D Day

[Halton Brat]

Remembering this morning the crews of c.11,000 Allied aircraft which supported Operation Overlord. I hope that the Grace Spitfire is airborne today, in memory of her victory on D Day.

Saluting all who saw action on this day in 1944.

HB

[Dick Allen]

And today I must make mention of this:

Astonishingly good large-scale replica of D-Day landings is made by Swansea Air Cadets | South Wales Evening Post (http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Cadets-bring-D-Day-life-display/story-21179304-detail/story.html)

which shows details of an amazing diorama made by my Swansea Air Cadet Squadron.

[Dengue_Dude]

Yep, thoughts are with those still here, those departed and all the affected NoK.

[Wander00]

Thinking specially of Maj Gen J....W..., who I knew as a member of the Yacht Club where I was secretary- one of the leading lights in Hobart's "funnies", the specialist armoured vehicles that landed on D-Day

[airborne_artist]

Twenty years ago I was standing on the Mall next to a man I knew had served as an RAF pilot in the war.

I asked him where he had been on D-Day - "In a Spitfire over the beaches of Normandy" was his reply.

He was at best 23 years old at the time.

[Madbob]

My late father was always very modest about his war. As a child I can't ever remember him telling "war stories". However, shortly before he died in 2012 he did open up a bit.

He said that on D-Day he had been to see a film at the station cinema! What he didn't say was the station was Keevil and being a Stirling pilot on 299 Sqn his contribution to the war had taken place towing a Horsa glider over to France well before dawn. He stayed on 299 until Feb 1946 when he was de-mobbed.

So typical of his generation. We will remember them.

MB

[NutLoose]

I watched some of it on TV last night, I thought it odd Prince Charles, while laying a wreath was in what I take to be KD, while the rest of the army was in Brown, they wore medals, he didn't, and his trousers appeared not to match his jacket in colour..

Salute to them all.


..

[Halton Brat]

Nutty, 0/10 for spelling, see me.


HB

[airborne_artist]

Pretty sure that the PoW was in tropical rig. What's tropical about Northern France?

[Tashengurt]

The BBC keep showing a clip shot from inside a landing craft in which the guy in front of the camera seems quite happy yet behind him is another soldier whose face is full of tension and apprehension. It says it all to me. Young men pressed by circumstance into such a maelstrom. Their bravery astonishes me.
I thank them and those that stayed behind and made it possible.

[Wander00]

Some years ago, about 15 I guess, we were in the Land Warfare Hall at Duxford watching that bit of film, my youngest and his friend, 10 and 11 and me, and an elderly couple. My boy was giving a running commentary as was his want on all things military, and I asked the elderly woman if Will was a nuisance. "No", she said, "my husband was in the landing craft behind the man with the camera, but has never seen the film". Will immediately started talking to the man and I again asked if I should remove him. "No" she said, "let them talk". Will often recounts the story of that day.


Just seen the flypast of BBMF - nice touch to have the Dakota in the lead

[WE Branch Fanatic]

It is right that we remember he great deeds performed that day, but also we should think of the years of struggle and sacrifice that made the Normandy landings possible. I am thinking particularly of the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic, but also the actions in the Channel in the preceding months, the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties, dangerous low level reconnaissance sorties performed by Spitfires (et al) flying unarmed and alone over occupied territory, and the Bomber Command/USAAF interdiction of the German transport system.

Nor should the maritime aspects be forgotten.

D-Day 70th anniversary (http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/features/d-day-70) - RN website

The Royal Navy provided the majority of the vessels involved in the assault, a huge part of the escort, a large number of ships for shore bombardment, two X Craft for marking beaches, parties for control of the beaches, divers for dealing with mines, Royal Marine units, and Fleet Air Arm aircraft.

A landing in Europe was, of course, only possible after the U boat Wolfpacks and German heavy naval units had been defeated and the Atlantic supply line secured.

