D Day Remembered

[Andrew Mawson]

After my time, I was a post war baby, but it looks like the weather patterns we've had in the last few days are reminiscent of 5-6th June 1944, where a glorious few weeks of late May gave way to stormy weather in early June.

Original day of the 5th had to be postponed and the actual landings happened in a small weather window on the 6th, with a force 4 wind blowing. Fortunately the Germans were convinced that force 4 would stop any attempted landing. Equally luckily, they were wrong and eventually Europe was liberated :)

.... remember D Day

Andrew

[newshound]

+1

Interesting point!

[Graeme]

In message , Andrew Mawson writes

Tonight's viewing sorted.

[T i m]

We went to a boat show on Sunday and it was nice to be rowing around a few 'Little Ships' (reinforcing just how small some of them were) and moored next to a canoe built in 1945. ;-)

The two guys displaying the canoe took it up the Thames to a local pub but both forgot their wallets so had to paddle back un-refreshed. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Harry Bloomfield]

Andrew Mawson formulated on Tuesday :

Difficult to forget, it happens to be my birthday lol lol

[ARW]

Have a good one fella.

[ARW]

Several years ago I went to see my Grandad on Remembrance Sunday. He had given up driving and I wanted to see if he needed a lift up to the war memorial and a bit of company.

He said he was happy for the company and would I watch it on the TV with him "It's too cold to stand outside for me now"

We had a nice chat and he told me about his D Day +2 landing on Gold and a bit about his WWII experiences.

At Gold he jumped off the landing craft and ran up the beach. A man on a motorcycle then pulled up and shouted "Wadsworth get over here". He was then driven away to a command centre. When he got there they found out he was the wrong Wadsworth and he was sent back to his unit.

But yes remember D Day - even if it is for the wrong reasons.

[Andrew]

But the swimming tanks, didn't, and sunk like stones when the waves came over the top.

[Tim Streater]

ITYM sank.

There were a number of innovations, some worked, some didn't. The mulberry harbours and the fuel pipeline across the channel were two that did.

[dennis]

the swimming tanks won d day. The ones that sank were the ones the Americans refused to take close inshore and they didn't manage the couple of miles in open choppy water.

The ones that were dropped of close to shore on the other beaches saved thousands.

Its not a coincidence that the beach with the worst casualties was the one where the tanks sank.

[Jeff Layman]

My Father-in-law landed on Sword with the Canadians. Well, not exactly "landed" - his first experience of death was watching some of his shorter comrades drown as the landing craft ramp came down in water over

5 feet deep. Weighed down by heavy backpacks, they didn't stand a chance. He was fortunate, as he was over 6 feet tall.

[Harry Bloomfield]

bm formulated on Wednesday :

In part due to us sinking their fleet at the battle of Mers-el-Kébir, in July 1940 - because they failed to make their minds up whose side they were on.

[Andrew Mawson]

It would have been a major set back had the French fleet fallen into German hands - it could well have shifted the balance of naval surface power in their favour. Had that happened there may well never had been a D Day and Europe would still be under the jackboot. (Some would say it still is !)

Andrew

[Jethro_uk]

That's a tad unfair. And it's also worth noting that it's completely unknown by the average Brit, since the French refuse to make political capital out of it. They acknowledged that the UK had no choice, and had the situations been reversed, they would have done the same. Although I wonder if the UK would have been so stoic ??? Somehow I can't see it, although I am prepared to be swayed.

[Tim Streater]

My bro, who is married to a frenchwoman, was ranted at a few years ago by an elderly Frenchman on the subject on a visit to his in-laws.

I agree it's not much known about, but then neither is the English Bill of Rights.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Jethro_uk submitted this idea :

In my opinion, it was absolutely the right thing to have done. There was great pressure on time so far as the British were concerned and the French had to be pressured to decide which side they were on quickly, or suffer the consequence. They were given several good options and chose none, so the decision had to be made for them.

[Bob Martin]

We wouldn't have fared any better if the Channel hadn't been there.

Don't forget the Soviets.

[Bob Martin]

What did you do in WW2?

[Harry Bloomfield]

bm laid this down on his screen :

Things change, life goes on - I would not call any the enemy now. The war was an equally sad time for the Germans, the Italians and Japanese too.

[Robin]

Witness the way hardly anyone noticed the 350th anniversary of the Battle of Medway yesterday. Well, hardly anyone here: for all I know the Dutch may have made more of yet another of their conquests the English tend to keep quiet about :)