langleybaston;

Not a Liberator, a 517 Sqn. Halifax.

I don't know him personally, but I have friends who do, and he is by all accounts a remarkable man. Respect to all the men of all generations who stood up and did the job when it needed doing.

You have my sympathy sir. My cousin has had to have both done twice already and she hasn't even turned 60 yet - it was definitely less 'fun' the second time round....

Thank you.
Apologies if I have told this tale before. I repeat it as told, and would like to believe it. The tale was told by a serving Met Forecaster of the days when he had worn the M half wing badge of the Air Met Observer, I am guessing late 1950s.
He had occasion to be passing through an HQ and was accosted by an elderly Air Commodore.
"Sergeant, what is that badge?"
"Err, err [greatly daring] Midwife sir!"
"Didn't know we had flying midwives, let alone men midwives!"
"[In for a penny, in for a pound] It's for the trooping flights, what with all the families and pregnant wives sir!
"Oh! Carry on".

As I said, I would like to believe it.

Now that we are at the 75th anniversary to the day, the importance of Stagg's met forecast (with due acknowledgement to his team, langleybaston!) seems more key to its success than ever. If he hadn't prevailed (his US opposites disagreed) D-Day would have been a wipeout. If he hadn't persuaded Eisenhower that the following day provided a brief but only just acceptable opportunity to go then the actual wx for the remaining possibilities in June meant that the 6th was the one and only chance to invade. What would have happened without D-Day? A Europe under the Red Army to the Atlantic Coast? Who knows, but the accuracy of that forecast was key to liberating the democracies of Western Europe.

Interestingly, Stagg's forecast that day excluded the observations from occupied France, normally available thanks to Ultra. The Germans had changed codes...

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/binarie...compressed.pdf

My father went over with the US forces on D-Day with a small group of RAF staff to set up an early warning system using radar (not sure if it was still called RDF then). He passed away 30 years ago but am still so proud of him. My mother was a young Austrian child who spent WWII hiding from the Nazis in the Alps along with her mother and sisters. I just called her and she is watching the D-Day memories with tears in her eyes, as am I. Thank you to all that fought such evil in WWII, you will never be forgotten, and thank you to all that continue to defend freedom or have done so since WWII. You have my humblest appreciation.

A BIG PLUS 1, Hokulea!

- Ed :ok:

Thank you very much Chugalug. I served with [under!] Stan Cornford when he was Principal at our College. Great man, great days.
Reading about Stagg, I fear that I would not have enjoyed working for him! However, cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Today inspired me to drag out what little I have on my late father's War service. And I have to apologise for him being a Captain RA at the time, with 59 Div.

As he told me, he was due to land on D-Day on SWORD, but fortunately a late re-arrangement of forces led to him landing c. D+7. Four weeks later (11 July) he was WiA, and the WO letter to my mother says "blast to left ear, perforated right ear and abrasions." Shipped home, he was then too old to be redeployed, and spent the rest of the War [as he had done before] on Home Service ... latterly on Recruiting. Overall, a nice safe war, unlike so many.

Te unveiling of the Memorial this morning at Ver-sur-Mer inspired me to drag out his map of the area at the time [Bayeux>Caen. CREULLY, Sheet 7E/5]. The map is, properly, unmarked!

We will ALWAYS remember them.

MPN11...

59th Division started to arrive in Normandy on D+21, with their first action being on Charnwood in Early July.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c32f483b10.jpg

Thanks, Wensleydale. Interesting.

Albeit viewed through the fog of decades, ISTR he also said he was an Arty. Liaison Officer to Gen. Crerar, so not necessarily deployed initially with 68 LAA Regt for CHARNWOOD. His few papers do, however, include a press cutting [presumably of personal significance] with Bofors L40/70 being used in the ground role. As he told me, that where where his ears got done in whilst trying to get someone out of the line of fire as the gun traversed to engage e/a and went 'bang'.

Anyway, who else cares [or knows]? He was just one of tens of thousands, and at least from my POV he came home. So many didn't.

Enough of my 6p.