From the webpage: At 0527 hours on 6 June 1944, HMS Belfast was one of the first ships to open fire on German positions along the Normandy coast. The cruiser was the flagship of Bombarding Force 'E', providing naval gunfire support to the troops landing at Gold and Juno beaches.

My (late) Grandfather was a senior rate Gunner aboard Belfast at the time, so I will be thinking of him at his action station, working hard to lob 6" shells at German positions. By chance I have recently been printing out old family pictures sent to me by my cousin, including a few of my Grandfather. There are pictures of him aboard Belfast during Arctic and Atlantic convoys, and previously I have pictures from HMS Hood, his ship until he was drafted not long before her loss. How did men cope with finding out that hundreds of former shipmates had been killed?

How much sacrifice was required to get to the point where the Normandy landings were feasible?

[Wander00]

Just had a thought watching the Cemetery Service - GoH was TA, band was TA - are really that short of Regular Army personnel, or was it to do with units involved in D Day eg Sherwood Yeomanry

[MOSTAFA]

My dear Father died recently aged 93. Surprisingly not from old age but from not taking a corner correctly on his 600cc motorbike!

He was a wartime member of the 13th Bn Parachute Regiment who dropped into Normandy and again, later on the Rhine drop. He always used to make me chuckle at this time of the year by saying he arrived closer to the 5 Jun that the 6 and anybody that arrived after him would just have a hell of a job to catch up!

Myself and an older brother followed him into the Parachute Regiment many years ago.

[teeteringhead]

Pretty sure that the PoW was in tropical rig. What's tropical about Northern France? The Army seem to have the sensible practice - don't know if it's official or not - that if it's hot you wear the "hot climate" gear.

Many's the occasion I've sweltered in my No 1 at functions in UK or Germany where my Army colleagues were as suitable attired as PoW was.......

I do however recall one time many years ago at the secret Hampshire helicopter base, when there was a Dining In Night during a severe heatwave. Sensibly (unusual that!) a Tannoy went out "Tropical Mess kit optional!"

What was really sad - compared to now - is that 90% of the officers had the kit from a previous tour and wore it. At the time there were Sqns in Hong Kong, Singapore (2), Sharjah (moved there from Aden) and Cyprus; and SAR Flights at Muharraq and - in the then fairly recent past - also in Libya (pre-Gaddaffi) and British Honduras (pre-Independance when it became Belize). :(

O tempora o mores

[airborne_artist]

Wander00 - not forgetting that the only VC awarded for D-Day action was won by CSM Stanley Hollis, who had joined 4th Bn Green Howards as a TA soldier in 1939.

[Boudreaux Bob]

Reading a new batch of Books on D-Day recently.

The experience the attacking Troops had at Omaha Beach is heart breaking to read. Very little film exists to record that experience for us to see which in itself reminds us of the Death and Horror of that assault across and open beach littered with Mines and Obstacles and no place to hide from the enemy artillery, anti-tank, mortar, machine gun, and rifle fires.

The one clip of movie film showing a half dozen infantrymen right at the water's edge being gunned down is so emblematic of the losses suffered by the 1st and 29th Divisions on Omaha.

Combined effort it was, but it still took very Brave Men to cross that Beach, breach the German defenses, and defeat a determined entrenched and fortified enemy battle line.

My Hat is off to those guys, everyone of them!

[scubawasp]

Hear, hear

[Navaleye]

I have nothing but admiration for the servicemen that went there and put their lives in peril. My father was there on D plus 3 and ended up on Juno, the Canadian beach, miles from the rest of his regiment. He was not very happy with the Royal Corps of Signallers, neither was his CO. Brigadier Horrocks and if you watch a Bridge to Far you will know who he is. 30 Corps.

[cargosales]

They had it then and they still have it now...

Just reported on the Beeb:

Police say an 89-year-old British D-Day veteran who went missing after being told by care home staff that he could not attend the anniversary commemorations has been found - in Normandy.

The man, who has not been named, was reported missing from a care home in Hove on Thursday. It is believed he went out wearing his war medals under a raincoat. Police say they have spoken to the man and are satisfied he is safe and able to return to Hove once the D-Day commemorations are complete.


