Remembering D Day

[frankthring]

Its June 5th and as you probably know, 70 years ago tonight the world`s biggest
ever combined land, sea and air operation took place in the early hours of D
Day - the allied invasion of Europe. We can never thank enough those brave
lads who gave their lives in that assault on Hitler`s "Fortress Europa". Of the
survivors, many past 90 years, this may be the last time they can visit the
battle sites, recall old comrades and pay respects. To them all I say - and I
hope you agree - thanks lads, bless you all !

[cockneygeezer2009]

Of lot of those brave men were lads aged 17, 18, 19 years of age on D-Day. I salute them and the brave men of the Allied invasion who lost their lives during the war.

[David Johnson]

Couldn't agree more gentlemen. To quote that great wartime leader, Churchill

" ?We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.?

Thanks to all the old soldiers may they rest in peace. May the memory of their sacrifice always be commemorated and passed on through the generations. Let us never forget!

[Arginald Valleywater]

Here here. I am not sure the current youth would be so keen to give up their designer jeans and Ipads knowing there was a good chance they would get blown to bits....

[sparky]

Back twenty and ten years ago there was seemingly much more coverage of this.

While there are ever fewer still alive who were directly involved or whose loved ones never came back home we must always remember those who took part and how different life today could be had this mission failed.

[Arginald Valleywater]

I imagine the US would have used the atomic bomb on Berlin....the safety of being out of range scenario always suits the US oublic.

[planeterotica]

My father was on the D-Day landings he was a gunner in the Royal Marines, they mounted machine guns on platforms to landing craft so they could get in close to the beach and engage the german positions to give covering fire to the main assault,

The craft he was on got hit by a shell and sunk but he survived otherwise i wouldn't be here, he said the noise of the shells going overhead from both the allies and the germans was continuous and deafening, and he suffered with poor hearing for the rest of his life.

He later went on to see more action in Belgium and Holland, he is in this old photo back row second from the left as you look at it. and just to give you an idea of the size of some of those guys he was 6ft.

[max_tranmere]

I agree. We will always be in their debt. I just hope these old guys feel that what they went through, the trauma they endured, and also what their pals died for was worth it. I think if we keep remembering them and politicians and the media see this as a big event worth remembering, and they have done that this week, then these chaps will feel it was.

I seem to recall at the 50th commeration people saying that may be the last one. I am glad it wasn't, there was then the 60th, and people said the same then. Now we have the 70th. They should keep this going for as long as there are veterans still amongst us. Harry Patch, the last World War One veteran, lived to be (I think it was) 109. One or two of these D-day chaps may live to be that old and as long as they are still around the organisers should keep marking this. I am still remembering and commemerating this event, the 70th, but looking ahead we should (and I'm sure we will) have the 80th and maybe 90th too.

[Peter]

Who's got The Great Escape tune in their head reading this?

[planeterotica]

Veteran talks for the first time about the horror of the D-Day landings.