D-Day - the Normandy landings

[dougdeep]

Are the Germans going to attend?

 

[pastafarian]

one of the very few times the word Awesome can be properly applied to an event.

not an active combatent but very proud of my grandfather and the MBE he received for his part in D Day

 

[pastafarian]

Are the Germans going to attend?

Angela Merkel is attending,so i presume she is representing Germany.

 

[Bra]

My grandfather was at the landings but never really spoke about it. Long gone now, I wish I had spent more time with him getting to know more about his experiences.

 

[Pevenseagull]

There's a (very) old Polish fella who lives up the road from me who was part of the Normandy landings (I found out via one of his grandchildren a couple of years back). I sometimes give him a hand with his shopping bag and he always has a go at me if he sees me smoking. As part of his kit he was given some cigarettes to 'steady his nerves'. Yesterday he told me that he gets upset when he sees people smoking ..... I've given up, Thanks Sam.

I've tried to imagine what it must have been like for Sam and his brothers .......... and it scares the living shit out of me.

Still, at least we have William Hague on the case to make sure this won't happen again.

 

[FamilyGuy]

Are the Germans going to attend?

Is this a serious question?

Of course they are!!

 

[Paskman]

I've found to be quite balanced really. There is an admittedly American slant to some of it but, as historical record, that's fair enough; they did come in and make a massive difference to the outcome of the conflict. Them and the Russians.

Mr Ambrose is American don't forget.

Below is a quote from an American News website exploding the D-Day myths, it makes interesting reading:

"1. MYTH: D-Day was predominantly an American operation

REALITY: For many people, D-Day is defined by the bloodshed at Omaha -- the codename for one of the five beaches where Allied forces landed -- and the American airborne drops. Even in Germany, the perception is still that D-Day was a largely American show; in the recent German TV mini-series, "Generation War," there was a reference to the "American landings" in France.

But despite "Band of Brothers," despite "Saving Private Ryan," despite those 11 photographs taken by Robert Capa in the swell on that morning of June 6 1944, D-Day was not a predominantly American effort. Rather, it was an Allied effort with, if anything, Britain taking the lead. Yes, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, was American, but his deputy, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder was British, as were all three service chiefs. Air Marshal Sir Arthur "Mary" Coningham, commander of the tactical air forces, was also British. The plan for Operation Overlord -- as D-Day was codenamed -- was largely that of Gen. Bernard Montgomery, the land force commander. The Royal Navy had overall responsibility for Operation Neptune, the naval plan. Of the 1,213 warships involved, 200 were American and 892 were British; of the 4,126 landing craft involved, 805 were American and 3,261 were British.

Remembering D-Day through music Indeed, 31% of all U.S. supplies used during D-Day came directly from Britain, while two-thirds of the 12,000 aircraft involved were also British, as were two-thirds of those that landed in occupied France. Despite the initial slaughter at Omaha, casualties across the American and British beaches were much the same. This is not to belittle the U.S. effort but rather to add context and a wider, 360-degree view. History needs to teach as well as entertain."

 

[User removed 4]

You should visit France and see the war memorials in every village from the First World war. There were thousands upon thousands that were lost. The German invasion was just 20 years later, so it's unsurprising that they felt it was easier to accept Nazi rule. They had see the total devastation that had been wreaked in other countries before them.
Then read about the French resistance and the help they gave to Jewish people, and escaping prisoners of war.
As someone else has said, it's far to simplistic to say they rolled over.

He doesn't need to, we've got them here. As an aside , I bought a French army rifle on eBay yesterday......................never been fired, only dropped once

 

[BBassic]

Mr Ambrose is American don't forget.

Below is a quote from an American News website exploding the D-Day myths, it makes interesting reading:

"1. MYTH: D-Day was predominantly an American operation

REALITY: For many people, D-Day is defined by the bloodshed at Omaha -- the codename for one of the five beaches where Allied forces landed -- and the American airborne drops. Even in Germany, the perception is still that D-Day was a largely American show; in the recent German TV mini-series, "Generation War," there was a reference to the "American landings" in France.

But despite "Band of Brothers," despite "Saving Private Ryan," despite those 11 photographs taken by Robert Capa in the swell on that morning of June 6 1944, D-Day was not a predominantly American effort. Rather, it was an Allied effort with, if anything, Britain taking the lead. Yes, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, was American, but his deputy, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder was British, as were all three service chiefs. Air Marshal Sir Arthur "Mary" Coningham, commander of the tactical air forces, was also British. The plan for Operation Overlord -- as D-Day was codenamed -- was largely that of Gen. Bernard Montgomery, the land force commander. The Royal Navy had overall responsibility for Operation Neptune, the naval plan. Of the 1,213 warships involved, 200 were American and 892 were British; of the 4,126 landing craft involved, 805 were American and 3,261 were British.

