View Full Version : 6 June ... that date rings a bell
Amazed nobody had commented on the date. I thought the Allied Air Forces were rather busy on that day, 72 years ago.
Tempus fugit :ooh:
RAF - D-Day (http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/D-Day.cfm), and especially RAF - Units (http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/Units.cfm)
JAVELINBOY
6th Jun 2016, 14:56
I always remember it wedding anniversary same day
I always remember it wedding anniversary same day
Clever, that way you'll never be in trouble for forgetting your wedding anniversary.
Dougie M
6th Jun 2016, 15:10
doesn't need words
http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag76/dougiemarsh/23e4d45e-df0a-47ba-9a79-9ed08b601ec3_zpsw4xbv9oo.jpg
Lonewolf_50
6th Jun 2016, 15:16
Here's to the glider pilots. What a bugger of a mission that was: fly in the dark to "fields" that were out there ... and there were trees around there as well. Crash land. You are now infantry.
Heck of a day. Our visit to Omaha beach, late 90's, and to Utah, was a real perspective changer.
Too many courageous/terrified men on that day to count ... on both sides of the Atlantic Wall.
My father was supposed to have been on the 2nd line of landing craft on Sword, but was fortunately re-scheduled until D+7. Didn't stop him being shipped home after being wounded on 11 July. Still, at least Capt. G, RA, survived the War
Wander00
6th Jun 2016, 17:10
We cross the Channel via Ouistreham fairly often - I always stand at the rail and silently salute all those who crossed or died on Sword Beach. I also have a thought for a retired Maj Gen who was a member of the Yacht Club of which I was Secretary, who occurs frequently in the story of the "funnies", the converted tanks that did all the odd and difficult jobs, and his wife, whom he had met when he was waiting on a landing craft in Portsmouth Harbour and she was driving a harbour launch.
oldpax
7th Jun 2016, 09:55
To bring that time back,read Neville Shutes "Requiem for a wren"
Out Of Trim
7th Jun 2016, 10:21
06 June 1979 was also my own D Day;
It was my first day in the RAF. I travelled by train and started my basic training at RAF Swinderby.
It always reminds me to be thankful to all the brave men that set off that day in 1944 to fight against the Nazi regime.
Wander00
7th Jun 2016, 10:36
Oldpax - written when NSN serving at HMS Mastadon, better known as Exbury, adjacent to Southampton Water. A few years back there was a dramatic presentation of Requiem for a Wren there, and if finished on Lepe Beach, where many years ago that very evening they had been outloading for Overlord. Hair standing up on back of neck
ian16th
7th Jun 2016, 13:03
Crash land. You are now infantry. Not quite.
They were too valuable, and under orders to get back to the beach and onto a ship back to UK in case they were needed again.
Not forgotten here >>> D-Day survivors remember fallen comrades 72 years on « Jersey Evening Post (http://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2016/06/07/d-day-survivors-remember-fallen-comrades-72-years-on/)
Included Ken Trent, DFC & Bar, ex-617 Sqn, and WO Peter Turley DFM ... I believe the latter [a tail gunner] bagged an Me-262.
Anywaaaay ... I got some reaction eventually ;)
Tankertrashnav
7th Jun 2016, 16:05
Forgotten Voices of D-Day is a compilation of hundreds of testimonies of men and women from all branches of the service who took part in the planning and execution of Operation Overlord. Some amazing tales of heroism and also some of sheer terror. Concentrates on the British and Canadian part of the story, which has been somewhat pushed to one side by Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.
Wokkafans
7th Jun 2016, 16:20
This page is worth checking out as it has composite photos of D-Day/Normandy then and now. Just click on each image to switch between the two.
Scenes From D-Day, Then and Now - The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/06/scenes-from-d-day-then-and-now/100752/)
Geordie_Expat
7th Jun 2016, 17:39
This page is worth checking out as it has composite photos of D-Day/Normandy then and now. Just click on each image to switch between the two.
Scenes From D-Day, Then and Now - The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/06/scenes-from-d-day-then-and-now/100752/)
That montage is really impressive and cleverly done.
Union Jack
7th Jun 2016, 19:39
That montage is really impressive and cleverly done. Geordie_Expat
It certainly is, Geordie, and a big BZ to Wokkafans for sourcing it and posting it.
As someone who has sailed along that coast many times, and in all weathers, it is very thought-provoking to be presented with such a stark reminder of D-Day and its aftermath.
On a minor point of detail, it's also intriguing to see that the current Weymouth lifeboat is berthed in the same place as her predecessor was in 1944, but what a difference in the size and form of the two craft themselves.
Jack
Landroger
8th Jun 2016, 15:49
Some friends and I visited Arromanches a few years ago and my thinking about it all seemed to shift very slightly. I had known about 'Mulberry Harbours' since I was a kid, but never really considered the why and how of it. I knew that it was intended to unload supplies, but I never realised just how closely Operation Mulberry followed the June 6th Landings. It turned out, it was June 6th.
