Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Let me start by introducing myself.  My name is Dave Race and I am an ex-Grenedier Guard.  I was in the army for over 10 years and loved every min    I left the Army in November 1994 and since then have been working as a commercial diver both in England and abroad.  I am now married with a fantastic wife, 2 gorgeous girls and 3 mad Siberian Husky's.  I am the proud owner of a Landrover Discovery 3 called Jacko which I regularly off-road. 

On Armed Forces day last year in Manchester, I found out about the Help for Heroes charity and really wanted to get more involved and raise some money for such a great cause.  I then went on the web site to purchase some T-shirts and found out about the rally across Europe.  I just couldn't resist the chance to get involved. 

It was at this point that I was introduced to Stu through a friend.  He is currently in the Army and has already been to Afghanistan where he too was injured not once but twice.  He has recently got married and like me has 2 husky's.  He is stationed at Bideford and has been in the army now for about four years and is enjoying every minute of it.  I have posted the itinery below so that you can see exactly what we are doing.

This is such a good cause that I really hope that you will dig deep in your pockets to help our heroes who everyday keep our country safe from harm.

 

Provisional Itinerary – H4H European 4x4 Rally 2010

Saturday 19^th June 2010 - Day 1 - , 'Prelude to Invasion' – 144Km (90 Miles)

1200hrs at a secret location in North Wiltshire we assemble at the ex-Headquarters of part of the invasion preparation.

After visiting Aldbourne, Wiltshire (home to Easy Company, 101^st Airborne Division – famed by the ‘Band of Brothers’ book and television series) we engage 4-wheel drive and traverse the off road byways of Salisbury Plain (a WWII training area – and still in use by today’s armed forces as a major military training ground). We will call at the Help for Heroes offices at Tidworth thence travel onto , and time allowing; will visit the and Southwick House, Headquarters for Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower during the invasion. We board the overnight cross-channel ferry to .

Overnight - Brittany Ferries 'Portsmouth-Caen' Route

 

Sunday 20^th June 2010 - Day 2 - 'Fortress - 40Km (25 Miles)

At we visit and its museum, followed by a coastal drive to Arromanches. Situated on the Normandy coast, famous for the D-Day landings, Arromanches is not only perfectly located to visit other battlefield sites of Normandy but is home to a fascinating museum and impressive 360 degree, 9 screen cinema, showing wartime footage.

An early finish today – with an option to visit the 360 degree museum.

Overnight - Arromanches

 

Monday 21^st June 2010 - Day 3 - 'Moving Inland' – 233km (145 Miles)

To St-Marie du Pont, then St. Mere Eglise – the first town liberated by allied forces. Then on to Carentan, the Norman town that was one of the Allies’ earliest objectives. We will see the site of Easy’s battle as they entered the town on June 12 and the square from which General Maxwell Taylor presented awards to his men for their performance during the invasion. In the afternoon we head to an off-road centre and return to Arromanches early evening.

Overnight - Arromanches

 

Tuesday 22^nd June 2010 - Day 4 - 'Remember September' – 718Km (449 Miles)

An early start and a drive to Eindhoven, Holland  after which we follow  “Hell’s Highway,” the route followed by the British XXX Corps as it attempted to reach its embattled 1st Airborne Division, Arnhem,

Overnight -

 

Wednesday 23^rd June 2010 - Day 5 – 'Operation Market Garden' – 150km (94 Miles)

We will visit the at Oosterbeek to pay homage to the men who fought in Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne operation of the war.

A 4x4 scenario is planned for the afternoon after which we will visit the famous bridge over the ; the objective of Operation Market Garden.  

Overnight -

 

Thursday 24^th June 2010 - Day 6 - 'The of the Bulge' – 334Km (208 Miles)

Back into , this time for a special visit to the . Our destination is the site of an epic eight-day stand against the Germans in December 1944.

Overnight -

 

Friday 25^th June 2010 – Day 7 - 'The Bois Jacques and Beyond' – 134Km (83 Miles)

Friday starts with a visit to the of the and General Anthony McAuliffe’s headquarters during the siege. The afternoon will find us at Bois Jacques, Halt Station and Easy Company’s foxholes overlooking the . We conclude our WWII tour of the Bulge.

Overnight -

 

Saturday 26^th June 2010 Day 8 - 'The Last Patrol' – 422Km (263 Miles)

From we head south into , ; an area famed for its wine and Maginot Line fortifications.

After that, the journey passes through Haguenau, the site of some of Easy Company’s final battles and several daring patrols thence into and the beautiful Schwarzwald (the ).

Overnight – Calw-Altburg in the

 

Sunday 27^th June 2010 - Day 9 – 'The Atrocity of War' – 456Km (285 Miles)

We move on from the . On April 29, 1945, as they advanced towards the Bavarian Alps, the allies liberated a satellite of the concentration camp at Landsberg.

We will visit , site of some of the most nefarious acts against humankind during the war. Our goal approaches as we travel south-east through routing along the scenic Alpenstrasse and arrive at our destination – .

Overnight -

 

Monday 28^th June - Day 10 - 'The Eagle’s Nest' – 25Km (16 Miles)

Our final day of the rally ends at Adolf Hitler’s Alpine retreat at , where we will visit the Eagle’s Nest and the remains of the vast Nazi Party complex liberated by American Forces in May 1945.

Evening – Meal, prize giving and farewells

Overnight -

 

Tuesday 29^th June 2010 - Day 11 – Decamp and onward travel

 

Distances

Overall from UK to Berchtesgaden = 1658 miles

Return options:

Berchtesgaden – Calais = 1141Km (713 Miles) - 10hr 9min

Berchtesgaden – Koblenz = 658Km (411 Miles) – 6hr 3min

Koblenz - Calais = 495Km (309 Miles) - 4hr 29min

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1650 mile/2640 km expedition encompassing 6 countries in 10 days, this non-speed event comprising a maximum of 30+ teams will be part history tour, fun competition, part off-road driving and part club-type social, open to all types of 4x4 vehicles. The rally follows the path and tells the story of the Allied Invasion through Europe. It includes parts fabled by the Band of Brothers book and television series. As young men, who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear, the Allied Forces landed in France early on D-Day morning – 6th June 1944. The liberation of Europe had commenced. In addition to Normandy, the H4H Rally route will visit the Market Garden and Rhine offensives at Arnhem, Holland, where on 17th September 1944, in the largest airborne operation ever seen, thousands of paratroopers descended from the sky by parachute or glider up to 150 km behind enemy lines. The event will start at Noon on Saturday 19th June 2010 at a secret location in North Wiltshire. After using byways on Salisbury Plain we will all go to Portsmouth to embark on the ferry over to France. Our route moves south, to Bastogne in Belgium where in the coldest winter for decades, the Germans made a final push – the Battle of the Bulge. Towards Germany, the rally routing is via Fort Simserhof, Siersthal in Alsace, France a Maginot Line fortification, then onto Dachau and its horrors of war. We end our journey at Hitler's "impenetrable" Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden.   Join up for H4H 4x4 European Rally at: http://www.h4hrally.co.uk/ Sponsor the teams at Justgiving: www.justgiving.com/h4hrally2010