... not that long ago in reality. I'd waited to see if someone would post a thread because my Dad wasn't there, busy being blown up in Italy. What always hits me with anything like this is the difference between the newsreels of the German soldiers and our troops. The Germans are all big, steel-faced and arrogant ... ... our lads look like they've just been rounded up from the pubs & clubs, given a rifle and hoyed onto landing craft They beat them though, and changed the world despite enormous sacrifices. If the bookies were giving odds we'd have been 5/1 against. It was odds on par with a bunch of daft lads and journeymen who took on the might of seasoned internationals in 1973 and brought the FA Cup back to Sunderland. I'll be wearing me Dad's Durham Light Infantry cap badge tomorrow ... ... he wasn't there, but I have to do something to honour those blokes who were.
I think its worth, from time to time, being reminded of just what an incredible thing this was, from the intelligence and deception campaign in the lead up, to the planning, to the bravery of the blokes on the landing craft. The more you think about it, the more mind blowing it is. Paid a brief visit to Pegasus Bridge and Arromanches a few years back. Everyone should go and see it.
Father in law landed on D Day with the 79th Armoured Brigade on Sword Beach. Watched a lot of programmes this year, we've been over about ten times to Normandy, collected his French Normandy medal in 2004, posthumously as he passed away in 2001. This time of year is very special in our household and it's nice to see the effort the media are taking this year. We'll never forget for obvious reasons.
Having spent around 15 years living in France I've become very defensive of the French Resistance. Me and Mrs Smug love long distance walks and, during our adventures in southern France and Italy, regularly came across tragic little tributes to fallen Resistance fighters. In Normandy these brave people provided information to the invasion forces, disrupted German communications and engaged in firefights to prevent German reinforcements reaching defensive positions. Sadly they risked being denounced, to the Germans, by local French militia and collaborators. Part of my commemorations will be dedicated to those people ... ill equipped and acting on their own accord. God bless them all.
When we lived in the Charente for 5 years we walked in many of the forests around our village and found many memorials of resistance fighters killed by the Germans. There is a cemetery just off the main road to Angoleum contains over 200 graves of resistance fighters, it's laid out on a hill top with a huge Cross of Lorainne standing over it, the view stretches for miles across the countryside and just like the war graves in Normandy it has a feeling of peace personified over it. You don't have to look very hard to find war reminders in France.
The word 'patriot' is wildly over-used these days. These men really were patriots. I hope people read some history and have a big think about what they died for
Here’s a picture of my uncle who was one of the first in on D-Day 12:15am in the second glider to land at Pegasus Bridge. Up the Ox and Bucks!
Well said, Smug. Is there any sort of monument or memorial to the french resistance movement? We shouldn’t forget the comparable organisations in other occupied countries either.
I am still in Corfu and been able to read a bit while junior splashes about. Some interesting short stories about the German occupation of Greece , the Greek resistance and utter devastation caused by German soldiers when they withdrew. The equivalent of EUR 300 bn worth in today’s money. Respect to the D-Day boys and girls, the allied forces and resistance movements for their efforts and sacrifices. Cheers Grandad.
There are monuments and museums but it's still a touchy subject tbh. When we moved to a village, near Carcassonne in rural SW France, we were warned about this. We were told that some families still hold serious grudges from WW2. There were resistance fighters, collaborators and those just keeping their heads down. Worst of all were the Milice who were French policemen, and local fascists, who acted on behalf of the Germans, particularly the SS. They'd target the resistance or anyone helping them. We noticed the enduring hatred and people would cross the street rather than acknowledge someone from 'the wrong family'. They'd walk out of the local shop if the wrong person came in and wait outside until they'd gone. There was a great butcher, in the village, but we couldn't use it ... ... people we counted as good friends wouldn't use it so we stayed away and became part of this terrible enduring hatred. After all these years ....
I once read that the reason the French capitulated so quickly wasn't that they weren't brave or good fighters, it was because a significant minority of their military were sympathetic (Vichy) with some ideas coming out of Germany about Jewish control over certain aspects of society, this skepticism goes back to the Dreyfus Affair and likely even further back. This resulted in quibbling and infighting amongst generals rending them ineffective.
I still cant figure out how at least one Nazi spy didnt manage to get info back to Germany about the mass build up/departure of men and ships from Britain. I always remember the bit on The Longest Day when the guy has one last look through his binoculars before retiring for the morning and the shock in seeing the ships slowly appearing through the mist. Then the bombardment starts. The fact that they still had the element of surprise at this point baffles me.
You ever read much about the 20 Committee and the double cross system? They reckon that every Nazi spy in Britain was either imprisoned or turned. Which is absolutely incredible if true. The British intelligence services do seem to have been top notch at the time (the Cambridge spy ring aside) but I think were helped by Nazi intelligence being incompetent.
Just before I left the army in 1994 I had the privilege of going to Arromanches with my unit as part of the D-Day 50 commemoration. Talking to the veterans and hearing their stories is something that will stay with me forever.
Never really indulged deep into the details but I had read that we had a good hold on their spy network. But again, I would have thought they would have been at least 1 spy sitting on the end of a pier in Portsmouth harbor taking notes and sketches.
Will be having a quiet moment at 11 and a small grouse tonight (my dad’s favourite tipple). Edit too personal
