D-Day - the Normandy landings

[Triggaaar]

All those dead from a collection of different nationalities. Where are the French? Presumably there were no deaths among the 77 taking part, making the effort to recapture their own country.

Bless 'em.

Apart the the significant cost to each nation in lives, what was the financial cost to each nation?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Bless 'em.

Apart the the significant cost to each nation in lives, what was the financial cost to each nation?

Didn't we stop paying our war debts in the mid 90's ? It wouldn't surprise me if other nations were still paying.

 

[Norman Potting]

All those dead from a collection of different nationalities. Where are the French? Presumably there were no deaths among the 77 taking part, making the effort to recapture their own country.

A bit harsh I feel. The 60th (I think) celebrations focussed on an elderly French gent who had escaped from France, joined the Merchant Navy then trained as a Commando. He and his comrades landed on the Normandy beaches singing the Mareseille. He survived, spent the rest of his life working around the world and retired to a bungalow overlooking the beach he had landed on. His wife suggested this as he was involved with the Veterans Association and spent a lot of time there anyway! He enjoyed walking his dog on the beach and was proud to remember his comrades who didn't survive.

 

[W.C.]

All those dead from a collection of different nationalities. Where are the French? Presumably there were no deaths among the 77 taking part, making the effort to recapture their own country.

Most of them were under the bombs weren't they?

I started reading Anthony Beevor's book on D-Day after seeing that excellent before and after photo series that the Guardian did. Incredible stuff.

 

[Triggaaar]

Didn't we stop paying our war debts in the mid 90's ? It wouldn't surprise me if other nations were still paying.

Yeah it's not that long ago that we stopped, but I don't think France had much debt, as they weren't fighting the war. I'd be interested to know the levels of war debt at the end of the war.

EDIT - I think we stopped paying in 2006.

 

[Munkfish]

View attachment 54712

These are my grandad's D-Day orders. He told me that they used to get dummy orders every day, similar to these. When he opened these ones and read them to his men, to a man, they were all sick over the side of the boat.

He led the allied forces out of Portsmouth harbour on D-Day in the two boats he was commanding. They carried on to the -D-Day beaches and his boats went left to the beaches where they were performing dummy exercises to fool the Germans into thinking they were landing there.

Go advance to upload the picture properly. as currently cant see it.

 

[Buzzer]

By all means point the finger at De Gaulle but the courage of the French Resistance shouldn't be underestimated. A lot of them (especially women) gave their lives for their country. A lot of them ended up at Auschwitz.

 

[skipper734]

A bit harsh I feel. The 60th (I think) celebrations focussed on an elderly French gent who had escaped from France, joined the Merchant Navy then trained as a Commando. He and his comrades landed on the Normandy beaches singing the Mareseille. He survived, spent the rest of his life working around the world and retired to a bungalow overlooking the beach he had landed on. His wife suggested this as he was involved with the Veterans Association and spent a lot of time there anyway! He enjoyed walking his dog on the beach and was proud to remember his comrades who didn't survive.

All due to our French friend General Degaulle. With friends like him who needs enemy's.

 

[Hillian1]

The cruel sea for me, the book is superb as well.

HMS Compass Rose.

 

[Munkfish]

I was speaking to My Grandad about this only last week, his father my great grandad, served in both world wars.

My Grandad a Young Teenager was telling me about the preperation of D-Day and How the candian officers where based up at stammer house and the fields and woods around there where all shooting ranges and full of live ammunication, he recalled how he remembers tanks driving along the Lewes road down to the Level where a huge tent like structure had been built all around it where vechials and tanks where being kept before D-Day. he said The Canadians would on finding out they where setting off for war, gather people around and throw their remaing English money up in the air and the kids would scramble around picking it up.

My grandad at the time worked at the Blacksmiths at Falmer village and often him and his mates would go up to the shooting ranges and mess about, one time his friend found a live grenade and actually blew himself up, another time once all the candians had gone they found a whole case of mortars, tied one from a branch of a tree and fired their catapults and threw rocks at it hoping it would blow up.

Great listening to stories, shame this generation will not be around in another decade or so.

 

[Gwylan]

All those dead from a collection of different nationalities. Where are the French? Presumably there were no deaths among the 77 taking part, making the effort to recapture their own country.

That's totally unfair. The French played an active part in the process. "A 1965 report from the Counter-insurgency Information Analysis Center details the results of the French Resistance's sabotage efforts: "In the southeast, 52 locomotives were destroyed on 6 June and the railway line cut in more than 500 places. Normandy was isolated as of 7 June." There were also Free French troops landing on the beaches

And as Buzzer pointed out, there were between 15,000 and 20,000 French casualties during the landings

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

I was speaking to My Grandad about this only last week, his father my great grandad, served in both world wars.

