70th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion

[Georgy Zhukov]

One of the greatest military operations in modern history. Even though the Allies had numerical superiority as well as sea and air, it was a long and carefully planned and very risky. Everything depended on the Germans not knowing where the invasion will take place. A very important day for Western Europe. Had the invasion fail, who would know what the political turnout would be. Churchill and Roosevelt probably would have been pushed out of office in favor of more pacifist politicians. Stalin would probably would have had gone as far as Paris. Basically the success of D-Day changed the political map of Western Europe forever.

[Axl_morris]

Ive been looking at several 'then and now' photos on facebook. Interesting to see dead soldiers in one picture and tourists walking about eating ice cream in exactly the same spot 70 years later.

Edited June 6, 2014 by Axl_morris

[Lio]

Ive been looking at several 'then and now' photos on facebook. Interesting to see dead soldiers in one picture and tourists walking about eating ice cream in exactly the same spot 70 years later.

By Chris Helgren ?I've seen them too. Very surreal indeed.

[Gracii Guns]

If anyone's interested in the photos, they're here http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/then-and-now-in-pictures-70-years-later-normandys-beaches-retain-memory-of-d-day-invasion/article18914332/

[Axl_morris]

Here's a cool interactive one where you can click on the image.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/ng-interactive/2014/jun/01/d-day-landings-scenes-in-1944-and-now-interactive

The pictures that Gracii put up but with them merged together

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/06/d-day-landing-sites-pictures_n_5458026.html?just_reloaded=1

A story about a Veteran being told he can't go to Normandy by his care home. He 'went out for a walk and never returned' and went to the Normandy.

http://news.sky.com/story/1276981/d-day-veterans-great-escape-from-care-home

[Thin White Duke]

At the risk of becoming the resident insensitive bastard, those pictures feel normal to me. I mean, life goes on, doens't it? And if we think about it, in Europe almost every square km has experienced conflicts, suffering, horror or relevant events of some kind. This is just more recent to us.

[Axl_morris]

At the risk of becoming the resident insensitive bastard, those pictures feel normal to me. I mean, life goes on, doens't it? And if we think about it, in Europe almost every square km has experienced conflicts, suffering, horror or relevant events of some kind. This is just more recent to us.

It would be good for veterans who witnessed the thousands of planes, ships and soldiers storming the beaches and then fighting into the fields & villages for weeks and months afterwards, to then go back see it all today.

I can see pictures of iraq in years to come looking nice being compared to the 2003 invasion. History repeats itself.

[Gracii Guns]

I'm sure there are many people who would tell me I 'should' commemorate D-Day, Remembrance Sunday etc. to recognise the sacrifice so many people made so that today I can live in a democratic country with the liberties that brings...

But what puts me off is that the celebrations always reek of patriotism. National pride in moderation can be a positive thing, but I'd rather the theme recognise how far the world has progressed towards peace and harmony instead of the emphasis on Britishness.

[Guest Len B'stard]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Edited June 6, 2014 by sugaraylen

[Georgy Zhukov]

I'm sure there are many people who would tell me I 'should' commemorate D-Day, Remembrance Sunday etc. to recognise the sacrifice so many people made so that today I can live in a democratic country with the liberties that brings...

But what puts me off is that the celebrations always reek of patriotism. National pride in moderation can be a positive thing, but I'd rather the theme recognise how far the world has progressed towards peace and harmony instead of the emphasis on Britishness.

Patriotism is one of the factors that have lead to the war in the first place. Except history calls it nationalism. Either way pride is used to justify the atrocities of war.

[Georgy Zhukov]

The invasion itself must have took a toll on German moral. Taking France is one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the German army. News of losses in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Front may have been disheartening but the idea of holding France was something to take pride in. Also France is pretty much the most desired post. The Germans believed they could eventually defeat the Red Army, looking at it from today it doesn't seem possible but back then, they actually did. So when the Allies invaded and slowly started taking back France, that idea of a final victory started to disappear.

[Axl_morris]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Did the neighbours answer with "fack owf you 'orrible old cant'

[Guest Len B'stard]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Did the neighbours answer with "fack owf you 'orrible old cant'

No, they just went 'Nein, nein!!! Raus!!!'

[Lio]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Great, such a historic place! And to think there's a pot smoking, swearing, wodka drinking Paki now living there...

