HQ Company Tour

10/04/2026

Mont-Saint-Michel training day with HQ Company Tour Team for a new season !

21/11/2024

Today, winter has arrived in Bayeux! ❄️

If you want to visit Normandy and the D-Day beaches with less crowd, there is no better time than now! Bayeux remains very lively in December 🙂

From November 29 are starting the Christmas illuminations 🎅🏻 All the streets of Bayeux will be lit with enchanting Christmas lights. Then, from December 13, you will find a Christmas market where you can try typical Norman winter dishes, mulled wine and gifts for all. Finally, from December 18, you will be able to admire the wonderful sound & light show "Le Merveilleux Voyage" inside the cathedral every night! ✨

You can find more information and book your tour here: www.hqcompanytour.com

06/06/2024

All of Normandy is celebrating the 80th D-Day anniversary and its heroes 🇺🇲 🇨🇦 🇬🇧

31/05/2024

Today, Pierre and Mickaël are on tour with the family of Pvt. Ralph Burch, soldier of the 175th Regiment, 29th Division. Ralph landed on Omaha Beach on D+1 and was captured one week later in Montmartin-en-Graignes. He was then kept prisoner with 800 other soldiers in an old monastery later called "Starvation Hill" near Saint-Lô, used as a POW camp and guarded by an SS Unit. He stayed there one month before being transferred to another one in Bavaria, Germany where he stayed for one year until he was liberated by the US Army.

08/01/2024

The HQ Company team wishes you all a happy new year 2024! 🥳

11/06/2023

Today marks the sad anniversary of the death in Normandy of the Canadian brothers, Thomas and Albert Westlake, killed on June 11, 1944, four days after their third brother, George.

If you visit the D-Day landing beaches of Normandy, you might go to Beny-sur-Mer. It’s a small village behind the coast, not too far from Juno Beach, the sector where the Canadian soldiers of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division had to land. One of the main objectives was to reach the airport of Carpiquet, (northwest of the large city of Caen). On their way, the Canadians fought German divisions and among them, one of the nastiest, the 12 SS Panzer Division led by Kurt Meyer. They are specially known for their brutality and fanatism, many Canadian soldiers who had been made prisoners have been executed by these young German soldiers.

The village of Beny-sur-Mer is special because there is a Canadian military cemetery where there are 2048 burials from WW2. The site is maintained by the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission). The soldiers buried here died fighting during the first weeks of the Normandy battle. Among them, three brothers from Toronto who gave their lives to free France and Europe.

Private George Westlake who fought with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders died June 7th 1944 during the battle for Authie, he was 23. Its brigade was in position in that village but in a precarious position. Due to the haste of the advance, their left flank was unprotected. The Germans counterattacked on that open flank, surrounded and overwhelmed the Canadians with the tanks and troops of the 12th SS (Hi**er Youth) Panzer Division. George Westlake died in an orchard after he fought his first battle. For this fight, the number of casualties is very high: 84 killed, 158 wounded, and 128 lost as prisoners of war.

His two brothers, Thomas and Albert, died June 11th 1944, in the town of Mesnil-Patry serving in the Queen’s own Rifles Regiment, the dead bodies were found in each other’s arms. The attack on the village was made without previous reconnaissance or artillery preparation even if there were numerous enemies. The Canadians tanks attacked through open fields but were easy targets and they suffered a lot of casualties for that reason. An eyewitness said that “Tommy and Ab” were sharing a gun and fought together until the end after “doing a damn good job”. The regiment suffered 96 casualties that day, 55 of them fatal.

Today, their stories are well-known thanks to the work of their nephew, Gary Westlake whose mission was to work for Memory. A park in the city of Toronto is named after them and their sacrifice will be remembered. An association named “The Westlake Brother’s Souvenir” was created in 2006 in Normandy thanks to a group of high school teachers and students and many ceremonies were organized by them to thanks our liberators.

07/06/2023

07/06/2023

Today, on June 7, for the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Bayeux, we want to share the story of one local man : Lt. Col. Albert P. Dewey.

Born in 1916, in Chicago, from Charles Dewey, American banker and senator, and Suzette de Marigny Hall, whose family originates from the area around Bayeux. In 1926, his mother went to the Bessin looking for traces of her ancestor. She fell in love with the old XIIth century abbey of Longues-sur-Mer, which was falling into ruins. With her husband, they decided to buy and restore it in 1932. Therefore, Peter Dewey spent part of his childhood in Longues-sur-Mer, near Bayeux, where his parents owned the abbey from 1932 to 1964.