Respect to them all


CS

[Boy_From_Brazil]

A very emotional interview on one of the excellent recent BBC documentaries, nearly brought me to tears. A RN landing craft helmsman relating how he landed a unit of Americans onto the Omaha beach. Every GI in the group was killed.

The RN guy was also at Dieppe and had a similarly awful experience.

[Wander00]

Well, Mostapha "respect" for your Dad - he must have been a very special guy.


Medal for the guy that legged it from the OPH!


What a generation!

[Tankertrashnav]

But no medals for whoever arranged the events this afternoon, when a row of veterans were kept waiting in the heat while an interminable succession of "VIPs" arrived and were shown to their seats. On this day of all days the VIPs were already there, wearing their medals, and it was disrespectful for them to have to wait while heads of state and their representatives, none of whom (with one notable exception) were even alive in 1944, arrived one by one at long intervals. At one stage we were told that the event was running 25 minutes behind schedule - I bet HM was unimpressed!

No medals either to the BBC pair trying to fill in while all this was going on. As the camera panned slowly along the row of veterans they were obviously ignorant of what they were looking at, and weren't even able to point out the nationalities of those on camera, obvious to anyone with a bit of knowledge of capbadges and medals.

But then - thats the Beeb - why am I not surprised?

[Genstabler]

Very moving coverage on TV. Interesting to see Polish and Dutch Army contingents, though not picked up by the commentators.
Can't help feeling the organisers missed a trick. A combined fly past with smoke along the whole of the invasion beaches by the PDF and Reds would have made a mighty impressive spectacle, and they weren't doing anything else.

[Boudreaux Bob]

Two Civvie Para's on the D-Day Jumps.

Hollywood's D-Day Tributes Forget Invasion's U.S. Civilian Hero (http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2014/06/05/civilian-parachute-d-day)

[NutLoose]

Dick Allen, that's a superb model and you should all be proud of it.

[higthepig]

Amazon are selling some appropriate kindle books today reduced to 99p.

[NutLoose]

Nice to see the air cadets there on the news.

[Trim Stab]

Police say an 89-year-old British D-Day veteran who went missing after being told by care home staff that he could not attend the anniversary commemorations has been found - in Normandy.

Wasn't this chap was it? Age is the same.

Video: D-Day veteran Jock Hutton parachutes into Normandy once again at the age of 89 - Mirror Online (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/video-d-day-veteran-jock-hutton-3651063)

[CoffmanStarter]

Trim ...

I believe it was this gentlemen :ok:

Well done that man :D:D:D:D:D

BBC News - D-Day: Hove veteran disappears for Normandy trip (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-27735086)

http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article3655039.ece/alternates/s615/Bernard-Jordan-MAIN.jpg

[Wander00]

That would put the icing on the cake. Wonder if he will get jankers when he gets back to the OPH

[Halton Brat]

Well done the old boy! Effin nanny state, probably wanted him to wear a hard hat/yellow vest/safety specs! **** the lot of them old mate, go out of this world with flames shooting out your ar$e!

HB

[Trim Stab]

Well done that man

:)Yes, he looks the likely mischievous "culprit"!

I hope that I will have the same spirit when I am 90.

[ian16th]

Wander00 - not forgetting that the only VC awarded for D-Day action was won by CSM Stanley Hollis, who had joined 4th Bn Green Howards as a TA soldier in 1939.And only now is his home town looking to remember him!

Money in place for Middlesbrough D-Day Victoria Cross hero's statue - Gazette Live (http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/money-place-middlesbrough-d-day-victoria-7211854)

[smujsmith]

Bernard Jordan, at 89 showing all the pluck and determination he needed all those years ago. It's a great story this one, and might hopefully, make these care home staff take more notice and have more respect for their charges, who often have a better appreciation of life than they ever will. I salute this man, for making his great escape today, I hope he had a great day.

