D Day Commemoration

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itsaintfunny
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D Day Commemoration

Post by itsaintfunny »

Fabulous coverage from Portsmouth today and a huge well done to all those who took part especially the veterans of course but the days events were very worthy .
No Shot Sherlock
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Re: D Day Commemoration

Post by No Shot Sherlock »

Hear hear. Watched the Red Arrows from atop the Spinnaker Tower. Very proud today. Britain at its best, honouring the best of British (and the wartime Allies who fought alongside them).
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The Cincinnati Kid
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Re: D Day Commemoration

Post by The Cincinnati Kid »

Every person should take a single day out of their 80 odd years of life and visit Normandy at least once.
It is the most humbling experience you will ever have and the only thing that ever made me weep other than the time John Armstrong kicked me in the nuts and when my kid was born.
The way the Frenchies treat that area and those guys is incredible.
Heard an interview with a 99 yr old US vet today. Dude was a 1st wave medic wounded 3 times that day and ended up evacuated late in the day on the same ship as his brother. If that wasn't enough this was after being in combat in N Africa and Sicily.
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Fratton End Exile
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Re: D Day Commemoration

Post by Fratton End Exile »

Never been to Normandy, but have done the 1st Battle of The Somme Battlefield Tour. That is truly humbling & sad. The utter incompetency of military leaders in those days was just criminal.
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New Forester
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Re: D Day Commemoration

Post by New Forester »

"Every person should take a single day out of their 80 odd years of life and visit Normandy at least once"


Worth repeating. Do it if you can.
Avatar: Harry 'Brusher' Mills (19 March 1840 – 1 July 1905) was a hermit, resident in the New Forest in Hampshire, England, who made his living as a snake-catcher. He became a local celebrity and an attraction for visitors to the New Forest.No relation as far as I know :thumb
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Locky_McLockface
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Re: D Day Commemoration

Post by Locky_McLockface »

The Cincinnati Kid wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 2:59 am Every person should take a single day out of their 80 odd years of life and visit Normandy at least once.
It is the most humbling experience you will ever have
Agreed. I've been twice.

In 2014, we visited the Pegasus Bridge Museum, and a small memorial atop a hill south-west of Caen, known in 1944 as Hill 112. This is the highest point in Normandy, Rommell commented that "he who controls Hill 112 controls Normandy", and it was during the battle for this hill that my grandfather was decorated for bravery. (He was a nurse orderly in the Medical Corps, he'd gone to evacuate a wounded soldier, and realised that the soldier stood no chance of survival unless his leg was amputated immediately. There was no-one qualified to do so at that time. He had seen the operation a number of times, and reckoned he could do it. The way he recounted the story was that he gave the soldier a swig of brandy from his hip-flask, punched his lights out, downed the rest of the brandy and amputated the leg. He reasoned that he would either be court-martialled or decorated, thankfully his superiors chose the latter, primarily as the soldier did indeed survive.)

(As another aside, my grandfather also told the story of one of his comrades, who had gone to evacuate another casualty on the other side of the hill, and decided to go over the hill rather than round it, causing him to go through enemy-held land. The comrade's name was Wolfgang Billig, one of the lucky Jews who had managed to leave Germany prior to the war and internment. He was also decorated for this act.)

I went back in 2016, with my cousin, visited the same memorial and also visited the town where our grandfather was stationed during that battle, and which saw him have to bury his best friend.

We visited all 5 beaches - the museum in Arromanches, Gold Beach, is truly superb, and I thoroughly recommend it.

During that holiday, we also visited Mont St MIchel, and on our way back from there, we saw signs for a German cemetery, and decided to stop off. I think this humbled us more than anything else. It brought home the realisation that "Jerry" was a group of humans, fathers, sons, brothers, no different to our troops.
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Poacher Chimes
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Re: D Day Commemoration

Post by Poacher Chimes »

No Shot Sherlock wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 12:25 am Hear hear. Watched the Red Arrows from atop the Spinnaker Tower. Very proud today. Britain at its best, honouring the best of British (and the wartime Allies who fought alongside them).
Watched the Red Arrows from the bottom of my garden as they trailed Red, White and Blue over the City (and my house) after the events flying back to base.
Likewise, was mesmerised by the days events. It was very poignent for me as my father's ashes are scattered in the sea at Southsea as he was a navy diver at Gosport. Again, Sherl, "The best of British".
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Re: D Day Commemoration

Post by No Shot Sherlock »

Poacher Chimes wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 2:49 pm
No Shot Sherlock wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 12:25 am Hear hear. Watched the Red Arrows from atop the Spinnaker Tower. Very proud today. Britain at its best, honouring the best of British (and the wartime Allies who fought alongside them).
Watched the Red Arrows from the bottom of my garden as they trailed Red, White and Blue over the City (and my house) after the events flying back to base.
Likewise, was mesmerised by the days events. It was very poignent for me as my father's ashes are scattered in the sea at Southsea as he was a navy diver at Gosport. Again, Sherl, "The best of British".
:thumb
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