At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them

It's the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings , the final push to liberate France and end WW2 , 156,000 Allied troops took part in the mission many made it made it no further than the beaches but it was an effort that would see Nazi Germany defeated within 11 months.





May we never never forget the sacrifice given to secure our freedom

a reply to: gortex
I wonder if other nations use that poem; "They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old..."
My father was in the invasion force, but not (fortunately for me) on D-Day, and survived to tell the tale.

a reply to: DISRAELI
P.S. The viewpoint from home;
Here is the letter which his mother wrote to my mother on that day, which must have been typical of many thousands of families across the country;

Cabourne,
Caistor,
Lincoln
6-6-44

My Dear Barbara,

The great day has arrived at last; although we have been daily expecting it, it comes as a shock to hear it announced, that it has really happened. We expect that Ben would have to go. From what they said on the wireless, I suppose that you won’t have seen him for a few days , at least.
When I heard the news, my thoughts flew at once to you & I wondered, if he had gone & when you saw him last., how very glad I am that he called in to see us. I can hardly think it was true, even yet; you must write & let us know as much as you can Barbara, & I’m afraid that it will be precious little, they have kept everything very hush-hush.
But it was nice that you were so near to him, there seem to be such a lot of people, who have no idea at all where their boys have been living lately.
Well, my dear, we wish them all good luck in this great venture & pray that God will take care of them & bring them safely home.
We trust that you are keeping well, Ben will know that you have a comfortable home & be well looked after, by Mrs Jones.
We are all nicely at home, hope you soon have news from Ben.
Love from all,
Mother & all
XXXX

P.S. write soon

a reply to: gortex

So few of that generation left to us. All we really have now are their deeds.

At the time, my father and his squadron mates were in the midst of the bloody slog across the Pacific.

I've already taken a moment to remember.

It's a stark realization that many of those men were not even half my age...

So were many of their enemies. Boys, really...though not for much longer.

Those that are left? Thank you. Those that are gone from us, though not forgotten, rest well, you earned it.





Again, thank you.

Jim Radford , a Normandy invasion veteran who went on to become a folk singer , in an interview I heard with him earlier today Jim say this was the first song he wrote , he performs it now for his fallen comrades.

Just watched a very good documentary last night and I would recommend watching the entire series.





Sorry..just realized you have to watch on youtube

a reply to: gortex

Here's to thank all those few who gave so much for us many, back then and on down through time.
War is an ugly necessity but I believe it provides the human race with an impetus for evolution both social and technological. Furthermore who knows where we would be now if D-Day had failed.

Look up the Raid at Dieppe. That was a 'dress rehearsal.'

a reply to: gortex

I could never thank them enough. I will never forget their sacrifices.

a reply to: gortex

My great grandfather was one of the many that landed on the beach of Normandy.
He was shot 2 times and still moved forward.
The greatest man I have ever known.
He never spoke of what happened but when he passed I found his journal and he kept in great detail of what transpired. He lost many but never looked back.

The Normandy Beach landing sequence in Saving Private Ryan is still in my opinion of the most powerful things that movies have ever given us.

Having recently completed Band of Brothers and seeing that the men being portrayed in it were real life every day living people makes you appreciate the simplicity of life when everyone thinks they have it so hard.

Finally this clip is the 97 year old vet who jumped back into Normandy today. It was a tandem jump with his wife waiting on the ground along with many other people. I think of how different his emotions and perspective must have been the first time he made that jump.

www.cnn.com...

a reply to: Allaroundyou

I got really lucky, many years ago. My friends daughter wanted to do an interview with a WWII vet, and my stepfathers dad was there on D day, and agreed to be interviewed. I only wish now we would have ask even more questions. I've thought about posting the video, but I would only want people on this site to be able to see it, not the whole web, and I don't know how to do that. He also kept journals that he wrote in, every day of his adult life. Definitely a family treasure.

And he told his son that Saving Private Ryan was the most accurate movie about that day.

a reply to: chiefsmom
My late Uncle John, petty officer with the Royal Navy, was Killed on D-Day and was laid to rest in a Military grave at Le Havre, France. May he rest I Peace.

a reply to: steaming

And watch over you, in him his relatives he still lives and in God's arm's he and the other young boy's whom lay down there lives in that war rest together brothers in peace even those that were not in war.

My two uncles lied about there age and joined up and fought in Burma, my paternal grandfather lost three ship's under him to German torpedoes - after the war his best friend whom had survived alongside him put his head into a gas oven and killed himself only week's after being demobbed (we don't know what my mother's father did as he was military intelligence just before the war and was likely called back into service), a lot of the family died in the war, two brothers walking down the road and a bomb dropped by a German plane hit one of them killing him outright they were civilian's - this was in Liverpool there are similar story's all over the country - there was nothing left, my mother's cousin, just another of many flight lieutenant William Beverly was killed in action as well.

Between the two wars our family's all lost a lot of good young men and yet today's generation know so little of it and often simply do not care, sadly as it was not too long ago when the last WW1 veteran's passed away so it shall soon be with the WW2, who will mark there passing and who will remember them in the generations to come.

Too many today think the wars and conflicts and the sacrifice paid in young blood as the best of the nation laid down there lives so that today's generations could be born in a free world are not relevant to them and yet how wrong they are.

As a child my mother used to look out of the cellar window before she was evacuated to Wales and watch the German bombers and fighter planes fighting over the city, one day a bomb landed on the door step, this as a big house no 81 Belmont road in Liverpool long since demolished and my mother's half brother Alfred whom later lied about his age with her other half brother William and both served in Burma picked it up and took it away from the house in his arm's were it later exploded or it would likely have taken the house with it.