Smudge:ok:

[Wander00]

Noticed that at the Arromanches ceremony there was a UK policeman carrying a flag/standard. Anyone know who/what he was representing?

[muppetofthenorth]

Noticed that at the Arromanches ceremony there was a UK policeman carrying a flag/standard. Anyone know who/what he was representing?

West Yorkshire Police Band. Not sure of their direct connections, but they were there providing the music for at least 4 events today.

[strake]

After the debacle that was the Jubilee, I think the Beeb did a sterling job this time. Well done to them.
As far as the shows were concerned, all excellent but I think the vets were kept too long in the sun for the main event. As one of them might have said 'The last time we were here, we managed to get off the beach a damned sight quicker...'

[500N]

I think the coverage of this D-Day anniversary has been excellent
and good to see most of the leaders waving the flag.

That story of the Veteran who snuck off to Normady made my day :ok:

Noticed Prince Phillip got a bit emotional on one of the stands.

[Wander00]

MoN - many thanks


W

[Chugalug2]

Just caught up with the D-Day 70 proceedings on TV (out all day). Immediate thoughts; the Ouistreham do was too long and drawn out as VIPs arrived late thus keeping the real VIPs waiting, the 'playacting' on the Sword beach was bizarre, Obama's speech was excellent.

In contrast the Arromanches service was excellent, no clever clever timings with the tide this time, just a very British affair culminating in a sing-song. Good to see the ATC cadets there as well.

Best of all though was the sight of some of these 90+ youngsters kissing the local ladies and even having a bit of a jive. Old habits...

[NutLoose]

You may not know. But one of the Daks had travelled from the USA to participate, another from Finland, indeed they have come from all over, one even isn't a Dak but an LI2 the Russian built under licence variant

Dakota "Union Jack Dak" - Transatlantic Success! (http://www.eghf.co.uk/index.php/d-day-70th-anniversary/269-dakota-union-jack-dak-transatlantic-success)

D-Day 70 ? Pt.12 ? Daedalus D-Day 70th Preview | GAR (http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2014/05/23/d-day-70-pt-12-daedalus-d-day-70th-preview/)

[Dan Gerous]

Had a good chuckle in the car tonight when I heard about the absconder from the OPH, on the radio.

[NutLoose]

And good on him.. :)

[NutLoose]

An impressive item

Ferocious Frankie - flown by Nigel Lamb of the Fighter Collection up at Duxford - really lovely guy.

His father was flying a Mustang over the beaches on 6th June '44 - so a very special series of sorties for him.

Some excellent pictures from the drop prep, see

Going to D-Day 70th - in a 70 year old Piper L-4 Grasshopper! - General Discussion - LSP Forums (http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=50855)

[Landroger]

I was slightly puzzled as to why Aromanches was the BBCs base of operations, because it wasn't, actually, a 'landing beach'. Having said that, it was or became absolutely pivotal in the overall success of the liberation. I have known about 'Mulberry Harbour' since I was a kid, but I never really knew what it meant and how it was done.

Then I had a very brief opportunity to visit Aromanches last August and the Musee there. I was amazed at the sheer brilliance of the concept and its execution of the phrase; 'They brought a port the size of Dover with them'.

While all the exhibits, the beautiful model and the haunting view of decaying Mulberrys ringing the beach speak volumes, a single, 14" square photograph on the wall in the musee, somehow encapsulates the full meaning of the Normandy landings for me. It is a remarkable photograph on so many levels and one cannot help despair for the state of mind of the German High Command and ultimate Leadership when they saw it. And they would have seen it.

It was taken about two weeks after D-Day by a German aircraft from 11,000 metres - a jet aircraft. No photographic interpretation unit was required to see the fully operational harbour at Aromanches and the countless thousands of tons of material being landed and driven away by the inestimable Redball Express. Why did they not come to the inescapable conclusion that; 'We cannot fight these people'.

I shall certainly remember them - all of them.

