2014 marks an important year for military anniversaries. The 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One, the 75th of the outbreak of World War Two, the 70th of the D-Day landings in Normandy and the 70th anniversary of Operation Market Garden in Holland all happen within a few months of each other starting from June.
Many people will do their bit to raise awareness and money for great military causes but two in particular are doing something just a little bit different to mark these anniversaries. Leaving from Poole on 5th of June, Glen Ryan and John Malaney are heading to France to begin a 1000km charity walk from Sainte Mere-Eglise in Normandy to Arnhem Bridge in Holland to raise awareness and money for three military charities, The Royal British Legion, Help for Heroes and a US charity the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Not only this but they will be doing the entire journey in full World War Two paratrooper uniforms.
Glen Ryan has organised everything himself and explained the reason behind the epic task ahead.
“I had the idea for a number of years and it kept evolving over time but things kept tending to get in the way so it never actually happened. I thought to myself that if it is not done this year with these huge milestone anniversaries then it probably wouldn’t happen at all. I have always been an avid supporter of military charities and am very thankful for what they have done for us over the years. We owe them all a debt that none of us can truly ever repay but what we can do is give them our thanks, our respect and if they or their families need it then the support on hand. The events of our recent past are not taught in schools as much as it should be so we must never forget what has been done and what is still being done today. The idea started as a Normandy walk for the D-day anniversary as the other anniversaries entered my head I just thought, well why don’t we just carry on all the way to Arnhem?”
“The next thing that popped into my head in a moment of clarity or is that madness as I have yet to decide was to do it in World War Two uniforms. Paratrooper uniforms were the perfect choice as the Starting point in Sainte Mere-Eglise was a US Airborne objective and our finishing point was a British Airborne objective. I emailed a company called The History Bunker and within 15 minutes had a reply saying they would gladly donate 2 uniforms so gone were the comfy trainers and hello to the steel toe-capped jump boots. I want to thank Mark at the History Bunker as he got the ball rolling in such a positive way and now I can’t imagine doing the walk without the uniforms”
“The walk is not a race so we are not trying to complete it as quickly as we can, it is about the anniversaries so we are leaving Sainte Mere-Eglise on 6th June at 01:40 which is the time the US 82nd Airborne dropped into Normandy. The church was selected as this is the famous church that John Steele got hung up on when he landed. He had to play dead while his fellow paratroopers who overshot the dropzone and landed in the town square fought and died below him. We want to arrive at Arnhem Bridge on 17th September which is the 70th anniversary of Operation Market Garden”
“The most difficult part was the route as there are so many place that need to be visited as we will be going to battlefields, beaches, memorials and paying our respects at British & Commonwealth, American and German cemeteries.”
Places we will be visiting along the way
Starting at Sainte Mere-Eglise we will then head to Utah Beach, Brecourt Manor, Sainte Marie du Mont, Carentan, La Cambe German Cemetery, Point du Hoc, Omaha Beach, American Normandy Cemetery, Bayeaux British & Commonwealth Cemetery, Longues sur Mer, Gold Beach, Juno Beach, Sword Beach, Ouistreham, Caen, Pegasus Bridge, Horsa Bridge, Merville Battery, Rouen, Dieppe, Amiens, Albert, Somme Battlefields, Thievpal Cemetery, Ypres, Flanders, Messines, Dunkirk, Menin Gate, Bergen or Zoom British & Commonwealth Cemetery, Eindhoven, Grave, Nijmegen, Son, Arnhem Bridge and Oosterbeek British Cemetery. There are many other places we will be visiting too along the way.
If you would like to keep up to date with Glen and John’s progress then visit www.wewalkforthem.com which has the route and lots of interesting information about the places they will be visiting and you can also make a donation to one, two or even all three charities they are supporting if reading this has inspired you.
You can also follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wewalkforthem (or just search, we walk for them). They are also on Twitter @glenryan17 or again just search we walk for them.
“Facebook and Twitter we will be uploading lots of photographs along the way of the places we are visiting so if you are interested in history or indeed just interested in what we are doing then please, please follow us as we would love your support, let’s make a year difference this special year. Thank you to all of you who have read this.”
This is also a personal journey for Glen too as he will be visiting his Great Grandfather’s grave in Bergen op Zoom cemetery. His Great Grandfather was killed less than three weeks before the end of World War Two. he was aboard the Goldshell which was sunk 10 miles off the Dutch coast and was the last ship sunk in the North Sea.
If this has inspired you to do your bit too and you would like to organise your own little event at home where your friends and family can sponsor you then there are sponsor forms you can print out on the website. Simply do you event and get your friends and family to donate direct online. We can have the soldiers in Europe and the people on the Home Front doing their bit too and all coming together for a great cause.
We Walk For Them, 6th june – 17th September. www.wewalkforthem.com
Glen Ryan
