Pause for thought...June 5th / 6th 1944

[spanner570]

I have been exchanging P.M.'s with Graham (Fenlander) over the last day or so and he reminded me that this Sunday/ Monday is the anniversary of Operation Overlord (the Allied landings in France)......

I'm not trying to blow my own trumpet in posting this nor am I looking for any self gratification or praise for the model, it's not my style. But if you fancy, take a few minutes to have a look at my 'Omaha Beach landing,1st wave' diorama. It's in the completed section of the G.B.s'. I'm very proud of this one and I look on it is as a tribute to all those young lads who fought and died for us...

So whether you look at the dio. or not, (most will have seen it anyway) when you are having a barby and enjoying yourselves over the w/end, spare a minute, and like Graham and I, raise your glass and toast those brave people, whatever nationality, who were crossing the Channel to France, particularily those who never came home.

Ron

[AlanG]

Having visited the beaches and the graves in France i can honestly say i will never forget. A very moving experience indeed

[geegad]

Nice Ron I think as time goes on the younger people the less they know I will be remembering them my own way going to my granddads grave bill shorthouse he took shrapnel in the ass from mine clearing on that very day

John

[Guest]

Great post and very appropriate ,getting across the pond to pay respects at the landing sites is definately on my to do list. How about adding a link to the thread Ron,btw great dio!

[Guest]

Nice one Ron. As I said to you earlier, I consider the D-Day campaign, As it is popularly but incorrectly known, should be operation Overlord, is probably the most important few days in modern history. If those brave men had failed on establishing the beach head at such tragic cost, where would we be today? We will never know that but my instinct tells me life cannot have had the freedoms we now take granted.

[stona]

We should all spare a thought for all the men who were involved in the campaign,particularly those who didn't make it home.

It's a great dio Ron whether you want me to say so or not:lol:

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Even though i was not born then it is a period in history that i will always remember, between stories from my grandad and historys teachings, it is a pity most of the youth of today don't really care so much and some don't even know about it.

scott

[Guest]

Great post Ron , if those young men had not done what they did then who knows what the world would be like now , although not related to D-Day my Grandad (dads side) fought in Burma (the only place I know he went) and other places but never he talked about it even to my grandma , my Papa who was Polish (mums side) fought the Russians and ended up as a POW again like my grandad would not talk about it , as a kid my Nana told us little ones please don`t ever ask Papa about the war , and we never did , what I do know that man hated the Russians till the day he left this planet .

about to sit down and watch Al Murrays road to Berlin series which I taped last week from one of the discovery/history channels , saw it a few years ago and its a great view , brings it home what it was all about from both sides , very moving

Richy

[AlanG]

That Al Muray shows are classic. Kids should watch that in school instead of learning about the aztecs etc etc

[geegad]

That sounds about right

Al Muray is quality but there is only one war doc that's worth watching over again and that's the world at war make the little buggers watch that

Geegad

[AlanG]

That sounds about right Al Muray is quality but there is only one war doc that's worth watching over again and that's the world at war make the little buggers watch that

Geegad

Bit too 'america saved the world' for me that series. Good but very one sided in my opinion

[Guest]

I have the world at war on dvd narrated by Mr Olivier himself i like it and i agree that it should be a viewing requirement in schools, the attatudes of the young men and women in the 30s and40s were different than they are nowand that is very sad to see. I will ensure that when my child is growing up he or she will always remember the sacrifices that young men and women endured to give us what we have today.

Scott

[Guest]

My Dad was involved in this, never spoke of it untill he became ill and i think sitting casually chatting to me in the hospital was a way of getting the last remnants of a time he wished to forget off his chest.

In brief he was there on the 4th, meeting up with members from the resistance, so as to recconoitre as much of the area for "unfriendlies" and make good for the landing. After several hours and events (which i refrain from repeating) he was unfortunately caught in a situation which lead him to be shot in the head. A Frenchman (who i later just knew as Alf when they managed to emmotionally reunite in the late 80's) saved his life by dragging him back to the landing craft, and sent him on his way home. After 6 months in a coma and 18 months further in an Oxford hospital, he had improved enough to return home.

[Guest]

Save also a thought for the Channel Islanders. Although I now live in Jersey I was during the war born & lived in Kingston Surrey. But having been here in Jersey for 50 years I now know a good number of Jerseymen some of whom were alive during the occupation of Jersey.

Imagine their excitement hearing about the Normandy landings, so close, & hoping for liberation being the only areas of Britain occupied by the Nazis. They like the French looked forward to liberation. It was not to be for they spent in isolation the remainder of the war, 11 months, cut off & were starving in the end. They were the last to be liberated in Europe on the 9th My 1945 having been occupied from the 1st July 1940.

Some more. Approx half the population moved to England before occupation many having never left Jersey in their life. Most of the men eligible joined the forces & the women worked in all the necessary wartime occupations. They were & still are very loyal to the crown.

Those remaining in Jersey lived a hard life. For instance one a Doctor looking after the pregnant women & young babies carried out his practice in Jersey & was apart from his wife & very young family for 5 years. A funny side he hoisted up hid a Jersey cow from the Germans on the first floor of his house. A large number of Jersey men were taken to Germany & kept in the concentration camps from which many did not return.

A client & friend, now long gone, engaged me to design & rebuild their premises. The day before demolition he showed me around & proudly exposed in the 2 foot thick granite part wall a niche. Still snuggly sitting well preserved therein lay a crystal radio set. They gathered the news each night (London calling with the dramatic bongs) & wrote it down a number of times. This was circulated each copied again & circulated. Very brave indeed as a concentration camp existence was the inevitable punishment.

Approx 10 years ago my wife & I sailed close to the landing beaches. It was an experience I will not forget. It brought home the scale of what was achieved. Many of the caissons remain, sticking up rather ugly but proud way out in the sea, in the area where the Mulberrys were positioned.

Sometime years before that we visited the British military cemetery near Bayeux. One side of the road a memorial with all the names listed. Across the road a just exquisite English garden with the crosses of all the British & Commonwealth soldiers lost. We saw Sergeants of 19, Lieutenants of 21, Captains of 24. Not a one to show public emotion I was sorely tried that day & the tears rolled & still do when I think of all those young men being English the pride of Britain & the Commonwealth.

There were in those landing forces Jersey & Guernsey men & boys. Eventually Liberation came to the Channel Isles & this day has been preserved & celebrated ever since.

Laurie

[Guest]

It is always good to hear stories like this Laurie, these are the things that the tv never tells you about.

scott