My Grandad a Young Teenager was telling me about the preperation of D-Day and How the candian officers where based up at stammer house and the fields and woods around there where all shooting ranges and full of live ammunication, he recalled how he remembers tanks driving along the Lewes road down to the Level where a huge tent like structure had been built all around it where vechials and tanks where being kept before D-Day. he said The Canadians would on finding out they where setting off for war, gather people around and throw their remaing English money up in the air and the kids would scramble around picking it up.

My grandad at the time worked at the Blacksmiths at Falmer village and often him and his mates would go up to the shooting ranges and mess about, one time his friend found a live grenade and actually blew himself up, another time once all the candians had gone they found a whole case of mortars, tied one from a branch of a tree and fired their catapults and threw rocks at it hoping it would blow up.

Great listening to stories, shame this generation will not be around in another decade or so.

Funny you should mention the Canadians. We used to live in Rudgwick where the current primary school is built over the site of a WWII Canadian army camp, some of the stories from the locals who were there during the war about what is buried under there is slightly 'concerning'. The Canadians also practised their demolition techniques by blowing up a number of lock pounds on the Wey & Arun Canal nr Loxwood, some of us are still trying to repair this colonial vandalism. Seriously though, the Canadian Govt has been very supportive of the canal's restoration.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Funny you should mention the Canadians.

It must have been fairly chaotic around a lot of the south in that period. I went on a guided walk of the Steyning Shooting range last weekend and was told of the local loss of life when the Canadians got their distances awry.

London - May 15th. - For nearly two hours yesterday shells from British artillery crashed into the Sussex market town of Steyning, near Brighton, killing two people and wounding three others. Wardens, police and members of the Home Guard tried frantically to communicate with the gunners whose shells were overshooting their target. One shell fell in the gasworks, but failed to explode. One of the killed and two of the wounded were members of the Home Guard attending a fourth birthday parade.

The shells were fired during regular army exercises on the South Downs practice range. They fell in the town and in the woods and fields surrounding it. One hit a house, two fell near the police station, and others on the cricket pitch in the centre of the town, and in a garden on the council estate.

Artillery officers later inspected the damage, and instituted a military inquiry.

 

[symyjym]

I was speaking to My Grandad about this only last week, his father my great grandad, served in both world wars.

My Grandad a Young Teenager was telling me about the preperation of D-Day and How the candian officers where based up at stammer house and the fields and woods around there where all shooting ranges and full of live ammunication, he recalled how he remembers tanks driving along the Lewes road down to the Level where a huge tent like structure had been built all around it where vechials and tanks where being kept before D-Day. he said The Canadians would on finding out they where setting off for war, gather people around and throw their remaing English money up in the air and the kids would scramble around picking it up.

My grandad at the time worked at the Blacksmiths at Falmer village and often him and his mates would go up to the shooting ranges and mess about, one time his friend found a live grenade and actually blew himself up, another time once all the candians had gone they found a whole case of mortars, tied one from a branch of a tree and fired their catapults and threw rocks at it hoping it would blow up.

Great listening to stories, shame this generation will not be around in another decade or so.

 

[piersa]

Makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time I read it. Amazing to think that this bit of paper actually went to D-Day.

please tell me this worked? I went all advanced and everything.

 

[Bladders]

And that, in the planning & preparation, the estimate was that they would suffer 50% casualties. Imagine any British forces going into a situation now where the predicted (and presumably accepted) outcome was 50% casualties. Different times, but still incomprehensible.

I watched the programmes with Dan Snow the other night that featured a number of D-Day veterans, British, American and Canadian. Some utterly compelling (and heartbreaking) stories.

Watched that too, brilliant programme, taped to show my kids as well, a must watch for the younger generations .

 

[Braggfan]

That's amazing!

 

[Chief Wiggum]

My mother was a young girl in Arundel during the war. Two Canadian soldiers were billeted in their small cottage in Queens Lane in the lead up to D Day. My mum recalls the road leading up to Swanbourne Lake was rammed with army vehicles and equipment and then overnight they all disappeared at once. Obviously it was for the landings, but the locals didn't know why they had left so suddenly at the time.

My father also recalls the Canadians in Worthing at the time. He was serving in the Navy during the war and whilst on home leave got in to a fight with some of them in a pub in Montague St. Only time he was arrested in his life and the police officer told him it was for his own protection!

 

[symyjym]

Makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time I read it.

please tell me this worked? I went all advanced and everything.

Brilliant def worth the trouble.

 

[piersa]

Brilliant def worth the trouble.

Thanks. So many anecdotes about the second world war are leaving us daily. Dan Snow is doing a great job trying to archive them.