6th June

D-Day and the battle for Normandy has been one of my great interests, I've probably got almost every book written on the subject (dozens) including many maps.

2 years ago I went with 2 mates to Normandy for the 65th Anniversary and stayed on a campsite in Bayeux. We met so many interesting people, one that sticks in my mind was a Liverpudlian called John.
He was in his 80's and in a wheelchair. We met him having lunch outside a restaurant in Lion-sur-Mer on the 5th of June. He was in 41 Commando that landed in that village on D-day.
He was a really self-effacing man who shunned the hero stuff but the stories he told of the landing and of his lost comrades was immensely moving.

On the morning of the 6th June we went to the British Military Cemetery at Bayeux for the ceremony, very moving. Amazingly we saw Eddie Izzard there (in a suit) with all the big-wigs. Apparently he stumped up a load of cash to enable members of the Normandy Veterans Association to travel there as the government wouldn't help with their costs.

The afternoon was a great event in St.Mere Eglise, loads of re-enactors and low level fly-overs by C-47's.

I'm so glad I went and met these men as that will be the last visit for most of them.
 
Thank you to all those who fought, bled, or died that day. We owe a debt we can never repay.
 
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Always Remember.
 
Lest we forget.

To add to that list of sites to see I would recommend Point Du Hoc. The Rangers that had to take that point suffered horrendous casualties and if some one could link the wiki page for it that would be great.

My great grandma sold my grand dads clothes when he went of to join the BEF so she could buy a chenelle dress as she didn't expect him to come back. Luckily he came through the whole thing.
 
Both my grandparents fought in WW2, one being a desert rat and servicing the field guns in Africa and the other fighting in europe. My great grandad fought in WW1 in the trenches and I still have his medals including one for bravery when he went over the top to rescue a wounded officer.

My uncle fought the japs in Burma and he never ever mentioned anything about his experiences to his family when he got back.
 
Forde said:
Perhaps because the 67th year isn't a 'big one'? Just a guess. 75th will be a proper 'celebration', probably.
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Maybe but then you see things like "Harry Houdini's 129th Birthday" being celebrated - that's made up as I can't fully remember what the last one of a similar insignificance was but it doesn't seem to be that they wait for specific anniversaries.

Muzza1875 said:
Yes its pretty schocking, that and the fact that i never seen anything in the newspaper or anything at all on the bbc news channel this morning.******* disgusting if you ask me.
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I'd maybe not go as far as to call it disgusting but it would be nice to see or hear a bit more in the way of acknowlegement.
 
Muzza1875 said:
Yes its pretty schocking, that and the fact that i never seen anything in the newspaper or anything at all on the bbc news channel this morning.******* disgusting if you ask me.
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Agree completely. Unfortunately the media are more concerned with what is currently up Cheryl Cole's ****.

andyp said:
I'm in the middle of reading D-Day by Stephen Ambrose. Anyone who has even the slightest interest in events of that day should read it, it's the only piece of work (be it film or written) that gives some perspective as to the massive scale and the tremendous amount of organisation that went into the operation.
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His books are a great read. Very informative and highly detailed. You can easily put yourself in the picture when reading them. I recommend his other books too. Equally as compelling.

Limpnoodle said:
D-Day to Berlin is on bb2 tonight at 11.20 its the second part of a three part series, first part can be seen here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b007cbgl/DDay_to_Berlin_The_Struggle_to_Break_Out/

Is a very interesting watch.
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Brilliant, will keep an eye you. Thanks

And most importantly. RIP to all those very very brave soldiers. Lest we forget.
 
andyp said:
I'm in the middle of reading D-Day by Stephen Ambrose. Anyone who has even the slightest interest in events of that day should read it, it's the only piece of work (be it film or written) that gives some perspective as to the massive scale and the tremendous amount of organisation that went into the operation.

Funnily enough, I've just finished the chapter entitled 'Visitors To Hell' - which is the story of the American forces at Omaha. The opening ten minutes of Saving Private Ryan are powerful enough, but that particular chapter of the book is even more powerful, without being too gory. Just the sheer sacrifice and waste on the beach that day is captured by Ambrose perfectly.

Made it my mission to visit the cemetery in Vierville at some point before the 75 year anniversary, if nothing else just to stand at the front of the graves and pay my sincere respects to those thousands of men who were a million times braver than I will ever be even in the face of almost certain death on Omaha.

June 6th always sits in my mind as a sombre day every year.
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It is certainly an eye opener but there is an even bigger German cemetry not too far from St Mere Eglise. Many graves are doubled up. Many graves have no name.

Have been to Normandy twice and you dont really get the scale of Omaha until you sctually go there. In Saving Private Ryan you get a good idea of the ferocity, but not a feel on time. It was a very long battle and in lots of places the only advances made were with tthe tide.
 
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
 
EdGey said:
We can never allow ourselves to forget. It is important that we remember, and to teach those who don't know.
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Why? I would suggest that the further back in time events pass the more forgetful and less relevant they become.

What about the Napoleonic Wars, now some 200 years ago? The Seven Years' War, around 250 years ago and killing some 900,000 to 1,400,000 people... the Crimean War or going a little future back what about the Norman conquest or the Viking invasions? Those last to were arguably a lot worse than WWII as 'we' basically lost!

My point is that there's nothing 'special' about WWII to warrant the "never forget" emotional baggage. It was a war, it will, over time, slide into the history books along side all the other wars our country has been involved in.
 
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