Comm. My wife has just sent an email to the BBC News complaining their breakfast show had a feature on finger wrestling and no mention of D Day FFS. Her dad went through a nightmare and survived D Day, lest we forget, the media,are only interested in the big anniversaries when the Queen et al are in attendance but families remember ALL the time. This is the first year in quite few we haven't gone over to Normandy at this time of year and its,a big miss for us. We won't forget.
Everyone is harping on about Clay and the EU. But today is one day i never forget. Every year i read the same stories. These are the people who fought and many died in order for us to be free today. I will never forget how much we owe them.
please log in to view this image Where else to run to other than towards the mines, bombs, bullets and the dead bodies? It must have been hell on earth!
That is an amazing photograph, went to Normandie last year and the French really do go to town for the celebration's on June 6th. I'm was so proud to be an Englishman/Brit when I was over there. It must have be pure hell though stepping off of one of those carriers.
Although I'm in favour of Remain the cynic in me wonders if the BBC are specifically ignoring mention of WW2 until after the referendum to limit emotional responses affecting the referendum. The government want to remain and the BBC are in their pocket after all. Whatever else people may want to say of the French their reverence for the graveyards, D-Day and all that was done at that time is genuinely moving.
It's not just the French. When on holiday in Nord we strayed across the border into Belgium and the war graves there were also well tended and provided with memorial books. Admittedly not the Normandy landings but the remembrance and respect was just as impressive.
I found my uncles grave in Normandy a few years ago. The cemetery was immaculate. The French treat them like they're family. I'm guessing the War Graves Commission contribute to the upkeep, but the French put their heart and souls into maintaining them. It was very emotional, walking up and down the lines of headstones. So many young lads, younger than my lads, from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the US, India, South Africa, Ireland, as well as the UK. Sailors, Para's, Air Force, Medical Corps. You'd see the odd 40-odd year old, next to the 18, 19, 20 year olds. It just made you think, was he the father figure in their platoon? Did the kids look up to him? How did they cope when he died? Every school in Europe should be made to take their kids round these places. And Russia too!
Lest we forget indeed. The CWGC and locals do a magnificent job tending the resting places of our war dead. Following the invasion of France, the war cemeteries can be traced through Holland, Belgium and finally into Germany. As someone has already said, all ages, services and ranks and not all the front line infantryman. The "supreme sacrifice" sums it up beautiully..
I spoke with a grounds man at Omaha Cemetery who said that it is a great honour for a Frenchman to become a gardener at these sites and it is literally a job for life in the respect that you cannot get a better job. In stark contrast we went to La Cambe (German Cemetery) where Michael Wittmann is buried. The grounds are well tended to but the rough headstones make the place look very bleak.
Id love to go and see some of these places. Only thing ive seen is the killing fields and S21 prison in Camodia. But would like to go and see some of these war cemetaries.
During one of our several visits to Normandy my wife and I visited the small village of Crepon which is a few miles inland from the beaches. On a crossroads in the village there is a memorial to Sgt Stanley Hollis of the Green Howard's. Hollis won the only award of the Victoria Cross on DDay for several acts of individual bravery that day. Hollis is Middlesbrough man and last year there was a memorial to him unveiled in the town. Crepon is a small village but has a nice church and small churchyard. Whilst looking round we found the graves of two young airmen who were shot down on D Day. Their graves are cared for by the local community and we found a website which allows you to sponsor the upkeep of these individual graves which we happily donate to each year, it's just our small contribution to something we feel strongly about. There are so many moving sites throughout France and as has been said before the local French people are to applauded for their continued remembrance of this historic period, which sadly cannot be said for some in this country.
I can't remember how many but it is in double figures, it's all down to my father in laws involvement which is,something he never spoke about. He died in 2001 aged 88, he along with everyone who landed that day were awarded a medal by the French Authorities which was awarded after his death, to commemorate the 60 th anniversary, there wasn't a prouder woman in France that day than my wife who went up to collect his medal. Normandy is a beautiful place even if you have no interest in what happened in 1944, it's,worth a visit the beaches are wonderful and stretch for miles. It's our family connection that makes,us go back but we have said we won't go again, but we've done that before and returned so who knows.