In the D-Day museum at Arromanches, apart from all the beautiful models (made by Basset-Lowke apparently) and the relics and maps, there is a genuine photograph. It's about 10" square and is an aerial photograph, from 11,000 metres, taken by a German Jet aircraft - probably an Arado 234? - of the whole of Mulberry 'B' in full operation. Just before the storm.
What changed my thinking was in trying to get into the minds of the people who saw this photograph when it was developed. It is clear that the Allies had brought with them, a port the size of Dover - twice - and were already using it routinely. Had they been rational and thought logically, then their only possible conclusion was; "We cannot beat these people. We deny them everything, so they bring it with them. They bring much we do not have ourselves."
But then they weren't rational or logical, they were fanatical and so, we beat them. With concrete caissons, floating platforms and floating roads. Leading to a whole army of mostly black men, driving their hearts out, day and night, carrying the supplies they had collected at Mulberry 'B' to the fighting troops only miles away. Then tens of miles away, then hundreds.
We owe much to the fighting men, but we also owe the men of Operation Mulberry and the Redball Express.
Landroger
Landroger. A good post, most of which I'm happy with. Apart from this a whole army of mostly black men,
Where does this come from? I would have thought that the men shifting supplies would have been black in the same proportion as the rest of the forces.
skydiver69
8th Jun 2016, 17:17
Landroger. A good post, most of which I'm happy with. Apart from this
Where does this come from? I would have thought that the men shifting supplies would have been black in the same proportion as the rest of the forces.
Maybe this will help?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Ball_Express
At its peak, it operated 5,958 vehicles and carried about 12,500 tons of supplies per day.[1][3] Colonel Loren Albert Ayers, known to his men as "Little Patton," was in charge of gathering two drivers for every truck, obtaining special equipment, and training port battalion personnel as drivers for long hauls. Able-bodied soldiers attached to other units whose duties were not critical were made drivers.[1] Almost 75% of Red Ball drivers were African Americans.[4]
Thanks Landroger and skydiver69. Just goes to prove you can learn something every day.
Buster Hyman
9th Jun 2016, 01:44
My Daughter is doing WWII in history & I mentioned it on the day to her.
"Do you know what the significance of today is?"
*Takes earphones out, "Huh?"
"It's the Anniversary of the Normandy landings...you know, D-Day."
"Oh"...
Gets home in the evening, proud as punch. "I had history today and I told the teacher that it was the D-Day anniversary! She was very impressed that I knew!"
:ugh:
PlasticCabDriver
9th Jun 2016, 06:02
Not quite.
They were too valuable, and under orders to get back to the beach and onto a ship back to UK in case they were needed again.
Described by Leigh-Mallory as "one of the most outstanding flying achievements of the war.":
Staff-Sergeant Jim Wallwork (http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/jim_wallwork.htm)
yellowtriumph
9th Jun 2016, 09:52
Landroger.
My father was in REME and landed at Arromanches on D-Day. He never spoke about it much as seemed common among people of his generation. I do remember two observations that he re-told to my sister about the day. Firstly, the sky was black with aircraft and it was difficult to see the sky. Secondly, that as he went up the beach there was a loud explosion next to him and where his best friend was previously standing was a now a single army boot and heart. The tears still stream down my cheeks when I think about that. So many brave young men.
Stanwell
9th Jun 2016, 11:45
A chap I worked with had intensively trained as a paratrooper and had been champing at the bit to finally be able to have a go at the Hun.
Alas, he was held back from D-Day in order to be ready for Arnhem.
Come the day, within five minutes of landing, he found himself looking down the barrel of a gun, was taken prisoner and spent the rest of the war in the salt mines.
Bummer.
Could have been worse though, I reckon.
.
ian16th
9th Jun 2016, 15:12
PCB
Described by Leigh-Mallory as "one of the most outstanding flying achievements of the war.":I must admit that like most I hadn't thought too deeply about the glider borne part of D-Day.
But 3 years or so ago I moved house and change my membership of my local SAAFA branch.
My new branch was in the midst of a campaign to get one of our members to the 70th Anniversary of D-Day.
I'm pleased to say we succeeded.
Lots of links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/world-location-news/d-day-veteran-travels-to-normandy-for-the-70th-anniversary
D-Day pilot recalls mighty force | IOL (http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/d-day-pilot-recalls-mighty-force-1697230)
Alex (92) returns to D-Day landing | South Coast Herald (http://southcoastherald.co.za/42187/alex-91-returns-to-d-day-landing/)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLML4YYNDiE
https://www.enca.com/media/video/sa-world-war-ii-veteran-france-d-day-anniversary
Alex is a grand old chap, now 94, and still attends our monthly lunches. I spoke with him last Friday.