I’m supporting SASWT as they bring HOPE to young people in Southport, Formby and the surrounding areas. Today young people face many challenges; schools do a fantastic job of support, although they are overstretched.
SASWT go into schools and bring HOPE to children through presenting assemblies covering various topics such as Bullying, Getting On and Falling Out, and Achieving Goals. They offer three yearly presentations to the primary schools about Christmas and Easter and one for Year 6 children moving into high school.
The SASWT create a safe time and place in local secondary schools to explore the significant issues of life and faith. This is weekly through being a presence at lunchtimes, through the ‘Safe Space’ lunchtime drop-ins, with games, discussion, a ‘Three Minute Thought’ and online engagement.
Bringing HOPE to future generations is so important. I’m grateful that my Dad’s generation did just this. On D-Day in 1944, he landed with the 5th Batallion Kings (Liverpool Regiment) on Sword Beach in Normandy; during 1945, he became part of T-Force, and in May 1945, he celebrated VE Day in Denmark. Even today, the Danes mark the end of WW2 by placing candles in their windows, symbolising the light returning to their nation after years of darkness. So on the 21st of April, I’ll set out to cycle his journey from D-Day to VE Day, covering 871 miles from Sword Beach to Kolding in Denmark, 78 years after he did. In my small way of supporting SASWT, I’m seeking to bring HOPE to the next generation. In anticipation, thank you for your support as we bring HOPE to future generations.
Patrick’s fundraiser for The Southport and Area Schools Worker Trust
SOUTHPORT & AREA SCHOOLS WORKER TRUST IS A LOCAL CHARITY WHICH HAS SERVED CHILDREN, TEENAGERS AND THEIR SCHOOLS FOR OVER TWO DECADES WITH AN EVER-GROWING VISION TO PROVIDE SAFE SPACES TO EXPLORE THE BIG ISSUES OF LIFE AND FAITH.
We partner with schools, youth clubs, churches and other organisations to make a lasting difference in the lives of local young people – unleashing purpose, building resilience and bringing hope for the future.
CQMS Howell Evans
I set off from Ainsdale with excitement and trepidation this morning. Excitement that all the planning had come together, and a trip originally planned for 2020 (the 75th Anniversary of VE Day), but cancelled because of Covid, was now ready to start.
Trepidation though because all the bravado of speaking about the trip was easy, doing it will be totally different.
My Dad had signed up in April 1939, months ahead of war being declared but he could, unfortunately, see the direction of travel. Up until D-Day he had not left the UK and had spent most of his time near Fort William where soldiers were trained for combat.
I imagine he didn’t have much excitement as he set off for Europe, certainly he’d have had trepidation and I would think fear of what lay ahead. He would also have had a tremendous sense of service and duty, being of an age and at a time when he could make a difference for people, not only in that moment but for years ahead.
As I travelled to Wigan to catch the train onward to London I was joined by my cycling companion at Burscough. We cycled across London from Euston to Waterloo to arrive in Portsmouth in time for dinner, after which we went to the ferry terminal for the overnight crossing to Caen. Boarding was laboriously slow taking 90 minutes in the rain with a chilling breeze. We met 4 other cyclists, which is always exciting. A lady was going onward to the south of France to cycle the Canal Du Midi; she wanted some spring sunshine. One man was getting the later ferry to Cherbourg and would cycle round the coast to Saint Malo in a day, returning the following evening. Two young men had given up their jobs predicting an economic downturn and were getting the train to Southern Portugal. From there they would take the summer to cycle through Europe to the Finish boarder with Russia at its most northerly point. Makes our trip look pretty pedestrian.
The ferry crossing was calm and easy, unlike that for the folk in 1944. Most had been on their vessels since the 4th June, but because of adverse weather conditions D-Day was cancelled and reinstated for the 6th June. Even this date was not ideal for sailing and many men were desperately sea sick. Cancelling any longer would have put Operation Overlord on hold because the tide conditions and the moonlight for landing in darkness would not come around again for months
Day 2 – Saturday, 22 April 2023 – Port Jerome to Le Treport (62.4 miles – 603 meters)
Le Tréport is the location for our second nights. Two days gone which is good. Today was the highest level of ascent of the journey with four significant climbs over about 65 miles. Going up the hills you really notice the weight of the luggage on the bike. We moved on from Sword Beach upon arrival. For my Dad and his Company, they stayed on Sword Beach for a few months, securing it as a safe passage and effectively a warehouse for replenishing the needs of the army further down the line. I remember him saying the locals treated them as Lords, especially plying them with fresh food that they hadn’t seen back home in years.
