Sunken ships

 From St Nazaire it was off round the coast some more. Where else?

We found this chap in a CWG Cemetery that we stumbled across while Tomtom was struggling with a diversion. 

 We expected to find some commandoes, but they are somewhere else. A large number of the interred died on 17th June 1940, in the loss of the Lancastria. This was the biggest single Allied loss of life in the war, though it was covered up and few know about it. Only a fraction of the 3000-7000 dead are in this cemetery.

When we eventually found our way out of Pordic we had lunch at the beach. It so happened that we had stopped at the point opposite where Lancastria went down, and there was a tiny plaque to mark it. Underwhelming.

The beach was covered in plastic from these oyster farm floats. The farm should be made to clean them up.

These are like the Trabocchi of Abruzzo and Molise in Italy.

This is what happens when you lose your hat at sea

We stopped at a canal-side reserve for the night. It had been dug to bring ships to Nantes without the danger of striking sand bars in the Loire. It closed in 1905 to big shipping but continued on as a ship graveyard after that. The Germans sunk 6 boats in the lock and blew up some of the machinery.

This one tried to escape.

The canal meets the Loire again

Trying to get some balance

Beer and waffles. Interesting mix.

A couple hundred of theses concrete barges were built by the French because of shortages of steel between the wars. There are now just these two remaining.

We ran out of power again, so not even lights.

Raid

 Uugh. There was a boat moored close to us that had its generator running when we went to bed, and sadly it never stopped. At 1:30am we had enough so got up and drove around until we found a quieter spot. That was on a corner that got busy pretty early, but we still got several hours sleep. We moved Reggie back into the sun and out of the wind. (We made the same mistake with a ship's generator in Norway once. So never again - if there's a ship moored and running its generator don't assume it'll sail away!)

It had been a blustery night, with rain, but cleared so there was welcome sunshine in the morning for our mission for the day, though still windy. The roof-top of the sub-pens was closed because of the wind so we couldn't get up there for the view.

My focus was on tracing the famous commando raid on the docks of St Nazaire - Operation Chariot, on 28th March 1942. (Remember the aircraft crew in the cemetery near Brest? I think they were doing reconnaissance in support of this raid.)

I read a guide on line but After the Battle do an article too. (AtB Vol 59). 

Check this carefully: the longest spikes are actually on buildings half a kilometre away! You have to stand in just the right spot on top of the protected lock to have them all come together. Very cleverly done, I suspect with lasers.

What the raid was all about: The Normandy lock. (So named by the British as it was where the passenger liner Normandy was constructed.) Campbeltown was rammed into the lock gates, commandoes disembarked and spread around this area, blowing stuff up before retreating. The Campbeltown blew up around mid-day, destroying the lock gate and putting the drydock out of business until after the war. 

Looking west showing the area where the rest of the commandoes were active. Below is the old entrance where they were somewhat successful before also retreating. Just visible behind the trees is the old mole where the thrid group of commandoes came to grief: none were landed successfully. Below the big building at rear was the 'new entrance', the target of the unsuccessful landings and the final retreat route of the commandoes.

The old mole where it all went wrong. There were German troops and heavy weapons along the mole that fought off the light British boats, sinking several.

The submarine pens. Not a target of the raid, they were not at all affected by it or any of the many bombing raids before or after. 

The memorial stele to the raid. The French chap responsible for it's erection was visiting to make sure it was OK. Couldn't converse of course...

And over the massive Loire bridge...

The rock

 Our power ran out again (not enough sun, too many electrical devices and maybe a dodgy battery - I hope not the latter. 

Arzal barrier on the Vilaine. At least they painted it nicely.

We were going to take a boat ride up to La Roche-Bernarde but it was running the low-season timetable so we drove instead. It's a small town with a bit of revolutionary history, though no English so it was a bit hard to work out who was killing whom. It also had an artists quarter with some quirky works and a photographic exhibition. (Brittany by night.) 

Corona virus?

The old bridge at rear was accidentally blown up when German explosives were hit by lightning in 1944. They probably would have blown it up anyway. The Vilaine was one boundary of the the St Nazaire pocket, so it's surprising I saw no German concrete!

One of the exhibits. There's several years of exhibits here if you look closely.

A little pottery figure. Maybe he heard of the quarantine escapee?

Oo er missus. (The ladder needs fixing.)

It was still rather windy and cold so not conducive of flannery so we moved on to St Nazaire.

No shortage of concrete here...

Van in Vannes

 Today we visited Vannes which is a nice town with old town walls, a canal, etc. 

The weather has been dreadful. A storm came over in the evening and it was been very windy and wet. We ended up at the Arzal barrier on the Vilaine, a river we'd been on upstream earlier in our trip.

Current affairs

 Out camp is in a quite pleasant (and cheap) site near the sea. We walked to the ferry port but forgot the camera so the pics aren't quite the same high quality as usual 😉.

Tree hugger!

A massive chestnut tree, most impressive.

Looking over the bay.

There is a very fast current when the tide comes in/out, moving at up to 15kmh! We saw some boats riding it and I took some vids but they're too big to upload here. I'll try a link here.

The camp had a burger bar attached, so I indulged in burger and chips for dinner. Average.

Prehistory and history

 Plenty more rocks to see today. What with falling rain and falling acorns it wasn't the most restful of nights. Must remember not to park under oak trees in future...

We started by checking out a large tumulus (burial mound). The Christians usurped the hallowed ground by building a church on top of it. 

No information on this - a spring or just a well? And how old?

 

Then a look around some more of the standing stones.

These are a rare Breton breed of sheep that they are using to keep the gorse and weeds down

A dolmen, stripped of its mound

J trying to get in touch with her prehistoric ancestors

I love seeing the history in a building. Just this one door has had three incarnations, which I've marked with blue lines. A square opening, an archway and the current rectangle.

Carnac is on the edge of Quiberon Bay which I wanted to see for a number of reasons. The peninsula that bounds the west of the bay and where Quiberon itself is located on the tip was the eastern extreme of the Loraine pocket in 1944/45. Mostly at the base of the peninsula there were lots of lumps of German concrete still evident, including a large observation tower. However, the bay had other historic claims to fame: 

• In 1944 it was intended that it would home another artificial port like the ones at Arromanche and Omaha beaches, but it was never built as Lorient wasn't cleared and sufficient supply (just) was moved across the beachheads. 
• It was where many British and allied troops were evacuated in 1940
• In WW1 it was where the American expeditionary force was landed
• During the Seven Years War, in 1761 it was the scene of an important British naval victory that destroyed a major part of France's fleet, and dispersed much of the rest, arguably leading to France's loss of Canada. Belle Isle was captured and held for two years as a naval base, and used as a bargaining chip in the peace negotiations (being ultimately swapped for Menorca).

Not a great day for seeing anything! However, this is the view from the peninsula to Belle Isle. The British fleet followed the French into the bay through this strait, surprising the French and dealing to them severely.

Quiberon Bay from Keraude, half way up the peninsula. Shame about the poor visibility!