Members of Fairford Classic Car Club enjoyed a poignant tour of the Normandy Coast where they discovered links to Gloucestershire.

Twenty three members of the club, with their cars enjoyed the annual week away in June.

Their hotel was based in Crépon, 4 km south of the D-Day landing beaches.

Trips were arranged to various WW2 locations including Arromanches, Longue-sur-Mer Battery, Merville Battery and various Cemeteries.

They also visited Pegasus Bridge which was where a link to Fairford and Down Ampney was discovered.

The Bridge has a particular place in history with Gloucestershire as Horsa gliders, records at the Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum, show they took off from both Fairford and Down Ampney airfields.

Other parts of the trip included a visit to the Calvados distillery which included the tasting went down well along with a typical French lunch.

There were also visits to Honfleur, hot air balloon museum, a French Chateau and the BBC Tower at Creully.

The final day, in the sweltering heat was a visit to Bayeux and its Saturday market and Cathedral.

Crépon was a key village to capture en route to Creully. A memorial to the Green Howards is in Crépon together with a statue of Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis, who had the distinction of receiving the only Victoria Cross awarded on D-Day. Interestingly the memorial was unveiled by the King of Norway in 1996.

Crépon village church contains the graves of two British airmen killed in 10th June 1944. Members of the club laid a poppy wreath at the graves, with suitable words read by Keith Handley. Wooden remembrance crosses were also placed by members at locations of their choice.

Walking around the various cemeteries reflected just how many men from all nationalities lost their lives. For some members, it was difficult to hold back the tears when seeing their ages.

Apart from the Monday evening when there was heavy rain, thunder and lightning, the sun shone the rest of the week and those who had soft tops on their cars endured the heat from the sun whereas those in modern cars used the air conditioning to keep cool.

For more information, visit fairfordclassiccarclub.org.uk.