Day 8 – Fri, 28 Apr 2023 – Lommel to Xanten (72.5miles 113meters)
By March 1945 my Dad’s Battalion had been absorbed into T-Force. There had been a realisation that as the war would draw to a close, the Germans had made many technical advances. There was the treat that these would be lost, destroyed, looted or captured by the Russian forces advancing from the east. There was also a fear that the scientists could be killed. T-Force was the brainchild of Ian Fleming of James Bond fame. Their aim was to secure facilities, and immediately transfer the key scientific personnel to the UK or US. Many would be in London within 24 hours of being liberated, along with key documents and equipment. All such people were processed through the “T-Force Investigators Transit Camp” in the Dutch town of Venlo. The camp was manned entirely by the 5th Kings Reinforcement Holding Unit and could hold up to 100 scientists passing through at any one time. My Dad will certainly have been in Venlo at some point, although he was part of T-Force that swept into Germany and onto Denmark. You can read more about T-Force at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Force.
Day 8 – Fri, 28 Apr 2023 – Lommel to Xanten (72.5miles 113meters)
By March 1945 my Dad’s Battalion had been absorbed into T-Force. There had been a realisation that as the war would draw to a close, the Germans had made many technical advances. There was the treat that these would be lost, destroyed, looted or captured by the Russian forces advancing from the east. There was also a fear that the scientists could be killed. T-Force was the brainchild of Ian Fleming of James Bond fame. Their aim was to secure facilities, and immediately transfer the key scientific personnel to the UK or US. Many would be in London within 24 hours of being liberated, along with key documents and equipment. All such people were processed through the “T-Force Investigators Transit Camp” in the Dutch town of Venlo. The camp was manned entirely by the 5th Kings Reinforcement Holding Unit and could hold up to 100 scientists passing through at any one time. My Dad will certainly have been in Venlo at some point, although he was part of T-Force that swept into Germany and onto Denmark. You can read more about T-Force at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Force.
Day 9 – Sat, 29 Apr 2023 – Xanten to Nordwalde (65.3miles 217 meters)
You may have seen on some of the material regarding the bike ride I wrote about helping to bring HOPE to future generations through the SASWT or as the likes of my Dad did towards the end of the war. As an aside my Dad’s name was Howell Wynne Hope Evans…what’s in a name!
Saturday was quite a tough cycle as again we were against a headwind from the east. I probably felt the lowest so far during this bike ride. In the middle of the day I had to give myself a good talking to. Your support is invaluable at such moments whether it be your amazing generosity in supporting the SASWT, and/or your prayer support and encouragement – please keep praying . God bless.
Day 9 – Sunday 30th April – Nordwalde to Sulingen (79.2 miles – 298 metres ascent)
We arrived in the city of Osnabrück around 12.30 and through most of the city followed the football fans going to the match (just for the record Osnabrück beat Zwickau 4-3 with a penalty in the 95th minute).
B Company (my fathers Company), of the 5th Battalion of the Kings Regiment had a number of facilities in Osnabrück as their target. T-Force were meant to sit just behind the assault units and enter cities immediately after the commandos had dealt with any resistance. By this stage of the war communication and instructions were pretty rapid and ever changing. As on a number of occasions T-Force reached Osnabrück before the assault units although they were unaware of this until the commandos arrived! So on 8th April T-Force had taken control of the Gestspo HQ in Osnabrück. As an industrial town, the city was home to research facilities producing equipment for submarines and aircraft. Much of the equipment and researches were sent west back down the line.
After lunch we headed on and our day took a turn for the worse. My travelling companions chain got wedged between the rear gear cassette and the wheel spokes. Two spokes close to each other immediately snapped. It took the loosening of another spoke to eventually release the chain. The wheel was slightly warped. Simon is very good technically; to get his bike road worthy took an hour, and we still had 40 miles to complete. We were unsure if his wheel would hold out and whether other spokes would be damage and would break. We quickly rerouted our journey to ensure we were on road cycle paths and not on any dirt tracks. Gently we rode the 40 miles arriving at our destination at 6.30…a very long day. I was in time to watch the remainder of the football via FaceTime via my sons phone back in Ainsdale…the wonders of modern technology! The wheel will need repairing, although tomorrow is a bank holiday which in Germany means everything is pretty much shut, very different from the UK. So our plan is to continue our journey tomorrow as planned, although rerouted to avoid tracks and keeping to the good roadside cycle paths. On Tuesday morning we will travel through Hamburg where there are plenty of cycle shops, and get the wheel mended although this may take a couple of hours. We therefore have a contingency route that will still enable us to reach our destination of Kolding on Thursday. As the Kingsmen would say “difficulty be damned”. Worse case scenario is that the wheel totally buckles before arriving in Hamburg. Watch this space.
Below is a picture from todays final destination of Sulingen.
Day 11 – Mon, 1 May 2023 – Sulingen to Buchholz (71.2 miles – 194 ascent)
We made really good time today, one of the best cycling days we’ve had given that the wind was at last behind us. Simon “two spokes short of a back wheel” became “three spokes short…”. To be honest it is amazing he has managed to ride his bike 110 miles since the mechanical mishap. So tomorrow morning we are going to be camped outside the local bike shop for when it opens at 10am. The plan is to get a new wheel, or if that isn’t possible to have the wheel repaired.
