6th June 1944 - Operation Overlord.

[Gray]

My father came ashore later in the day driving his Sherman tank, the squaddie doing the marshalling on the beach was one of his work colleagues. You just can not make things up like that.

 

[bongsblue]

Went to the cemetery above Omaha beach in 2017. It is a memory which will always linger. The scale of it and the ages of the young men and women laid to rest there was sobering. The manicured nature of the place and the calm respectful air was a thing of beauty. Some years prior to that on our way back North to the Channel we went to the martyr village in Oradour sur Glane near Limoges which the Das Reich SS troops had visited on their way upto Normandy in 44 to oppose the Allied landing. They had slaughtered everybody in the village they could lay their hands on in some sort of pitiless payback for the delays the French Resistance had wrought upon them as they journeyed upto the channel. For those of you who may remember the World At War TV series narrated by Olivier, Oradour was the first place visited. War eh.

 

[kippaxwarrior]

Stephen E Ambrose book D-Day is absolutely outstanding about that days event but focuses mostly on the Americans

Max Hastings Overloard is also great but gives a more balanced oversight of the days event

 

[bongsblue]

Stephen E Ambrose book D-Day is absolutely outstanding about that days event

Yes it is as are Beevor's and James Holland's worthy tomes

 

[kippaxwarrior]

Yes it is as are Beevor's and James Holland's worthy tomes

Got James Hollands West In The West books on the audible account but not listened to them as yet. Didnt know he has done a D Day book and I've a couple of credits so I might check that out

 

[urban genie]

People forget that without operation shingle and the lessons learnt from General Clarks vainity lead fuck ups in that invasion, D-Day may have been postponed.

Although ultimately the Italy campaign was a success though and created a larger second front along with the soviets.


Those that completed the Africa campaign and Italian invasion were mocked by some MPs as taking it easy in italy while D-Day went on, we should remember that they were the initial invasion force but tend to be sidelined.

My Grandfather was in North Africa and Anzio.


Saying that D-Day was a massive operation and a major turning point in the war and we can be proud of and remeber all those in involved.

 

[bongsblue]

Got James Hollands West In The West books on the audible account but not listened to them as yet. Didnt know he has done a D Day book and I've a couple of credits so I might check that out

Yeah Normandy 44. Like most of his others a page turner. Quite impressive as a presenter as well

 

[manclad]

People forget that without operation shingle and the lessons learnt from General Clarks vainity lead fuck ups in that invasion, D-Day may have been postponed.

Although ultimately the Italy campaign was a success though and created a larger second front along with the soviets.


Those that completed the Africa campaign and Italian invasion were mocked by some MPs as taking it easy in italy while D-Day went on, we should remember that they were the initial invasion force but tend to be sidelined.

My Grandfather was in North Africa and Anzio.


Saying that D-Day was a massive operation and a major turning point in the war and we can be proud of and remeber all those in involved.

I'm sure that Churchill stated that Italy was "The soft under belly of Europe".
It still took a lot of allied troops doing a lot fighting to eventually capture it though.

 

[urban genie]

I'm sure that Churchill stated that Italy was "The soft under belly of Europe".
It still took alot of allied troops doing alot fighting to eventually capture it though.

He did in relation to call for an invasion of southern france after the africa campaign.

Italy was a better option and germanys tactics of blitzkreig would be inaffective in the mountainous north to repel a successfull invasion and rge Italian partizans were running the Italian army ragged so Italy was an easier target than france at the time.

Still the allies were hesitent to invade in 43 at first, but Stalin was pushing for an allied 2nd front along side the soviet one, plus it gave us almost full control of the med.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Dam busters smashing four German dams a year earlier meaning the Nazis had to spend money they were going to use for English Channel defences on the repairing of the dams.

Bletchley Park and their cracking of Nazi codes to gain the understanding that they didn’t expect us to attack where we did, and us making inflatable tanks and planes and putting them out at Dover to make the Germans think we were going to invade from there to Calais.

For both of those Manchester has its links as the Lancaster Bombers designed and made in Manchester were the bombers used to bomb the dams, and Alan Turing who created Christopher that cracked the Enigma code, would end up a Manchester icon.

And the German double agents, mostly non-Nazis who’d worked their way up the Nazi spy ring to be trusted with spying in Britain only to turn up and go straight to MI6 and work for them instead. These double agents fed incorrect information back to Germany about British plans.

Also to British Empire and American forces fighting in Italy, as well as the Russians on the Eastern Front, taking focus away from the Western Front so we had an easier time when invading in the West.

With Manchester also having links to the end of the war with Japan as well; with the work done at Manchester uni by John Dalton (atomic theory) and Rutherford (splitting the atom) which lead to atomic bombs being made and were the ones dropped on Japan which lead to their eventual surrender.

I’m currently watching Escape To Victory! But will be watching Band Of Brothers this week, television at its greatest!

My father in law was a gunner who after beating Rommel fought his way through Italy in some of the worst fighting of the war.
He was from Rusholme, not the British empire…