Will you raise a glass tonight 5 June, at 23:16 hours

I'll drink to that.

cheers !

My father was on Omaha beach, landed many yards away and so many men lost he got a small group together worked their way up to the right place. He has the distinction of being the only man to fall asleep during the assault. He had previously taken Dramamine crossing the channel and was holding down a spot and dozed off, the guy behind him had to shake his leg to get him going again.

He had graduated West Point '43 and put him in the 1st Division, Big Red One, but no one told him to take just 1 pill not 3. His vacation in Europe lasted till the occupation. Amazing he lasted thru all those battles. He's still going at 87 tho not as fit.

I love watching the old B&W war movies, especially the British ones because it's a side of the war we didn't know about.

Damn right I will.

Neither of my grandfathers were in military service during WWII as both were too old and in reserved occupations but my great grandfathers fought in the Great War. One of them came back (I've still got his compressed paper id tags) and the other didn't even make it to Gallipoli. He died on the troop ship from dysentery. I feel grateful and humbled by the ordinary men who fought.

I'll cut the phlegm with a nice wee leepfrog

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Lacey:

The battle for the liberation of Europe had begun.

With no disrespect to the D-Day landings, does this infer that Italy was just a bunfight?

I'll raise a glass for sure.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Huwge:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Lacey:

The battle for the liberation of Europe had begun.

With no disrespect to the D-Day landings, does this infer that Italy was just a bunfight?

A point well made , if not for the efforts (including my dad) and sacrifice of the Italy campaign 100s of German divisions would have been available in Europe, making success there very unlikely. A forgotten campaign(not by those taking part) in many ways, a very bloody and difficult time. The fact was we could not have put enough troops on the ground to confront all the German troops, without making a third front.Plus Germany might have had enough strength to push the Russians back again.

Allow the German to salute the 'Greatest Generation' as well. It allowed me to grow up in freedom and prosperity.

quote:

does this infer that Italy was just a bunfight?

Definitely not. This was a World War. My father, for example, was part of the BEF, was evacuated from Dunkirk, then spent 4 years in India (and what is now Pakistan and Bangladesh) and Burma until the end of the war. Apart from the Burma Star Association reunions, I don't recall too many events that mark any of the contributions he was involved with. Doesn't make his contribution any less remarkable in my eyes.

Its just that today marked one specific aspect of that particular World War - but a very important aspect. Those who took part deserve the respect of all of us IMHO.

Cheers

Don

quote:

Originally posted by Don Atkinson:

quote:

does this infer that Italy was just a bunfight?

Its just that today marked one specific aspect of that particular World War - but a very important aspect. Those who took part deserve the respect of all of us IMHO.

Cheers

Don

Don,
I know and the respect is there, but the Allies went into Italy a year earlier and iirc the campaign sustained more casualties than in the entire Northern European theatre. Monte Cassino? Like BigH, more family were here and in the East and it does rankle a little.
Huw

If the Battle of Britain was, in Churchill's words, "The end of the beginning", D-Day - in a direct sense - was the beginning of the end.

But D-Day could not have happened without the Italian campaign, which in turn couldn't have happened without the North African campaign, etc. And equally of course the Eastern Front and Battle of the Atlantic. They were all necessary to occupy Hitler on as many fronts as possible. Divide and conquer.

But the decisive strike on the Nazi heartland which was necessary to the defeat of Nazism could only have come from a coastal mass invasion of Northern Europe, for which D-Day was the critical first day (and in strategical/logistical terms it remains the largest ever amphibious operation).

None of that takes anything away from the huge efforts and supreme sacrifice of those on other fronts. And moving forwards, the conclusion of hostilities in the far East couldn't have happened without the conclusion of hostilities in Europe first, for which D-Day was the pivotal point for the start of the final phase of the War in Europe.

No body doubts these things, it would not hurt to mention other fronts, which allowed the invasion to be sucessful . It just seems that ALL the remembrance is about the D-Day actions, in isolation.

Sorry guys but some of these comments verge on small-minded point scoring. I am more than aware of the sacrifices made in Italy, not to mention the struggle by, for example, the 14th Army in the Far East. The War could not have been won without the Soviets, either. I know the Kohima Epitath; I take part in Remembrance Sevices and I cry when I watch Old Soldiers talking about their lost mates.

I have been to Pegasus Bridge on a fair few occasions ( last visit - yesterday ); I have met some of the soldiers that took part in the action and it is one of me Regiments Battle Honours.

If anyone would like to post reminders of other actions then please do so; I raised this thread because the action at Pegasus Bridge is important to me. Google "Pegasus Bridge" and get an idea of the importance of the action.

M

Dear Mike,

There sacrifice was all round.

That the D-Day Landings were pivotal is not open to doubt. In other words had they failed then the War would have been lost - thought the Soviets would certainly have continued their drive West and taken possibly all Continental Europe - so one might add, in this case, the rider, "lost to the Western Allies.".

That many other moments in the War were also pivotal [in both the East and the West], is certainly also not in doubt. Had even one of these theatres of War been lost, then the whole War would have been also before D-Day could ever have been launched ...

ATB from George

We were in Arromanches a week or so ago. It's a lovely little place, and apart from the very obvious reminder from the remains of Mulberry harbour, it's amazing to think what happened all those years ago. There is a really good film shown in a 10 screen circular cimema, which intersperses archive footage with current views, which is well worth seeing.

Nigel