Reply With Quotei echo markybs sentiments
It is sixty five years ago today when the largest invasion ever took place on the beaches of Normandy,bringing redemption to a Nazi occupied Europe.
Let us not forget the fallen and those who came back. Respect to you all.
Mark
i echo markybs sentiments
Respect to all, living or dead may they have peace now.
xx
Yes, we all owe them a great debt. I've just been watching the ceremonies on television. I must have missed Prince Charles speech, but I got to hear the speeches of the French and American presidents and the Canadian and British prime ministers.
My father landed on the beaches on D-Day. He never spoke much about it, but from the little he did say, it appears that his mates were being shot to peices alongside him and his best friend was decapitated by shrapnel as they fought side by side, while he came home without a mark...physically, that is. But his mind was affected terribly. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was not recognised in those days and veterans coming home from the war had to live with what the war had done to them. But he definitely had PTSD and he was hell to live with most of the time. I wasn't born until a year after the war, but my mother used to say how he had the most terrible nightmares and used to try to kill her in his sleep because he thought she was a German soldier. This was happening to thousands of other demobbed soldiers who had been in the thick of battle, but it was unreported at the time. Dad died of cancer in April, 1970, aged 59. But he really died in the war, when I come to think of it. Mum said that when he came back from the war, he wasn't the same man she had married.
Remembering D-Day.
Respect.
name='darrenburnfan']Yes, we all owe them a great debt. I've just been watching the ceremonies on television. I must have missed Prince Charles speech, but I got to hear the speeches of the French and American presidents and the Canadian and British prime ministers.
My father landed on the beaches on D-Day. He never spoke much about it, but from the little he did say, it appears that his mates were being shot to peices alongside him and his best friend was decapitated by shrapnel as they fought side by side, while he came home without a mark...physically, that is. But his mind was affected terribly. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was not recognised in those days and veterans coming home from the war had to live with what the war had done to them. But he definitely had PTSD and he was hell to live with most of the time. I wasn't born until a year after the war, but my mother used to say how he had the most terrible nightmares and used to try to kill her in his sleep because he thought she was a German soldier. This was happening to thousands of other demobbed soldiers who had been in the thick of battle, but it was unreported at the time. Dad died of cancer in April, 1970, aged 59. But he really died in the war, when I come to think of it. Mum said that when he came back from the war, he wasn't the same man she had married.
that's a very sad story,how many peoples lives must have stopped at the same point in time-be it in death or will to live.
as a kid,i used to ask my grandad about the war,hoping to be entertained with tales of bravery etc only to be met with a wall of silence and a change of subject by my nan,my grandad,like many others,never collected the service medals he won which told me,at a later age, all i needed to know about his feelings on the war.
Yes, same here. When I was a youngster, I asked him: "How many Germans did you kill in the war, daddy?" and the reply came: "As many as I had to. It was either me or them." He certainly wasn't one to talk much about his wartime experiences.
name='darrenburnfan']Yes, we all owe them a great debt. I've just been watching the ceremonies on television. I must have missed Prince Charles speech, but I got to hear the speeches of the French and American presidents and the Canadian and British prime ministers.
My father landed on the beaches on D-Day. He never spoke much about it, but from the little he did say, it appears that his mates were being shot to peices alongside him and his best friend was decapitated by shrapnel as they fought side by side, while he came home without a mark...physically, that is. But his mind was affected terribly. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was not recognised in those days and veterans coming home from the war had to live with what the war had done to them. But he definitely had PTSD and he was hell to live with most of the time. I wasn't born until a year after the war, but my mother used to say how he had the most terrible nightmares and used to try to kill her in his sleep because he thought she was a German soldier. This was happening to thousands of other demobbed soldiers who had been in the thick of battle, but it was unreported at the time. Dad died of cancer in April, 1970, aged 59. But he really died in the war, when I come to think of it. Mum said that when he came back from the war, he wasn't the same man she had married.
Thank you for that.
Mark
Remembering our Heroes........
Yes, remembering them with prode.
name='Marky B']It is sixty five years ago today when the largest invasion ever took place on the beaches of Normandy,bringing redemption to a Nazi occupied Europe.
Let us not forget the fallen and those who came back. Respect to you all.
Mark
Marky,
Thank you for posting this tribute to the heroes who lost their lives and all the hundreds of thousands who were injured and traumatised at D-Day. And this doesn't even take into account the toll on civilians. I never realised the devastation and impact of D-Day until I really started reading about it.
Also thanks to all for sharing their relatives' accounts of that historical day.
Barbara
name='Marky B']It is sixty five years ago today when the largest invasion ever took place on the beaches of Normandy,bringing redemption to a Nazi occupied Europe.
Let us not forget the fallen and those who came back. Respect to you all.
