D Day

[Murdoch]

This was on the chalk board of the pub we had lunch in today

Makes you think about the poor soles that were actually there 80 years ago

 

[Geoff1946]

I, for one, consider myself extremely fortunate to have lived through seven relatively peaceful decades.

 

[UNG]

I always find the 6th June one of those thought provoking days more so this year because it is 80 years and it is very unlikely that many if any will make the 90th anniversary

I know some of my relatives fought in WWII one of my uncles parachuted into Arnheim, my grandad was at some point in India but the rest of his army service and his experiences goes unknown as he very bluntly refused to talk about it for some reason he never liked the past or anything that gave any memories of it so he binned a lot of family pictures and history in his latter years although researching the family tree suggests he may not have had the best of childhoods

Many people these days claim to have mental health issues yet the veteran's of WWII had far worse to cope with seeing their friends and comrades killed or severely wounded yet remain stoic with their emotions in a lot of cases kept to themselves we will never see such a brave and courageous generation again as those who fought in WWII

 

[binky]

Many people these days claim to have mental health issues yet the veteran's of WWII had far worse to cope with seeing their friends and comrades killed or severely wounded yet remain stoic with their emotions in a lot of cases kept to themselves we will never see such a brave and courageous generation again as those who fought in WWII

Only on the surface, PTSD was uknown as such, and very much not talked about, but definetly occurred.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

I always find the 6th June one of those thought provoking days more so this year because it is 80 years and it is very unlikely that many if any will make the 90th anniversary.

Whilst that is very true, later anniversaries will still have other close family relatives alive, who can remember their loved ones and what that did for us all in a more personal and direct way.

There was an item on our local BBC midlands news about the daughter of the first allied soldier killed on D-day..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6ppnp69znyo

Unfortunately she never knew her dad as she was born 19days after he was killed.

Which makes me feel privileged and fortunate to have both children and grandchildren, who I can chat too anytime about anything important or trivial, in a peaceful country thanks to what people like her dad did for us all..
That poor lady was never able to have a chat with her dad!

As that chalkboard message said..
"We are Forever in their debt"

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

his experiences goes unknown as he very bluntly refused to talk about it for some reason he never liked the past or anything that gave any memories of it

I have heard numerous comments over the years from various interviews with army veterans, who also will not talk very much about anything that actually happened..

They just acknowledge their lost comrades with a humble heart and respect, and are very thankful that they were able to come back to continue their lives, pick up the pieces and start again....

I've also heard of a similar type of mindset with people who have survived things like aeroplane crashes where significant numbers did not survive, they they did!

It must be quite a complex mental concept to put into a relevant box and cope with..?
The big "Why Me" question?? (Which personally I have no idea how you would actually cope with!!)

 

[binky]

I think the not talking is about dealing with horrors they have seen and endured. Kind of mentally stick it all in a box and hide the box. One of the veterans being interviewed was still not wanting to talk

 

[Murdoch]

We watched 1917 last night which reminded me of the horrors of trench war fare

A lot of people these days have no idea how lucky they are

 

[binky]

We watched 1917 last night which reminded me of the horrors of trench war fare

A lot of people these days have no idea how lucky they are

Great film, the new version of All quiet on the Western Front is worth a watch too.

 

[ProDave]

Very moving day for me. My Father was a D day veteran, he survived obviously or I would not be here. To the best of my knowledge he landed a day or 2 after D day itself on Sword Beach as part of the Oxon & Bucks regiment, but by the end of July that had been disbanded and the men posted to other regiments, and my Father served the remainder of the war as part of the highland Light Infantry.

I have always had it on my mind that I want to be there on the 100th aniversary, thinking that will be "the big one" but I think I miscalculated and this was the big one, because by the 90th there will be no living veterans. So part of me is wishing I had been there this year.

I have watched all the programs about it over the last week or so and of course all the celebrations and the re run of the film "the longest day". All very moving.

Digging deeper into the events leading up to D day I recently found out most of the training for the landings was done not 10 miles from where I now live in the Moray Firth, using the beaches at Nairn as the practice landing beaches. Before discovering this fact, all I knew was he went "to Scotland" for the preparations for D day.

My Father never talked about his experience in the war, like many it was probably something he wished he could forget. But he did open up, just once, one Christmas nearly 20 years ago where he got talking to my BIL who has had a life long hobby of restoring WWII military vehicles and had a great interest in the war, and on that one occasion he opened up to my BIL and that is where I gleaned most of what we now know about his experiences.

We are all grateful for the life we have lived so far in peace and freedom. And I often think we are "the golden generation" probably the first for a very long time to have had that period of stability. But I look to the future with worry for my daughter and her generation, fearing she is not going to have it so good. Putin's absence from the celebrations this year is yet another sign of things happening now are modeled on the 1930's and we know how that ended.

 

[binky]

they did a lot of practice runs in various places, including here in Devon at Slapton Sands. The exercise was a disaster, German torpedo boats having turned up unnoticed, and they used live ammunition... The Sherman below was fished put of the water some years ago https://maps.app.goo.gl/Fbxt6pkkX7D7j2eF7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_Tiger

 

[kerching]

D Day my 18 year old father was a radio telegrapher ( morse code ) on a Motor Torpedo boat in the Channel. He never talked about it. Balls of steel every one of them