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A team of cyclists from BRNC will join with a team from the French Navy to undertake a six-day sponsored cycle ride from Plymouth to Paris commencing on Friday 3 June tracing the steps of the allied forces who took part in the D-Day landings and the liberation of Paris.  The aim is to provide a challenging training event brining both nations together to remember the veterans across the generations and the contribution they have made. The event will raise money for Help for Heroes and the French equivalent AD AUGUSTA.

Lt Cdr Castle is assigned to the French Navy in Brest, he and 2 fellow French senior rates came up with idea.  He immediately enrolled the services of a long standing friend in UK, Lt Cdr Gary Mills as the team leader of the UK group.  Lt Cdr Gary Mills and Lt Cdr Castle have been friends since joining the RN as junior ratings and they attended the same SD course at BRNC in 1997. 

For the past 8 years, the HQ of the French Fleet has participated in a number of big sporting events both in France and abroad.  Having gained from such experiences as marathons and cycling up the Mount Ventoux, this year the team, as ever, has an appetite for more physical challenges.  So we have launched our project for 2016 and in line with our very strong and ever growing FR/UK military cooperation we have decided to create a team of French and UK naval personnel who will retrace the routes followed by the allied troops involved in the D-Day landings of 1944.  We will follow a route of 700km plus, taking us from Plymouth to Portsmouth, to the beaches of Normandy and finally to Paris the symbolic place of the liberation of France.   

The aim of this project is to raise as much money as possible for 2 charities very close to our hearts; Help for Heroes in UK and AD AUGUSTA in France, while raising the profile of the excellent relations and cooperation between the Marine National and the Royal Navy. Both of these charaties provide essential and excellent support to our injured military personnel and their families.  We all know someone affected by combat operations or acts of terrorism and we will be extremely honoured to have 3 or 4 ex injured service personnel ride alongside us during our final stage from Caen to Paris.

Depuis maintenant huit ans, l'Etat- major de la Force d'Action Navale participe à de grands évènements sportifs de renommée internationale en France et à l'étranger.  Ayant à son actif des expériences aussi diverses que des marathons ou que l'ascension du Mont Ventoux à vélo, l'équipe; toujours animée par le goût de l'effort physique, se lance  un nouveau projet cycliste pour 2016. Dans le cadre d'une relation très forte entre  les personnels militaires français et britannique, une coopération est née pour aider les blessés de guerre et leur assurer l'intégration sociale et professionnel méritées. L'équipe cycliste marchera sur les traces des combattants (français et alliés) en Angleterre, les plages du débarquement de Normandie, jusqu'à Paris, lieu symbolique de la libération.  

L'objectif de ce projet est de collecter un maximum de fonds pour 2 associations caritatives qui nous tiennent particulièrement à coeur; Help for Heroes en UK et AD AUGUSTA en France, pendant relevant la profil des relations et coopération excellent entre la Marine National et le Royal Navy.  Tous deux ces associations fourni le soutien essentiel et excellent pour nos blessés de guerre, nos anciens combattants et leur families.  Nous connaissons tous quelqu'un qui a été affecté par les opérations de combat ou les attaque de terrorism et nous serons extrêmement honoré d'avoir 3 ou 4 ancien personnel militaire à côté nous pendant notre dernier stage entre Caen à Paris.