Mark
Thanks for running this thread. So many died and so many others were wounded. Thanks and gratitude to all of them.
My Dad was part of the landing. He died in 1985 when I was very young. He talked often about other aspects of the war, but never mentioned the events of that day.
name='theuofc']Marky,
Thank you for posting this tribute to the heroes who lost their lives and all the hundreds of thousands who were injured and traumatised at D-Day. And this doesn't even take into account the toll on civilians. I never realised the devastation and impact of D-Day until I really started reading about it.
People should also consider how close it was. It nearly didn't succeed.
Just think about what would have happened if they had failed
Steve
name='darrenburnfan']Yes, we all owe them a great debt. I've just been watching the ceremonies on television. I must have missed Prince Charles speech, but I got to hear the speeches of the French and American presidents and the Canadian and British prime ministers.
I also missed Prince Charles's speech, despite watching the broadcast - so wonder if he made one.
If there could only be one speech on behalf of the UK, it should have been by someone "above politics" - rather than a party political figure like the PM.
On two occasions during his visit to Normandy, the PM was loudly jeered - an occupational hazard for a politician.
Surely Prince Charles (in the absence of the Queen) would have been a more suitable person to make a speech than the PM ? HM attended on the 60th anniversary.
The original plan, for which the French and British governments must share blame, was not to invite a member of the Royal Family. The Prince attended at short notice.
While the French President wanted to share the limelight with President Obama, the British PM seemed very slow to appreciate the importance of the event.
Maybe Prince Charles didn't have time to write a speech (or have one written for him), as he wasn't invited until very late in the day, so to speak. I switched on the television when the French president was halfway through his speech. Prince Charles looked either very serious or very miserable throughout all the speeches, depending on your point of view.
No.Prince Charles never made a speech..it was left to PM.Brown.
Having 2 from the same country making speeches wouldn't do.
Actually in certain scenes,Charles looked pretty left out of things mixing with Presidents and PM's.These are 5 minute wonders-he is around forever.
This was at the American cemetery.
Thanks, picture show. I didn't miss his speech then, because he never gave one.
There was a good series of programmes on BBC4 yesterday. As well as meeting lots of people at the 65th anniversary event they showed Charles Wheeler's 1994 documentary "D-Day: Turning the Tide". In that he met Maj John Howard and members of the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry who had landed by glider to take Pegasus Bridge. He also met Lt Col Terence Otway and some of the paras that attacked the Merville Battery which overlooked the beaches. They set off with 750 men. Only 150 made it to the rendevous point and they didn't have any of the heavy weapons they were meant to have. But they attacked the battery anyway and despite taking 50% casualties they put the guns out of action.
Charles Wheeler introduced Otway & the paras to the German commander of the battery who confirmed that although they hadn't destroyed the guns they had killed so many men that he couldn't get the guns to operate at all during D-Day
Lots of other amazing tales were told, some horrific, some of how people had a reasonably straightforward day. He reminded us that of the two beaches where the Americans were landing, those landing on Utah beach had the fewest casualities of any part of the landings. Fewer than 200 Americans were killed. But just a few miles along the coast at Omaha beach there were about 5,000 Americans killed.
If the sorts of losses suffered at Omaha beach had been repeated on the other beaches then most of Europe would probably still be under Nazi control. It really was a close run thing and despite all the planning, there was a lot of luck involved, good luck for many, bad luck for some.
Steve
name='Steve Crook']There was a good series of programmes on BBC4 yesterday. As well as meeting lots of people at the 65th anniversary event they showed Charles Wheeler's 1994 documentary "D-Day: Turning the Tide". In that he met Maj John Howard and members of the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry who had landed by glider to take Pegasus Bridge. He also met Lt Col Terence Otway and some of the paras that attacked the Merville Battery which overlooked the beaches. They set off with 750 men. Only 150 made it to the rendevous point and they didn't have any of the heavy weapons they were meant to have. But they attacked the battery anyway and despite taking 50% casualties they put the guns out of action.
Charles Wheeler introduced Otway & the paras to the German commander of the battery who confirmed that although they hadn't destroyed the guns they had killed so many men that he couldn't get the guns to operate at all during D-Day
Lots of other amazing tales were told, some horrific, some of how people had a reasonably straightforward day. He reminded us that of the two beaches where the Americans were landing, those landing on Utah beach had the fewest casualities of any part of the landings. Fewer than 200 Americans were killed. But just a few miles along the coast at Omaha beach there were about 5,000 Americans killed.
If the sorts of losses suffered at Omaha beach had been repeated on the other beaches then most of Europe would probably still be under Nazi control. It really was a close run thing and despite all the planning, there was a lot of luck involved, good luck for many, bad luck for some.
Steve
Excellent post. Thanks
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