D-Day 75th Anniversary

The war only lasted for 6 years yet every day since we continue to learn more and more about the events, the self sacrifices, the ingeniousness, the bravery. People were asked to step up to do and be their best for their country. It was a horrific time in history but also one from which you can draw incredible inspiration about how we worked together.

This age of individualism means world wars are less likely to happen again. But at the same time we will probably never produce another generation who can inspire us like those involved in the war effort. Losing the last of these men and women to time marks a moving on for the world into what should be a more positive era. But I can't help thinking that in part it also marks a death of the common spirit of the British people which still reverberated till the end of the 20th century but has faded since.

Our greatest hours.
 
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Just mind boggling selflessness and bravery. Awful really.

AN INFANTRYMAN’S ACCOUNT OF THE SAPPERS ON D-DAY 06 JUN 1944.

“The entire beach and hillside was covered with obstacles, a unit of Sappers had gone ahead to find where the mines were. Those guys were smack in the middle of it, German bullets coming down from up top, and our bullets going back the other way, with mortars landing everywhere. They moved in pairs, if one went down his partner picked up his kit and kept moving.
They didn’t call for a single medic, they just kept crawling up the beach as far as they could until they couldn’t no more. You could see them pulling themselves up the hillside even after their legs got shattered from the explosions, I remember all their bodies had marker flags sticking out of them. The dirt was to loose to hold the flags up and the blasts would’ve knocked them over, so the guys had shot themselves up with morphine and stuck the flags into their legs. When you got to one that was still breathing he would tell you where it was safe to step.
They were about 25 yards apart, When I got to the base of the hill I took a quick look back and that’s when I saw it. Those Sappers had made a trail with their own bodies. Now how do you not keep going after something like that...”
Click to expand...
 
Former Sapper Harry Billinge gave a good interview. 93 years old and still bright as a button. His closing words hit hard, the poor interviewer was almost in tears (from 7:33, although the whole interview is worth a watch).

 
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