D-Day + 66 years

This day should never be forgotten!

The nature of war sure has . . . evolved . . . over the last 100 years.

 

My dad's cousin was part of the D-Day Invasion. He lived thru it, but died in an unrelated accident in August that same year. (His boat capsized and all his platoon was drowned.)

Thanks to all who fought for the freedom we enjoy today!!

NEVER forget!!

 

A very special thanks to all those who served in WW2. If we have any members here who did please let us know.

 

Amen! And thank God Hitler was such a tyrant that his underlings were afraid to wake him and tell him of the invasion. The story may well have been very different if he had been awakened when the word arrived. The delay helped the allied armies greatly.

 

D-Day was actually planned for June 5th, but the fog over London and the Channel was so bad, it was put off unto the 6th.

The French underground led the way in deceiving the Germans, and now had the job of advancing that deceit and redirect German forces to the wrong areas. They did a marvellous job and many paid the high price.

It was so secrative, that we saw all the troops in London, but didn't know why they were there. We assumed they were heading for Europe, but we had seen this so many times and still got bombed.

We Englanders will never forget D-Day and the Allied forces who ventured on the tough beaches of France. It was not the end for us, but it was the beginning of the end for all. Bombing continued through 1944 in London as the odd German plane made its way.

This was a great venture for England because we were just about at the end in 1944. The war had played out on us, to be honest, and we had little left to give.

I shall always remember.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Here is an interesting list of stars who served in WWII.

Art Carney, who played Norton on The Honeymooners landed at St Lô on the 15th, with 28th Div. As soon as he got ashore he was wounded and had to be evacuated. After weeks of basic training, AIT, months of waiting in England for the assault, he was out of it within just a few minutes. He said, "Never fired a shot and maybe never wanted to. I really cost the government money."

 

Interesting website, NiteShift! I had no idea that so many served in the war. One person they left out, tho, was Leslie Howard (who played Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind) also served. His plane was shot down, and he was killed in June of 1943.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Howard_(actor)

 

According to the link Leslie Howard served in the British Army in WWI or the Great War as it was called back then, but was shot down in a civilian aircraft during WWII. Yes it is amazing how many people were involved in the war. Just for the US alone, about 13,000,000 served in the armed forces, depending on who's figures you go by.

 

It's true that he was in the Great War, but he was involved in gathering intelligence for the Allies for WW2. His son wrote a book about it, and it is believed that Leslie Howard's plane was shot down because the Germans thought Churchill was in it. He may not have been a soldier in the traditional sense, but it seems he was involved behind the scenes.

A big thanks to all who served their countries in this capacity as well!!

 

Jim is correct here----not much is said about just how close England came to suing for peace with Germany----and still not much is said about the concern the Allied forces had in winning the war with even less than a month before Germany surrendered in April '45

 

England took out ads in the American Rifleman asking American hunters to donate guns so that English people could defend their beaches because the English population had been disarmed.

 

The general population in England never did have guns because we didn't want the local bobbies to take up arms. What guns that where available, were used by the Home Guard.

By 1944, the general population had had enough of war. We just wanted an end to it. We hadn't given up the defence of Britain, but mentally we had..if that makes sense to anyone who never lived through constant bombing.

I remember throwing stones at German planes over London. They were that close to the ground to drop their bombs, and I was only a teen then. By the way, I don't think I brought any planes down. I was running to fast for cover to witness the results.

Cheers,

Jim