We Spent the 4th of July on the White Cliffs of Dover

Lulu had the day off and asked me where would I like to go. I told her I always wanted to see the White Cliffs of Dover and the tunnels that were dug to protect England against the invasion of the Nazis. Dover is on the very southeastern corner of England just 20 miles across the sea from France. You can take a train to almost anywhere you want in Europe - but we were surprised to find out that a train left London every hour to get to Dover - about 80 miles away. Lulu went on the Net and found a real deal. You could buy 4 round trips for a total of 51 pounds. The price was the same for 2 people - so we decided to offer the extra tickets to some FSU students. They were quickly taken - so early Saturday morning we met at the train station at 8 AM. In two hours we were in the town of Dover. A giant castle loomed on the cliffs overlooking town. The fog was still rolling in off the English Channel as we hired a cab to get us to the fortress at the top of the cliffs - and the entrance to the Secret Tunnels.The fortress on the top of the cliff was built as far back as 1100. It was used off and on to defend England from European invaders. Around 100 AD - the Romans built towns and forts along this coast. To my surprise - the original secret tunnels were dug by hand through the soft chalk rock in the 1700s - as a defense of the possible invasion of Napoleon. During World War Two many more tunnels were dug to house troops and to provide a safe hospital. Due to the stronger bombs - the tunnels were dug deeper and fortified with concrete. Our tour of the tunnels revealed original furnishings. The famous Battle of Britain - where the Brits fighting all alone prevented Germany from setting foot on their homeland - was directed from these bunkers."Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" - Winston Churchill "...and this was their finest hour." When the fog started to lift - a gigantic dock appeared. For years - before planes and tunnels - this was the only way to Europe. During 1944 - Hitler was convinced that Patton was going to lead the European Invasion from here. A brilliant ruse of inflated boats and tanks fooled the Nazis that even after D-Day began the main invasion was still coming from Dover. In the movie "Chariots of Fire" the athletes left and returned from the Paris Olympics to this port in 1912. After the fog lifted - we walked along the top of the cliffs and could easily see France across the English Channel. The white cliffs stretch for miles - we may have walked only 2-3 miles back to town. Temperature was about 70 - a nice breeze and lots of sun when the fog rose. As the Nazi planes approached the island - ack-ack guns would put up a wall of shrapnel puffs. Hundreds of balloons tethered from steel cables were flown up hoping the German planes would get knocked down by the cables. There were 3 layers of tunnels - the top layer was dug in the early 1800s - the middle layer was dug during WWII - and the bottom layer called the dumpy layer was built during the Cold War as a nuclear fallout shelter. The chalk cliffs extend for miles - note the abrupt top edge. The cliffs wear back at about 1/2 inch a year. That mean about a yard wore away since the War. This thick layer of chalk extends east and west under almost the entire southern edge of England. After our walk down the face - we stopped in a little pub along the base of the cliffs. Out the back window of the toilet I could see piles of fallen chalk up against the building. After a visit to the downtown pebble covered beach - we caught the train home to London. Although it was cold by Florida standards - both the air and water - there were tons of kids swimming and jumping off the stone pier. You could tell that this was a particularly nice day for Dover because most of the kids were milky white - not much evidence of exposure to the sun. During our time in Dover - there was much talk about the Battle of Dunkirk. In 1940 - before the US entered the war - Germany had defeated France - the Netherlands - Poland - and Belgium. The Nazis had the British troops trapped at Dunkirk in France - 380,000 men were completely surrounded with only the sea as an exit. The people of England collected up all sorts of boats and towed them to Dunkirk - and brought 338,000 men safely back to Dover. As we sat in Dover Priority Station waiting for our ride back - we thought of the British soldiers that in 1940 were handed a roll and a banana - and still wet - were put on trains to London.