Can't agree about Corbyn mate but the rest is true. Being the biggest empire in history we committed all forms of murderous brutality on the indiginous peoples we plundered.
That's correct...it's not a contest...hence me pointing out the patronising nature of the OP and subsequent shooting down of anyone who didnt/might not know. Point made...thanks for helping me out Fosse
This thread needs pictures... Initial invasion... please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Beachhead secured... please log in to view this image please log in to view this image There were over 7000 allied ships that day, 158,000 troops (I think). Crazy ****! Imagine being a German soldier in the turrets seeing all that lot turn up in the morning!
7 interesting facts about D-Day. - The ‘D’ in D-Day simply stands for the word ‘Day’. And is a general military term not specific to the Normandy landings. - The invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe was codemaned ‘Operation Overlord’. - D-Day was originally planned for 5 June 1944, but it had to be delayed 24 hours due to poor weather conditions. - All information relating to the invasion was marked ‘BIGOT’ (no not @DUNCAN DONUTS !!!). It's a security classification even higher than Top Secret. A vegetable like Duncan would never have been given access to it. - In the build up to D-Day, around 17 million maps were drawn up in preparation to execute the invasion. - Only Hitler could issue the order to the German Panzers to counter-attack the Allied invasion on D-Day, but he slept until midday on 6 June and nobody in German command felt brave enough to wake him. By the end of the day, the Allies had established a foothold along the Normandy coast, allowing them to begin their advance into France. - A fake army made up of inflatable tanks and trucks was set up in Kent, in an effort to trick the Germans into thinking the invasion would take place in the Pas-de-Calais. In fact it worked so well, that even when German Command in Berlin heard of the actual invasion, they thought it was a trick and refused to transfer personnel from Pas-de-Calais to the Normandy beaches.
Imagine being an allied soldier living through what the Germans hit them with when they landed, hugh coastal guns, mortars, rapid machine gun fire. Must have been horrific..
Another important fact. Not really focusing on the rights or wrings of the following but it's worth noting the sacrifice of many civilian lives as a result of D-Day. Transport Plan The Allies decided to weaken the German defenses from March 1944 until the beginning of operation Overlord by applying the Transport Plan. The aim is to hit most of the railway nodes, stations, yard centers, civil engineering structures. The cities and some villages are located at places of passage, both by road and by rail: Carentan is for example the link between the Cotentin and the Calvados, Caen is an essential passage to cross the river Orne. These are road junctions of strategic importance for the continuation of the fighting. The bombing also has more modest goals, at the tactical level. These cities and towns have bridges which are therefore priority objectives for the Allies. In addition, the ruins of the buildings and dwellings littered the streets as a result of the air raids paralyze traffic in the localities. Surveys done in the autumn of 1944 showed that only 7 percent of all bombs dropped by the United States Eighth Air Force landed within 1,000 feet of their aim point. Knocking out a target required massed raids and saturation bombing campaigns involving hundreds of aircraft at a time. The results in Normandy were unfortunately, a bloody mess. In total, an estimated 11,000 to 19,000 Normans were killed during pre-invasion bombing. 800 more French civilians were killed within two days of the D-Day invasion. Then came the Allied slog through Normandy. In total the liberation of Normandy killed 13,632 to 19,890 French civilians. In remembering the dead there is also the awful price in blood and home the people of Normandy paid for their liberation.
Visited gold, Juno and Omaha last year. Walked the beaches, gun placements along them too. Everyone should visit them. Very humbling experience. Spent most of the time crying. Did the war cemeteries. Found the grave of my great uncle. First thing I did when I arrived was go straight to Pegasus bridge.