[Axl_morris]

My Grandad (who is no longer with us) was polish. He was from Poland where he worked for a baker, and about 42'/43' the Germans were losing a lot of men. So someone's bright idea (probably Hitlers) said that part of Poland was Germany, so my grandad was pretty much forced to enlist.

Now he was never sent to D-Day but went to the Ardennes and other areas in and around Belgium/Holland. He was part of a 4 man mortar crew and was promoted to L/Cpl so that the 'real' Germans wouldn't hate on him for being polish. He said he was given maybe 4 or 5 Rounds to fire a day. The Americans would fire hundreds. He was injured and then he was awarded a 'wound badge' similar to the Americans 'Purple Heart'. After 18 months in the German Army he managed to find an opportunity to escape to the Americans. The Americans robbed him of his wound badge and any other collectibles from his colleagues. A scene very similar is recreated in a Band of Brothers episode.

Anyway, he came to the UK, never told anyone, not even his wife, until my dad was looking through old police records off polish immigrants 35 years later

[Axl_morris]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Great, such a historic place! And to think there's a pot smoking, swearing, wodka drinking Paki now living there...

I can just picture Eisenhower, Montgommery and this US General sneaking off to the toilet in between writing up intelligence plans to smoke drugs and take a big shite in lens toilet.

[OmarBradley]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Catch his name by any chance? Was he a general at the time or later became a general? I don't know of any American WWII generals who lived long enough to be able to come to your house in the 2000's (assuming that's when this took place?)

[Georgy Zhukov]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Catch his name by any chance? Was he a general at the time or later became a general? I don't know of any American WWII generals who lived long enough to be able to come to your house in the 2000's (assuming that's when this took place?)

They would all be dead by 1985. He was more likely a major or even a Colonel.

[Axl_morris]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Catch his name by any chance? Was he a general at the time or later became a general? I don't know of any American WWII generals who lived long enough to be able to come to your house in the 2000's (assuming that's when this took place?)

They would all be dead by 1985. He was more likely a major or even a Colonel.

Nah, probably a private who made the teas and shined the shoes of the generals. Gobbing off years later that he was a general.

[Georgy Zhukov]

General John Gavin was one of the younger US generals. He was in his mid thirties and died in 1990.

[Lio]

Well, maybe he only became a general after WWII ?

[Georgy Zhukov]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Catch his name by any chance? Was he a general at the time or later became a general? I don't know of any American WWII generals who lived long enough to be able to come to your house in the 2000's (assuming that's when this took place?)

They would all be dead by 1985. He was more likely a major or even a Colonel.

Nah, probably a private who made the teas and shined the shoes of the generals. Gobbing off years later that he was a general.

Maybe he was promoted later on. Probably in Korea or Vietnam.

Edited June 6, 2014 by Georgy Zhukov

[Guest Len B'stard]

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Great, such a historic place! And to think there's a pot smoking, swearing, wodka drinking Paki now living there...

After that a literary critic bought it and lived there for decades, when we bought the house it was stuffed full with all these wonderful first editions of all these great books, complete with a cutting of his review in there, im talking literally tens of thousands of books on any subject you can think of, all the classics too, just a wealth of literature.

The house i live in at the moment once belonged to US Army, during the war it was a base in which they worked out of. It was later partioned into two houses. Anyway, this old fella, an army general once came by and knocked on next doors, asking if he could come in and have a look around, him being one of the army fellas operating out of there. According to him the whole Normandy thing was concocted whilst having tea out by the pond in my back garden.

Catch his name by any chance? Was he a general at the time or later became a general? I don't know of any American WWII generals who lived long enough to be able to come to your house in the 2000's (assuming that's when this took place?)

Actually no but my Dad only told me today, mean to ask the neighbour, dont think it was recently that the fella came round.

[DieselDaisy]

Omaha was turning into such a nightmare that Eisenhower was seriously thinking of withdrawing the US troops and putting them on Utah or one of the British beaches. The problem with that is, there would have been a big 'bulge' in the allied bridgehead which the Germans could exploit, wiping out Utah and attacking the right flank of the British beaches.

[Snake-Pit]

My Grandfather protected something in England and went over a week later and my Grandmother was based at RAF St. Mawgan and worked D Day plotting planes for the WRAF under General Eisenhower who had taken command of the southern part of Great Britain and commanded the D Day landings - 'The day we fought back' I remember it being told to me like that.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Snake-Pit