D-Day commemorative celebrations

Been to pretty much all the major D-Day sights and its an incredible place to visit, knowing men fought and died at the spot you were standing to preserve the world's freedom. Some of the feats were quite unimaginable in their bravery and ambition.

The likes of which we will hopefully never see again.
 
"and when he gets to heaven,
to saint peter he will tell,
one more soldier reporting sir,
i've served my time in hell"

as sad as it is i'm glad at least good men gave everything to do what needed to be done and gladder still to see it still being remembered to [hopefully] prevent it from needing done again.
 
Rilot said:
You should all watch The Longest Day. It's a great film about D-Day and stars.....well... everyone.

If you plan to visit cemeteries then by all means, go to the big US ones but take a few hours to visit some of the smaller ones. I found the small cemeteries much more moving than the massive ones, which are just so big I found them impossible to take in.
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The Band of Brothers TV Series was very good as well.
 
Rilot said:
You should all watch The Longest Day. It's a great film about D-Day and stars.....well... everyone.

If you plan to visit cemeteries then by all means, go to the big US ones but take a few hours to visit some of the smaller ones. I found the small cemeteries much more moving than the massive ones, which are just so big I found them impossible to take in.
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There's a German cemetery not far from Utah beach, can't remember the name, but it was just as big as the Omaha beach cemetery and just as humbling.

Point du Hoc is an unbelievable place to go though, the shell crates are vast. Incredible to believe that people scaled those cliffs and assaulted the defences at the top.

OT: Omaha Beach golf course is excellent!
 
One More Solo said:
I'm not sure celebrations is the right word but I admire the sentiment all the same.
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My Grandad landed in Normandy and was integral to helping to secure the beaches and his war story is quite spectacular as are his medals. A troubled man after the war because of the effect that it had on him, mentally, not physically. I admire him and I find the prospect of going off to fight against tyranny and evil, beyond comprehension for many of the modern day. The sacrifices those men and women made during World War II, not just British, was staggering and should forever be enshrined in the history of humanity.

I agree with the sentiment, but would not use the word celebrate.

Cosimo, posting lots again I see :o.
 
Rilot said:
You should all watch The Longest Day. It's a great film about D-Day and stars.....well... everyone.
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It's a very good film. This clip of Major Werner Pluskat on that morning of June 6th is one of my favourite scenes:



The film is based on the book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan which is also worth a read.
 
My nana (mum's mum) was an overhead crane driver in a munitions factory, her boyfriend at the time was in the first waves of British landing on the beach, he didn't make it far from the landing craft and was killed.

Can't imagine the terror those young guys went though.
 
An incredible act, and one that will not be forgotten.

Dis86 said:
Would love to visit and also some of the major war cemeteries throughout Europe and the world tbh.
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It's an incredibly moving experience. We drove around a lot of them in a few weeks two years ago, and each one did not fail to bring me to tears.
 
I've just watched the intro to Saving Private Ryan. I guess it's probably as close as we'll get to seeing what they went through 70 years ago today. Along with the other videos and photos posted, it really is quite moving.
What those men did is something we should certainly never forget.
 
Lest we forget.

I am currently reading the D-Day book by Antony Beevor and it is quite amazing just how much went on behind the scenes to ensure Overlord's success. From the difficulties around predicting the weather to Operation Bodyguard, the deception around where the landings were going to happen (Norway not France).

My Pop (Grandad) was not part of Operation Neptune but instead fought through North Africa and then via Anzio / Salerno to Monte Cassino and then onto Rome.
 
A WW2 veteran attended this morning parade, he spoke briefly about the landings and the things he saw - humbling.

The bagpipes really brought it into focus.

Lest we forget.
 
I can clearly remember the 50th anniversary when I was 13 my dad and Granddad discussing it. But looking back I didn't appreciate it at all at the time. I knew about the war and was interested in it as a child, but the true scale of this event was very much lost on me.

I don't think it was until seeing Saving Private Ryan at the cinema that I truly understood what D-Day was all about. I think the opening of that film woke many of my generation up. My Granddad got to see the film on DVD before he died and I can remember him weeping.

Sadly I do think time will fade these events once the last veterans are gone. Once your great grandfather or great great grandfather were in WW2 it will become far harder for a younger generation to connect to.

It is still hard to fathom the scale of this operation.
 
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Cosimo said:
A little history:



How come all the news reels from then contain the same voice.

You never hear that voice on the news or anywhere else these days.

Is there an area of the UK where people talk like that?

And yes I'd love to visit that area.

I count my luck that out of that war French and German politicians came together to form the Coal and Steel union that paved the way for a peaceful Europe for the last 70 years a place where Europe's ministers meet to thrash out differences instead of lonely isolation which leads to extremism.
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ChroniC said:
I was at the celebration in Portsmouth today, watched a frigate and some landing craft do an amphibious landing recreation, and then watched the best Red Arrows display I have ever seen.
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Don't you mean commemoration.
 
MookJong said:
Sadly I do think time will fade these events once the last veterans are gone. Once your great grandfather or great great grandfather were in WW2 it will become far harder for a younger generation to connect to.
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Not sure it will tbh. I think younger generations are just as intrigued and moved by this. It's up to us now to make sure this remains. My 18 year old son appears to know more than i do about the whole operation and we frequently have discussions which is good.
 
"The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you."

President Ronald Reagan - June 6, 1984 (40th anniversary of D Day)
 
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