D DAY

[Lid]

A very important anniversary indeed. It brought tears to my eyes. Somehow saying thank you is simply not enough.

 

As to anything like it happening again, I doubt it very much indeed. We have weapons now which can simply disable a complete advancing army by for instance blinding them all.

[Norrie]

Great Thread this, My uncle was with 605 Sqdn,(they put up 18 aircraft that night from Manston,) flying Mosquitos, he was over Caen on a special mission with two other Mosquitos at

0010hrs bombing and shooting the searchlights and Ack Ack emplacements prior to the Paratroopers going in,he and his co-pilot dropped the first bomb in the area. His log book states that "we were the first three aircraft to take part in the opening of this bridgehead of the Second Front.A very great honour" To say that all our Family is very proud is indeed an understatement. He and his Co-pilot were killed three weeks after D-Day.

 

[ 06. June 2004, 08:25 PM: Message edited by: Norrie ]

[chesters1]

quote:

---

He and his Co-pilot were killed three weeks after D-Day

---

Thats a shame Norrie what disgusts me is the governments both present and past clammering to give away what all these brave young men accomplished ,,our freedom from european domination :mad:

look around you ,at the moment cars for some reason have english flags hanging out of them ,seems theres enough "pride" in the country to support over paid ponces who kick balls but mention joining a european superstate they cant wait :confused: we should NEVER forget that foreigners want Britain as their own and now their noses have been bloodied a couple of times they are getting smart ,a full frontal assault wont work so they undermine us by getting to our leaders :mad: NEVER forget foreigners murdered a lot of British people and ALWAYS remember they will never stop.We are by geographic location seperate from europe and their murdering inhabitants and its best we remain that way.

i`m sure the millions a day we give to sponging foreigners in the EU could be spent more wisly say building better armed forces for when the foreigners attack again :mad:

if we give in to Europe and become just a province of a euro superstate run by our enemies then i`m afraid ALL the millions of young men killed keeping us "free" since 1066 have squandered their lives in vain :mad:

 

[ 06. June 2004, 11:04 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

[Lid]

One of my great uncles was also shot down and killed, although it was earlier in the war.

 

I agree with Chesters about the Euro-state. Why on earth do our politicians want us to become part of a super european state?! I can see the advantages of a common market for trade, but that's all it needs to be. For one thing we are far to culturally diverse to exist as a single entity.

 

However whatever happens with Europe, I don't don't think anyone squandered their lives in vain. Britain (and Europe)is what is today because of their ultimate sacrifice.

[severus]

chesters1:

quote:

---

if we give in to Europe and become just a province of a euro superstate run by our enemies then i`m afraid ALL the millions of young men killed keeping us "free" since 1066 have squandered their lives in vain

---

Hear, hear. I hope Britain never abandons its pound sterling in favor of the euro, no matter how advantageous it may seem to do so. It's part of your heritage, like the Union Jack.

 

[ 07. June 2004, 02:00 AM: Message edited by: severus ]

[yoxer]

LONDON (AFP) - Almost three-quarters of young Britons are so ignorant about D-Day that they have no idea what it was, where it happened and who was involved, according to a newspaper poll.

 

Of 1,000 under-25s questioned by the Daily Mirror just ahead of the campaign's 60th anniversary, 73 percent were unable to answer these three questions, the paper said.

 

Only six percent correctly answered all seven D-Day questions posed by the paper: What it was, when it took place, where it happened, the leaders at the time of Britain, the United States and Germany, and in which war occurred.

 

The paper printed a selection of wrong answers given by respondents, including a 20-year-old student who was asked for the date of D-Day: "I'm sure it happened in the 1960s. The precise year would be 1962, I think," she said.

 

Another 20-year-old answered: "Was it Tony Blair?" when asked to name the British prime minister at the time.

 

The poll revealed "an astonishing level of ignorance about D-Day", the Daily Mirror said in an editorial column.

 

...and it`s not much better in the US. In a CNN poll, 53% of the respondents don`t even know which country we fought in Europe, much less anything about D-Day but did assume that either john wayne or rambo managed to kick their ass's single handed.

[Little Tinca]

Sadly that is probably why yesterday was the last celebration. Lack of education.

The newer generations are not taught about they're countries historic past or anything about their heritage.

May God bless ALL the people who died in the war albeit soldiers,civilians and from all the countries invovled.

So many millions dead and all satisfy the ego and dreams of a despot and his cronies

[John Ellison]

My dad died last august at 83 years. He landed on sword beach on June 7th. He was machine gunned and lost a lot of his calf muscle on August 18th between Caen and Le Havre. He was told to ride a bike to work to build his strength back.

My mother, as a girl of the parish, as the young churchgoers were called, was told it was their duty to visit wounded soldiers in the hospitals and that is how they met. My dad used to jump out of his skin if he was watching a film and there was a sudden explosion. I've been spared all that, as have most of us. We can only suppose that had we been called, would we have done what was expected of us. I hope so.

[chesters1]

my great uncle on my mothers side was captured by the japs in the far east and subjected to horrific practices as a POW.

As a kid i was terrified of him although basically bodily intact it had affected his mind and his strange actions have stayed with me for 40 years,i can renember whilst staying in a holiday chalet next door to theirs ghastly screams in the night (he had violent nightmares) and him sitting blanked faced in a chair in the corner dribbling .Now and again he suddenly "woke" up and acted almost normally but i unfortunatly as a small kid ran from his advances (in a uncle way NOT the modern way) which must of upset him terribly

much later after his death i heard he used to still hide food and even urine about the house a practice no doupt learnt in his confinement :mad:

we may say the wars over and horrible things happen in war (on all sides) but his captors probably wernt instructed to torture their captives ,it arrises from tradition and upbringing and in this case still lurks in the background off the japanese and probably all races ,we may think that the human race has become civilised but in everybodies genes is the animal .

whilst to the outside we treat people as equals how little it takes to release the baser instincts of our animal predecessors ,best we stay clear of each others buisiness lest the animal is unleashed in WW3 and it WILL come as the past predicts

 

[ 07. June 2004, 10:57 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

[Norrie]

John E, A very brave man your Dad,my Grandfather was gassed in the trenches in WW1,(he was in the Scots Guards)and that is the same way he met my gran,she played the piano in the wards to entertain the wounded soldiers.I remember as a kid in the early 60's watching my gran take the bandages off his legs, and "steam" rising off them,course as a young boy,I didnt know what the cause was. to think that he and others like him suffered for so long is terrible.I dont remember a whinge or a moan coming from him at all.