d-day 60th anniversary

[sir_drinks_alot]

This weekend will mark the 60th anniversary of d-day one of The most definitive days of all time with out the Courage And will of Those brave man and women to fight for the freedom of Europe we would not stand here today I ask You now to pray for the Fallen and give thinks to the few who still stand

[Jerrek]

Originally Posted by Dwight D. Eisenhower

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have
striven these many months. The eyes of liberty loving people everywhere
march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on
other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war
machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of
Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well
equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of
1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats,
in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their
strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home
Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions
of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.
The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to
Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in
battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great
and noble undertaking.


SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower


Order of the Day
June 6, 1944

United States Army       United Kingdom Land Forces

First Army               Second British Army
V Corps                  1st British Corps
VII Corps                30th British Corps
1st Infantry Division    3rd British Infantry Division
4th Infantry Division    6th British Airborne Division
29th Infantry Division   50th British Infantry Division
82nd Airborne Division   3rd Canadian Infantry Division
101st Airborne Division

Air Forces

U.S. Army Air Forces     Royal Air Forces

Eighth Air Force         2nd Tactical Air Force
Ninth Air Force

Allied Expeditionary Naval Forces

Western Task Force       Eastern Task Force
(United States)          (British)

[Xaccers]

Words cannot describe how proud I am of them all

[sir_drinks_alot]

this is the hour this is the day !!!!

d-day +60

[Pea-Pod]

What they went through, especially the first wave attack on D-Day must have been harrowing to say the least. Their comrades around them dropping like flies, you cannot begin to wonder just how much you owe to those brave soldiers of the 2nd World War.

[Nemesis]

God Bless them all ... my thoughts and feelings will be with them all day ..

[Russ]

What an emotional day. Their names will live on forever.

[TigaSefi]

It still angers me when I say D Day is the most important day in the 20th Century for the British and Europeans to young ppl and they shrug it off and and say so what? grrrrr...... Still it nice to see everyone making an effort in France.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by Pea-Pod

What they went through, especially the first wave attack on D-Day must have been harrowing to say the least. Their comrades around them dropping like flies, you cannot begin to wonder just how much you owe to those brave soldiers of the 2nd World War.

I hope that by soldiers you also mean sailors, airmen and civilians who all played a vital part in what happened that day.

My father was in the Royal Navy and was on one of the first Landing Craft Tanks that went in on D Day. He had prevously been in a similar position on 10th July 1943 when the Allies invaded Sicily. At Sicily he landed at the exact time that I was born.

One of my uncles was also in the Royal Navy, being one of the few survivors when his ship, HMS Wakeful, went down during the allied evacuation in 1940 with great loss of life after being torpedoed.

[Ramrod]

I get quite emotional thinking about it all

[Paul K]

They deserve to be remembered and they deserve to be looked after and respected.
Sometimes we forget the efforts of the past too easily Before too long there will be no more world war veterans left, treat them well now and remember them with pride when they are no longer with us.

[Ramrod]

Originally Posted by Paul

They deserve to be remembered and they deserve to be looked after and respected.
Sometimes we forget the efforts of the past too easily Before too long there will be no more world war veterans left, treat them well now and remember them with pride when they are no longer with us.

Someone needs to point that out to the government

Originally Posted by TigaSefi

It still angers me when I say D Day is the most important day in the 20th Century for the British and Europeans to young ppl and they shrug it off and and say so what? grrrrr...... Still it nice to see everyone making an effort in France.

It is hardly surprising though is it ? You can't expect young people today to get worked up over something that happened 60 years ago - to them it is another time and world, no more real than something set 60 years in the future.

[pooroldjoe]

Sixty years ago today, I was in a Signals Office "somewhere in England" as the saying was at the time. Actually it was in a concrete bunker under the War Office in Whitehall.
The main means of communication at the time was by Morse Code, and there was a room full of Radio operators, both men and women, transcribing the incoming traffic. There wasn't much from the beaches on the first day, most of the messages were by voice to the support ships, which were then retransmitted in morse back to Command.
Initially the messages were situation reports, some quite encouraging, but later in the day casualty counts started coming in. Although of course messages should have been encoded, in the heat of battle this was not always posible, and many of the reports were in clear.
My most vivid memory of the day was of a young girl, an ATS radio operator, busy transcribing away page after page, with tears streaming down her face. Her supervisor ordered her to take a break, but she refused so as not to let the side down. Eventially she had to be forcibly removed from her station and taken to the Sick Bay to recover.

As has already been mentioned, we must not forget that all the services were involved, Navy, Army, Air Force, and especially the Merchant Navy who's contribution to the War is so often overlooked and unrecognised.

[Russ]

From a couple of million of people too young to have any part in it - thanks, pooroldjoe.