Remembering D-Day through music Indeed, 31% of all U.S. supplies used during D-Day came directly from Britain, while two-thirds of the 12,000 aircraft involved were also British, as were two-thirds of those that landed in occupied France. Despite the initial slaughter at Omaha, casualties across the American and British beaches were much the same. This is not to belittle the U.S. effort but rather to add context and a wider, 360-degree view. History needs to teach as well as entertain."

Oh certainly, there's no doubt that the AEF was a joint effort and not a solo US attack.

My point was more along the lines of pointing out that, to the war in general, the Americans had a massive impact on the outcome and, to my view, things may very well have been quite different had they not gotten involved when they did.

 

[Giraffe]

Oh certainly, there's no doubt that the AEF was a joint effort and not a solo US attack.

My point was more along the lines of pointing out that, to the war in general, the Americans had a massive impact on the outcome and, to my view, things may very well have been quite different had they not gotten involved when they did.

Or perhaps might have been different if they had got involved sometime earlier.....

 

[Paskman]

Oh certainly, there's no doubt that the AEF was a joint effort and not a solo US attack.

My point was more along the lines of pointing out that, to the war in general, the Americans had a massive impact on the outcome and, to my view, things may very well have been quite different had they not gotten involved when they did.

Very true, we just need to ensure that Americans, and to be honest, a lot of Brits (Europeans - some of whom dont like the fact that they were over run by the German's, whilst we were not) - remember that D-Day itself was not just about the Americans.

 

[Southwest Seagull]

Or perhaps might have been different if they had got involved sometime earlier.....

Yep... In 1919.

 

[maltaseagull]

I watched the guy who had parachuted in on D Day o another jump with the paras. The respect they showed to someone who had done it back then at the age of only 19 made me choke. Especially when he was stood up and had the harness removed, first thing he did was put his red beret on! Amazing people.

 

[nicko31]

Its amazing how the Allies caught the German's off guard and never clicked what was going on.

After visiting Normandy last week I asked myself why I had never been before, it was one very humbling history lesson that I would thoroughly recommend.

 

[Carrot Cruncher]

I watched the guy who had parachuted in on D Day o another jump with the paras. The respect they showed to someone who had done it back then at the age of only 19 made me choke. Especially when he was stood up and had the harness removed, first thing he did was put his red beret on! Amazing people.

Was that on BBC1 this morning? There was a chap talking about how they landed 21 miles from where they should. He spoke about being captured and that a lot of his 'brothers' had died. He then went on to say that when he visited the grave of his best mate, he started sobbing. He then said, "But I got over it.". He had a look in his eye that said he was lying. Who could blame him? It made me cry.

Brave, brave men.

 

[Buzzer]

Some brilliant photos on this site http://www.anorak.co.uk/399510/news/flashback/d-day-june-6-1944-in-39-unforgettable-photos.html/


Worth bearing in mind too that a lot of the German soldiers were teenage boys. This POW was 16 years old. 16 years old FFS!

A few more photos:

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Like many others, we paid a visit to the beaches and surrounding areas in Normandy a couple of summers ago - very moving stuff and it was great to see both my young sons incredibly interested, & respectful, to what went on.
My grandfather served in the RNVR during WW2 but wasn't involved in D Day itself - however, I'm still incredibly proud of the part he played on the Atlantic Convoys and other operations as far away as the Far East, South Africa etc. He was also on HMS Maplin, the first "catapult" ship to score a kill when their Hurricane shot down an enemy aircraft.





Saw this page earlier online - quite interesting for those who are into their local wartime history....

http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/Lizard.htm#.U5GcmHZwbcs

 

[BBassic]

Or perhaps might have been different if they had got involved sometime earlier.....

Al Murray has a good bit on this, something along the lines of "If you're not in a fight from the beginning you're not in it at all"

 

[portlock seagull]

As promised, here's my friends story - scroll down to "D-Day landing leads to love eventually". I knew the media would jump on it, they selected it for the live feed this morning and were in touch with him saying it was really moving, could they use. He's thanked me for persuading him to write into the Guardian. I simply said it was a wonderful story that on an anniversary like today, should be told and shared at last. My good deed for the day!

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/06/d-day-landings-70-years-anniversary-live

 

[portlock seagull]

Oh certainly, there's no doubt that the AEF was a joint effort and not a solo US attack.

My point was more along the lines of pointing out that, to the war in general, the Americans had a massive impact on the outcome and, to my view, things may very well have been quite different had they not gotten involved when they did.

My entire perspective on the often silly who won WW2 arguments can be summarised as follows: Britain might not of won the war alone. But in 1940, we did not lose it for everyone. That above than anything else I think, was Britain's most telling contribution.