In May 1940, as the war had started in Europe, he was working as a journalist for the Chicago Daily News in Paris, he joined the Polish Army and fought the Battle of France. After France’s defeat, he escaped through Spain to Portugal, where he was interned for a short time, and eventually returned to the United States.

In 1942, he joined the US Army and served in Africa before joining the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). In august 1944, he was parachuted in Southern France with an OSS team with the task of making contact with the Resistance and gathering intelligence on the German forces before the invasion of Southern France. He spent six weeks behind the lines and was awarded the Silver Star as well as the French Legion of Honor.

In September 1945, toward the end of the war, he was sent with an OSS team to Indochina to represent American interests. He made contact with the Viet Minh and organize the repatriation of over 4.000 Allied POWs from Japanese camps.

On September 26th 1945, as Peter Dewey was driving to the airport of Saigon to leave Indochina, he was ambushed and shot in the head by Viet Minh troops. He was yelling in French at Viet Minh troops before the incident and was mistaken for a French soldier. His body was never found.

His last report to the US administration on the situation in Vietnam was: “Cochin China [Southern Vietnam] is burning, the French and the British are finished here, and we [the United States] ought to clear out Southeast Asia.

He became the first American soldier killed in Vietnam after WW2. He is the only US casualty whose name is not on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.

His parents kept living in Longues-sur-Mer after the war and raised a plaque for their son on the local war memorial. They helped fund the reconstruction of the village after the D-Day damages.

Today, a chapel in the Cathedral of Bayeux is dedicated to Peter Dewey.

We remember.

22/05/2023

Two days ago, our guide Pierre had the chance to take Mr Long on tour on Juno Beach, to show him where his great-uncle from the 1st Hussars landed on D-Day. Then, they visited the field in Le-Mesnil-Patry where he was subsequently wounded on June 11, 1944, after his tank was hit by a Panzer IV. His great-uncle was eventually amputated from both legs.

During their visit of Juno Beach with Pierre, Nicole from the Canada House - La Maison des Canadiens - Association had the kindness to show them her house and tell the Long family the amazing stories of the house and the items exhibited in it. Thank you again for the amazing visit, Nicole! 🙂

Canadiens venus de London Ontario, pour voir la Maison, en mémoire de leur grand oncle qui a débarqué à Courseulles-sur-Mer le 6 Juin 1944

30/03/2023

Last week, our team went to Paris to meet one of our best partners: My Private Paris. If you ever spend some days in Paris before coming to Normandy and you are looking for a private, off the beaten path tour of Paris, check them out! They are top-notch and their tours range from cultural tours to food and wine tastings. For example, it is a chance for you to have an insight of impressionist paintings at the Orsay Museum before visiting in Normandy the places where they painted them!

Afterward, we took this occasion to go visit the marvelous palace of Versailles! It is the occasion for us to remind you that if you are coming on a private tour with us in Normandy, we also offer transfer services from Paris to Bayeux and vice versa. On the way, with your driver-guide, you have the possibility to stop and visit Honfleur, Rouen or Monet's Garden in Giverny, and soon Versailles. Or maybe you would rather enjoy visiting an apple farm, with its half-timbered buildings and taste some local Calvados?This is the opportunity for you to go visit other gems of Normandy.

Avoid the stress of taking the train and come enjoy a ride through the Norman countryside with our driver-guide!

20/03/2023

Did you know that Jacques Cartier, first European to explore the Saint Lawrence River and who gave its name to Canada is buried in the cathedral of Saint-Malo in Brittany? His body was only found close to 400 years after his death, thanks to the American liberation of the city.

In 1949, the city of Saint-Malo is under reconstruction after the heavy bombings that happened there in the summer of 1944. The city is in rubble and among it, a skull and several bones are found in the transept of the cathedral Saint-Vincent. After analysis, these remains are identified: they are the remains of the famous local navigator and quite important figure in Canadian History: Jacques Cartier. For almost 400 years, it was known that Jacques Cartier had been buried in the cathedral but the location of the tomb was never found.

In this same cathedral, in 1535, Cartier received a blessing from the bishop of Saint-Malo just before his departure to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The same year, he gave its name to Canada after speaking to native Iroquois who kept repeating the word "kanata" which means "village" in their language. Today, Jacques Cartier remains a prominent figure in Canadian History as well as Brittany History.

This story, is one of many stories who will have the chance to hear about on our
Emerald Coast Tour in Brittany. To find out more about this tour, you can check our website: www.hqcompanytour.com/a-la-carte/