Roger

[500N]

I think the Smile says it all :ok:

In his mind he is not 89 years old and that is what counts !


(Courtesy of the Daily Mail article.)

http://i60.tinypic.com/jb1obp.jpg

[NutLoose]

Watching Major General Cowan on the news, you would think on his salary he could afford a uniform where the shoulder board isn't full of holes where his previous rank badges used to live.

[NutLoose]

Fascinating insight later on in the war involving beer, watch to the end.

WW II Veteran Stories - Vince Speranza - YouTube

[GeeRam]

Some great 'then & now' shots of D-Day in this article, very well done.

Scenes From D-Day, Then and Now - In Focus - The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/06/scenes-from-d-day-then-and-now/100752/)

[CoffmanStarter]

We will remember them ...

[MPN11]

We WILL remember them, indeed.

My late father had a stroke of 'luck'. He was supposed to have been in the 2nd wave of landing craft on SWORD [?] on D-Day, but [according to him] Monty had then sacked his Brigadier, leading to a bit of re-scheduling ... as a result he had to wait until D+8. Subsequently wounded on 11 Jul 44 [gun blast and perforated eardrums] and evacuated to UK. When recovered, he was above the age limit for those being sent into Europe, and thus 'soldiered' on in UK until final release from the Army on 12 Feb 46. I therefore grew up with a father, unlike so many others.

I still have has Soldier's playbook and his [unmarked] map of Normandy :)

[Wander00]

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


'When You Go Home,
Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow,
We gave Our Today'

[Above The Clouds]

The "Then and Now" shots link posted by GeeRam are sole searching.

[CoffmanStarter]

MPN11 ...

I too have similar remembrances about my late Father. As a 2nd Lt. Sapper, he was landed just ahead of H Hour Sword Beach to clear mines, wire and other obstacles ahead of the first wave ... which 'attracted much attention' (his words) from the Germans. He was later awarded the MC for his actions during the subsequent battle for Caen.

[Danny42C]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/IND_003698_Garrison_Hill_Kohima.jpg/300px-IND_003698_Garrison_Hill_Kohima.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IND_003698_Garrison_Hill_Kohima.jpg)
View of the Garrison Hill battlefield, the key to the British defences at Kohima.

500N (your #47),

"...In his mind he is not 89 years old and that is what counts !..."
But, sadly, only in his mind !...D.

Wander00 (your #53),

This moving farewell is of course on the Kohima Memorial in the Burma War Cemetery there. By 6th June, 1944, the Kohima Battle was in its closing stages: the victorious British and Indian troops had got the Jap armies "on the run" after some of the most ferocious hand-to-hand fighting in WWII; the Japs would never regain the initiative.

But the sentiments expressed serve very well for all who fell in that War.

I was in that neck of the woods at the time, but still hors-de-combat following an unplanned al fresco arrival which reduced my "Vengeance" to bite-sized lumps, but luckily spared me and my gunner. It would have made no difference anyway, as the decision had been taken (prematurely in my [widely shared] view) to pull all the six VV sqns in Burma off 'ops' on the onset of the '44 Monsoon. We would never again dive "in anger"....D.

Cheers, Danny.

[TBM-Legend]

Don't forget the RAAF contributed 11 squadrons to D-Day push plus many aircrew in the RAF including my great friend Flt Lt Murray Adams MID now 96 who flew Spitfire IX's then Tempests [and P-40's/Hurricanes/Gladiators] with 80 Sqn on that day...
Australian contribution to the Battle of Normandy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_contribution_to_the_Battle_of_Normandy)

[Turbine D]

When I went to college, the residences on campus were filled and I stayed in a home with a family in town. Their only child, a son, was killed on Omaha Beach in the first wave of D-Day landings. I could still see their loss in their eyes. I think they appreciated my staying with them, perhaps as somewhat filling the void in their son's loss. We all owe so much to those who fought tyranny and by their dedication, providing our freedom that we enjoy today. Let us never forget…

[Robert Cooper]

Well said turbine D

Bob C :ok: