D-Day

[Alex]

I knew about the D-Day landings due to;

 

a) I was taught it at school

The D-Day celebrations and rememberance events

c) It interested me

d) A few members of my family were involved in D-Day to varying degrees

e) I've visited most of the sites of the air and sea landings and battles

Edited June 7, 2004 by Alex

[Scream]

QUOTE (Alex @ Jun 7 2004, 14:40)

I knew about the D-Day landings due to; a) I was taught it at school The D-Day celebrations and rememberance events c) It interested me d) A few members of my family were involved in D-Day to varying degrees e) I've visited most of the sites of the air and sea landings and battles f) I took part in D-Day

Did you really? My god you look good for your age!

[russelldust]

watching CNN coverage of D Day remembrance services I was once again hit by how FUCKING STUPID THEY ARE

 

Caption

 

"D Day Remembrance Services"

Under caption 'Remembering D Day'

 

Surely everyone knows that remembrance means fucking remembering...

 

... and to think they fucking saved us from eating saur kraut and shagging even uglier birds than the scots...

 

oh my lordy christ.

[Alex]

QUOTE (Scream @ Jun 7 2004, 14:29)

Well i'm probably one of few that knew a lot about this before it was ever made into some blockbuster, i.e. saving private ryan.  Even though most people know of Omaha beach they forget about Juno, Sword, Gold and Utah.  Then there was the Rangers that climbed up the cliff face (can't remember the name of it, but it's just off Utah Beach).  If only the allied bombing of the bitches had gone to plan then maybe the death toll the US had inflicted wouldn't of been so high. But then so many people forget all the other conflicts that happened prior to D-Day in WW2, where the loses were just as high.  The campaign in Italy where over 114,000 US troops were either KIA, WIA, or MIA.  Then there's the Pacific Theatre where again lots of people died. I guess what i'm saying, don't just focus on D-Day itself, as there were a lot of other areas on the world where fighting errurpted.  I mean after D-Day we had the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes.  Another case where fighting was thick.

It's a celebration of the begining of the end of Nazi occupied Europe, a time for those involved to remember those they lost and a time to thank those who despite the overwhelming odds fought to free Nazi occupied Europe and ultimately bring the end of WWII.

Edited June 7, 2004 by Alex

[BenRW]

i personally know a fair amount about d-day as my dad takes a keen interest in the first and second world wars and as such we used to and occasionally still do visit battle sites etc.

 

as a result i have been to all the beaches of d-day and seen what the terrain really looked like etc. and see how much effort the soldiers had to go through (saving private ryan does little justice to the actual locations that the soldiers had to fight on). The soldiers attacing omaha beach had to advance across half a mile of beach to attack the positions with little to no cover, and the actual capture of omaha beach was not done by direct assault of the defences of the 4 valleys, but by taking it in turns to walk over the hills in between the defences which were minefields (ie when the guy at the front 'finds' a mine then the next guy takes the front) A fact sorely overlooked by saving private ryan (along with so many other important facts overlooked so that the movie looks more spectacular)

 

My dad cannot pass by a military cemetary without going in to pay his respects to those who gave up their lives so that we don't have to face those horrors ourselves. And after visiting countless cemetaries with him, they are all different and all have their own emotionaly attachments. eg one german cemetary in normandy has a huge rosebed near the entrance, and a notice reads that buried here is the unidentifiable bodies, and body parts of 15,000 men who died fighting in the war.

 

I personally think that parents are the ones responsible for not letting their kids know about this sort of thing as i wouldn't have a keen interest and a personal knowledge of the locations and what happened if it weren't for my dad. THen again schools should be teaching more about it as well, but i think that the parents need to form some sort of interest in the kids minds first (just taking them to battlesites is great fun as a kid i found and when i grew up i then reaslised the importance and further details of the battle and when i returned i was no longer just running around trenches and bunkers for fun, but to have a look round and see the defences and how strong they were and see just how difficult or easyt it was for the attackers to penetrate them.

 

I personally heartily recommend a visit to the beaches of normandy and the surrounding countryside

 

[Ian Cashman]

QUOTE (Lisa @ Jun 7 2004, 09:28)

QUOTE (Louise @ Jun 7 2004, 09:10) some people dont want to remember the day that they lost everyone of there friends & 2 brothers, (this being my grandad), he wont speak about it, never picked up his medals, never mind go back to the place it happened & be reminded for 24 hours on TV, .... call my grandad ignorant if you will, but hes one of the ones that dont want to see it on every chanel and having a whinge about it    and to be honest i can undertand his reasons. just because someone complains about whats on TV for a day doesnt mean they dont care, it may mean they have other reasons to complain about it, sometimes its just way to hard to remember what they had lost & what could have been!  just think before you all jump on the bandwagon again and call people ignorant pigs.......we all have our reasons for thinking the way we do!! That IMO is totally different Lou, this is someone who is not ignorant to it, but is aware of what happened & choses not to remember, because of the pain it causes.   but there are many who are ignorant & oblivious to actually what went on & happened & just shrug it off. Half the kids these days are totally unware of what the likes of our grandparents & their grandparents before went through. thank you lisa

[Guest Kether]

Saving Ryan's Privates was a well good film.

[Alex]

QUOTE (Scream @ Jun 7 2004, 14:44)

QUOTE (Alex @ Jun 7 2004, 14:40) I knew about the D-Day landings due to; a) I was taught it at school The D-Day celebrations and rememberance events c) It interested me d) A few members of my family were involved in D-Day to varying degrees e) I've visited most of the sites of the air and sea landings and battles f) I took part in D-Day Did you really? My god you look good for your age! Being God I would do really.

[Guest RickD]

QUOTE (Scream @ Jun 7 2004, 14:29)

Well i'm probably one of few that knew a lot about this before it was ever made into some blockbuster, i.e. saving private ryan. Even though most people know of Omaha beach they forget about Juno, Sword, Gold and Utah. Then there was the Rangers that climbed up the cliff face (can't remember the name of it, but it's just off Utah Beach). If only the allied bombing of the bitches had gone to plan then maybe the death toll the US had inflicted wouldn't of been so high. But then so many people forget all the other conflicts that happened prior to D-Day in WW2, where the loses were just as high. The campaign in Italy where over 114,000 US troops were either KIA, WIA, or MIA. Then there's the Pacific Theatre where again lots of people died. I guess what i'm saying, don't just focus on D-Day itself, as there were a lot of other areas on the world where fighting errurpted. I mean after D-Day we had the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. Another case where fighting was thick.

And don't forget that at least 20 Million Russians died... If it wasn't for them and the fact that 80% of the German army was trying to attack Russia, the allied troops would have been royally screwed...

[Guest Kether]

QUOTE (RickD @ Jun 7 2004, 18:40)

QUOTE (Scream @ Jun 7 2004, 14:29) Well i'm probably one of few that knew a lot about this before it was ever made into some blockbuster, i.e. saving private ryan.  Even though most people know of Omaha beach they forget about Juno, Sword, Gold and Utah.  Then there was the Rangers that climbed up the cliff face (can't remember the name of it, but it's just off Utah Beach).  If only the allied bombing of the bitches had gone to plan then maybe the death toll the US had inflicted wouldn't of been so high. But then so many people forget all the other conflicts that happened prior to D-Day in WW2, where the loses were just as high.  The campaign in Italy where over 114,000 US troops were either KIA, WIA, or MIA.  Then there's the Pacific Theatre where again lots of people died. I guess what i'm saying, don't just focus on D-Day itself, as there were a lot of other areas on the world where fighting errurpted.  I mean after D-Day we had the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes.  Another case where fighting was thick. And don't forget that at least 20 Million Russians died... If it wasn't for them and the fact that 80% of the German army was trying to attack Russia, the allied troops would have been royally screwed... Hitler's fatal mistake.

[Scream]

QUOTE (Kether @ Jun 7 2004, 19:05)

QUOTE (RickD @ Jun 7 2004, 18:40) QUOTE (Scream @ Jun 7 2004, 14:29) Well i'm probably one of few that knew a lot about this before it was ever made into some blockbuster, i.e. saving private ryan.  Even though most people know of Omaha beach they forget about Juno, Sword, Gold and Utah.  Then there was the Rangers that climbed up the cliff face (can't remember the name of it, but it's just off Utah Beach).  If only the allied bombing of the bitches had gone to plan then maybe the death toll the US had inflicted wouldn't of been so high. But then so many people forget all the other conflicts that happened prior to D-Day in WW2, where the loses were just as high.  The campaign in Italy where over 114,000 US troops were either KIA, WIA, or MIA.  Then there's the Pacific Theatre where again lots of people died. I guess what i'm saying, don't just focus on D-Day itself, as there were a lot of other areas on the world where fighting errurpted.  I mean after D-Day we had the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes.  Another case where fighting was thick. And don't forget that at least 20 Million Russians died... If it wasn't for them and the fact that 80% of the German army was trying to attack Russia, the allied troops would have been royally screwed... Hitler's fatal mistake. it's just really ironic as Hitler always knew that the reason they lost the 1st world war was because they had 2 fronts. This is what he tried to prevent. Many Germans saw D-Day as the liberation of Germany. They were basically thinking throw in the towel and then both take on the Russian's. I wonder what the out come would have been then?

Edited June 7, 2004 by Scream

[Guest Kether]

QUOTE (Scream @ Jun 7 2004, 19:38)

it's just really ironic as Hitler always knew that the reason they lost the 1st world war was because they had 2 fronts. This is what he tried to prevent. Many Germans saw D-Day as the liberation of Germany. They were basically thinking throw in the towel and then both take on the Russian's. I wonder what the out come would have been then?

We were allied with Russia at the time. If we'd allied with Germany and taken on Russia I think we would have got beaten.

 

The Russians can retreat so far in their winter and use the conditions to their advantage. Attacking Russia is what did it for Napoleon too, does nobody learn?

[Scream]

no but you forget we would of just drop a bloody atomic bomb on them. As it worked against Japan and probably them too. They would of probably done it to the world cracked apart. What Germany NEARLY did was beat Russia. What made them fail and many before them was the weather. However Germany had already proven to be a lightening fast army, as seen in France esp. (there's a term for it in german, that i can't remember). It was a race against the weather in the end of the day. If they managed to take a stronger hold of Russia and stop Russia from regrouping then it would of been a different story.

Edited June 7, 2004 by Scream

[Guest Kether]

QUOTE (Scream @ Jun 7 2004, 22:28)

no but you forget we would of just drop a bloody atomic bomb on them. As it worked against Japan and probably them too. They would of probably done it to the world cracked apart. What Germany NEARLY did was beat Russia. What made them fail and many before them was the weather. However Germany had already proven to be a lightening fast army, as seen in France esp. (there's a term for it in german, that i can't remember). It was a race against the weather in the end of the day. If they managed to take a stronger hold of Russia and stop Russia from regrouping then it would of been a different story.

Blitzkrieg, I think.

[Scream]

yep that's the one!