on June 6." CIar ence Greer who landed . on Juno. beach near Biernieres with the 99th battery of the: 3rd Canadian division' at- tended the service. .