D-Day 70th anniversary

BillN

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S W France
Name
Bill
Pat Churchill, now 90 years old, who landed with 48 Commando on Juno Beach on D-Day, on his way to France to mark the 70th Anniversary

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with his wife and very proud son

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His wife has her fair share of medals

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All this group were 88, 89, 90 years old - there was quite a cold wind blowing off the English Channel, but they were singing and dancing with "the girls" - in fact one girl was "crying" with enjoyment.

You can identify each regiment they were in with the cap and other badges

The last image but one is "Leaving the UK' near the start of the crossing

They are all "quick snaps" as there is no way you can get by the "pro photographers"

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Such an important time in history, although for them at the time it was life. It is sad that we are losing this generation, but neat that so much of this is recorded.

Thanks for posting these.

Most of the guys were 18 and 19 year old boys - they hit the beach if they were lucky, as many were just mowed down in the sea by hot metal raining down on them from the machine guns in the German pillboxes placed high above them - these gun emplacements, (they are still there and I have "visited" them), were almost impenetrable - I hate to think how many men were lost trying to knock out just one.
 
Sherman DD tank

This is one of the Sherman tanks modified to be amphibious so that they could be launched from landing craft whilst still some way off shore. The DD standing for Duplex drive, they had propellors at the back which could be swung down to use in water. This one was lost by Americans during training for D Day at Slapton in south Devon. For 40 years it was underwater some 1/4 mile offshore. When pulled up the beach in 1984 the tracks actually turned. The tanks had a mixed degree of success on D Day with some being launched too far offshore in rough conditions resulting in them sinking, others however were successfully launched and provided initial heavy arms fire in support of the infantary

It now serves as a memorial to some 800 American soldiers killed in the disasterous training exercise "Operation Tiger" on the night of 28th April 1944, an incident that was covered up for very many years.

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Barrie
 
I heard about this celebration in Normandy, this morning at NPR. I had the impression that it is celebrated every 10 years? What stayed with me was the reporter's observation that this year, there seems to be a sadness in the whole event, with the realizetion that this may well be the last time that the liberators and liberated will celebrate the event together.
 
I heard about this celebration in Normandy, this morning at NPR. I had the impression that it is celebrated every 10 years? What stayed with me was the reporter's observation that this year, there seems to be a sadness in the whole event, with the realizetion that this may well be the last time that the liberators and liberated will celebrate the event together.

even if they were only 18 years when they landed ……. they will be 88 years old now

I spoke to half a dozen of them this week, ordinary guys with a sense of humour …….. one guy said to me "I'm a "scouser" (he was from Birkenhead, nr Liverpool), and isn't it great that the government are paying for a 9 day holiday for me and my son-in-law
 
Great photos Bil, thanks for posting them. Some of them are quite poignant and much ,more "personal" than a press photographer would ever get, I parlticualrly like the one in the second batch of the old soldier with the young lass, if it wasn't for him and men like him she probably wouldn't even be speaking Enlgish. It reminded me of a T shirt I saw a young lad wearing recently it simply said, "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read it in English thank a soldier".
 
What stayed with me was the reporter's observation that this year, there seems to be a sadness in the whole event, with the realizetion that this may well be the last time that the liberators and liberated will celebrate the event together.

I assume that this is a reflection of the fact that later this year the Normandy Veterans Association is due to be disbanded due to the age and frailty of its surviving members, so a doubly poignant time for those veterans who've been able to make the journey back this year. For any who go in future years it will be a much more private affair.

Barrie
 
I remember a documentary that spoke of the great achievements of the 20th century. The top two were space flight and "electrification", but third was the outcome of WWII. It's not pleasant to imagine the other possibilities. The WWII museum in New Orleans is a wonderful place to visit if you have the chance, and although it does have a US bias the other countries are well represented. This is a shot of the back end of a Sherman tank on display.

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My grandfather turned 18 on December 7, 1941, the same day Pearl Harbor was attacked. One week later he was drafted.

He rarely talked about the war. I know he was in Normandy at some point or another according to my Grandmother. I don't know if he was there on D-Day. Honestly, my mother nor my grandmother knew much about what he did in the war, where he went or what happened. He never talked about it. All that we have is some of his military stuff and French, German, and Swiss coins from that era.

Salute to the men of D-Day and the many women who supported the war effort.
 
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