By my reckoning we have now completed 662 miles with 209 to go. Still some tough miles ahead.
On this day in 2009, in his 95th year, my Dad died peacefully. May he rest in peace.
Day 12 – Tue, 2 May 2023 – Buchholz to Ahrensbok (71.7 miles 318 meters)
Today started quite leisurely with an hour for breakfast at a good cafe before the bike shop opened at 10 in Buchholz. The workshop must have had 30 plus bikes waiting to be assembled as well as other repairs. The only mechanic said it’s a month and a half wait for repairs etc but because we were touring he’d sort Simon’s bike out first. Thirty minutes later the bike was ready with what looked like half of the spokes having been replaced. By the time we were sorted it was in reality a 11am start.
Day 13 – Wed, 3 May 2023 – Lubeck to Flensberg (73.1 miles 373 meters)
We then made a wrong turn which was to cost us dearly. It’s the first time we got the navigation wrong and we realised too late that it would add another 13 miles to our day, making it the longest ride of the tour. Their was nothing we could do but cycle on…”difficulty be damned” as the Kingsmen would say.
Talking of which, on the 5th May 1944 the Kingsmen entered Kiel with some difficulty also. There were no road signs to guide them, and the roads were pitted with mortar craters. The cobbled streets shook the men in their trucks as we can testify. They passed hundreds of emaciated slave labourers weeping as they walked.
T-Force where the first allied forces in Kiel and had moved ahead of the assault commando’s in the confusion of the hour. They secured the city and most significantly the port where two of the Germans most lethal warships were stationed and fully loaded. After some initial resistance, by 2.30pm the Germans surrendered the city to T-Force.
God willing tomorrow will see us arrive at our final destination of Kolding in Denmark. My Dad arrived there on the 7th May, so we are a few days ahead of him. This is so on the 4th May we can see the celebration of lights, which is when the blackout blinds were taken down and to this day people place lights in their windows. The liberation of Denmark was agreed on the 4th May, although was not signed until the 5th May which is the official Liberation Day, and this year coincides with a Bank Holiday called the Great Prayer Day (an accumulation of various Saints Days and Festivals). It’s the last time this particular bank holiday will happen in Denmark as the government have scrapped it in order to increase national productivity, much to the disdain of the Danish who have been protesting about it.
Day 14 – Thu, 4 May 2023 – Flensberg to Kolding (60 miles 455 meters)
At the finish line in Kolding…thank you for all your support. Can’t quite believe it!
Our journeys end was the town square of Kolding where there was a display of WW2 military vehicles. The jeep I am sat in was an American one that landed on D-Day in Normandy. There was also a display of old photos as below, showing the reclaiming of the city. This one is from 5th May with the signing of the withdrawal agreement of the Germans.
In the evening there was a service at St Nicolai Church to mark the liberation.
After the service their was a procession to the Staldgården which had been the Gestapo headquarters in WW2 and is now the Museum of Kolding. There where speeches by the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the Director and Inspector of the Museum. They keynote speech was from the Ambassador of Ukraine, Vydoinyk Mykhailo. Fortunately his speech was in English. It was very poignant. He spoke about history repeating itself in many senses, as well as the need for unity in supporting one another. He especially gave thanks for the hospital given to refugees from Ukraine in Denmark. He then spoke in Ukrainian to the Ukrainians gathered there, all women and young children who had fled the war and were living in Kolding. There must have been 30 of them. They hung onto his every word and embraced him at the end.
The evening ended with wreath laying at the memorial for the fallen in the freedom struggle 1940-45, at Fredericigade.
Day 15 – Fri, 5 May 2023 – Liberation Day & Great Prayer Day – Bank Holiday in Denmark
Today is a Bank Holiday in Denmark and, coincidentally, Liberation Day. To be honest the weather was terrible and I was absolutely shattered so we just caught the bus to Billund Airport to collect hire car (passing Kegoland en route…there wouldn’t be an airport here with out Lego!). We then relocated to the town by of Vejle, 15 miles from Kolding…and slept.On this day in 1945, the men of the 5th Kings, now in T-Force, entered and liberated Kiel as explained in my entry of the 3rd May.
Day 17 – Sun, 7 May 2023
This morning we joined the congregation of Metodistkirken i Vejle – Sct. Pouls Kirke.
Their minister is Rev Anne Klitgaard Thompson who is from Denmark and trained at Cliff College in Derbyshire, which is where she and her husband Duncan met. The congregation gave us a warm welcome and we shared in a fabulous lunch which them after the service which members of the church had kindly prepared.
During the service I was invited to share about “hope” and about the journey of my father and the cycle ride.
It was really interesting to hear from some members of the congregation who were children during the Nazi occupation. In the days and weeks leading up to liberation there was a real fear that the Russians would be the first to reach the ports of Kiel and others up the Baltic coast through into Denmark, and that Denmark would become part of the Soviet block. So much so that many Danes had begun to learn Russian. It was therefore a double delight when the British and Allied forces arrived in Denmark.