6 June 1944: D-Day

[ecc]

We forget at our peril.

[bfcmik]

https://youtu.be/sjaITUKwazc

World War II channel on YouTube are doing a 24 hour 'live' special on D-Day

[FigSlice]

I recently discovered that my grandmother's cousin was one of the frogmen who were the first to arrive on the Normandy beaches, helping clear the path for the troops. This is part of his account of what happened.
"We were supposed to go in at H hour, which was the very beginning of the assault. We were dropped into our craft from an L.S.I. at seven o'clock in the morning and went hell-for-leather for the beach, and arrived hoping to find the front row of obstacles on the water's edge, and not in the water, but discovered some two or three feet of water over them. We left our craft and got to work at once on posts with mines secured to the tops of them, specially constructed wooden ramps which were mined, and steel hedgehogs with mines and anti-aircraft shells on top of them, and we were subjected the whole time to quite a hot fire from rockets, shells and bombs.We must have been about four hundred yards from the beach when the firing first started, and they didn't forget to inform us that they knew we were coming. When we finally got on the beach we discovered that we were being systematically sniped, not only with rifles but also by odd bursts of machine-gun fire - a most unpleasant experience - but one that we soon got used to. As time went on we almost forgot about it until we realised that opposition was dying down because in the meantime the Army had landed and was dealing with machine-gun posts, mortar posts, and all the other unpleasant places Jerry had prepared for us."
I wish I had known whilst he was still alive.

[JohnMac]

They were and always will remain - The Bravest Generation.

[LeadBelly]

It's a bit concerning how little there is in the media today, it should always be proudly remembered.
The men who accomplished this action (including my own dad) did a heroic thing which changed the world for the good and should never be forgotten.

Hopefully next year's (80th) anniversary will be better covered in the media.

[karatekid]

Ask most young people when Independance day in America is and they would say 4th July. Ask them what happened on 6 June 1944 and most wouldn't have a clue. Sad state of affairs.

[Terrier]

I put a post on too late really ( 9pm) about the programme on last night at 9pm itv.
If you missed it I recommend you watch it on catch up, some very moving moments especially near the end seeing all the names.

[Claret Till I Die]

I put a post on too late really ( 9pm) about the programme on last night at 9pm itv.
If you missed it I recommend you watch it on catch up, some very moving moments especially near the end seeing all the names.

Just watched it again, same person chopping onions near me....

Lest we forget

[mdd2]

It is hard for those who have no personal or family recollections but one of my very close friends was post war in the Navy for many years
We went on a trip to the Ww1 battlefields and graves
At Tyne Cot cemetery this tough guy had to be helped from the coach to go into the cemetery bhewas so choked with what it represented and we then moved to the city of Ypres and the Menin Gate when the tears just rolled down my cheeks as I looked at the thousands of names of men whose bodies were still missing and the now almost 100 hundred years of the daily ritual of the playing at dusk of the last post by numbers of the fire brigade
I don't know how we can teach how much it cost to be able to harangue our elected representatives who in the main are doing their best without personal incarceration because if we drop our guard we will lose all that and we owe it to the fallen and battle scarred never to forget

[Lancasterclaret]

I'd be very surprised indeed if most kids didn't know about D-Day tbh

My youngest is off to France with his school and they are going to Normandy in a couple of weeks

[Vintage Claret]

Watched a couple of documentaries today on D-Day.
Really hard to take in what a massive operation the D-Day landings were and the months of planning and ingenuity involved and of course the incredible bravery of all those involved on the front line whether on land, air or sea.
They truly were the 'golden generation'

[tarkys_ears]

Ask most young people when Independance day in America is and they would say 4th July. Ask them what happened on 6 June 1944 and most wouldn't have a clue. Sad state of affairs.

And your data is ... where?

[bfcmik]

Ask most young people when Independance day in America is and they would say 4th July. Ask them what happened on 6 June 1944 and most wouldn't have a clue. Sad state of affairs.

Most kids I know wouldn't have clue, or give a sh*t about Independence Day, what it represents or who they got their independence from. Most know what the 6th June, 1944, represents, even if they haven't a clue about what actually happened on that day. VE Day and VJ Day are now mostly forgotten and irrelevant.
(edit: 1 letter that changed the meaning of the whole answer )

[karatekid]

And your data is ... where?

Data? I just talk to people and ask them. You know, the old fashioned way. Try it.

[bfcjg]

The bravery of those soldiers landing on the beaches facing machine gun,artillery and mines should never be forgotten.

[Lancasterclaret]

https://twitter.com/MichaelWarbur17/sta ... 2841969666

Saving Private Ryans opening scene remains the absolute eye opener about D-Day