6 June 75 years ago

[Bunzena]

Just seen two Spitfires and a Dakota fly over the house.  Fantastic.

 

When I think I'm having a tough day - I sometimes remember what it must have been like for those arriving at the Normandy beaches....

 

Saw Guy Martin's programme over the weekend where some of the veterans [all in their 90s] were talking about their experiences. 

 

All had the gift of understatement about what they'd been through.

 

 

[Lazurus]

My Step Father Mr Peter POTTER is one of the last surviving Lancaster crew members of 626 squadron - he still goes flying albeit as a passenger now - well in his 90`s a privilidge to be related to one of our countries heros.

[Baldbloke]

My Dad passed away 12 years ago. He was a flyboy too. Fleet Air Arm. Big respect for what these guys, and girls, did for us.[emoji1303]

[Rough Hewn]

My brother owns an old tug boat built in Texas for the d-day landings.
I'll try and find a photo.
[emoji106]

With our younger generations forgetting/not being educated about the hardships and horror of ww2. It's easy to see it as "past history" and has nothing to do with them.
[emoji51]

[Rough Hewn]

From tinternet
[emoji106]

[Khriss]

3 hours ago, Rough Hewn said:

My brother owns an old tug boat built in Texas for the d-day landings.
I'll try and find a photo.


With our younger generations forgetting/not being educated about the hardships and horror of ww2. It's easy to see it as "past history" and has nothing to do with them.

Course it hasn't ! Like the Bletchley bombe had nowt to do with modern computers or the Whittle fighter jet engine in no way gave us modern jet air travel or penicillin to treat wounded troops had nothing in common with modern pharmacy those things just 'occurred somewhere around the 1970s'...... k

[Mick Dempsey]

22 minutes ago, Khriss said:

Course it hasn't ! Like the Bletchley bombe had nowt to do with modern computers or the Whittle fighter jet engine in no way gave us modern jet air travel or penicillin to treat wounded troops had nothing in common with modern pharmacy those things just 'occurred somewhere around the 1970s'...... k

What’s your point here? War brings great technological advancements?

[Khriss]

2 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

What’s your point here? War brings great technological advancements?

Historically yes - which we forget abt. Hence previous comment abt people today forgetting all what has gone before and people's sacrifices to be where we are today. K

 

 

[woody paul]

Was luck to be right under the fly past today and what a moving sight.

[tree-fancier123]

have spent some time this weekend reading about the uprising at Sobibor death camp in Poland - estimated 250000 - quarter of a million murdered in approx 18 months. Only about 1 in 10 prisoners present on the day of the escape survived the war, all those who chose not to join the uprising were executed. Because some of the prisoners weren't recaptured Himmler panicked according to reports and had the camp bulldozed and trees planted to cover up. One survivor tells about his job shaving the heads of naked prisoners before they were sent to be gassed. The brave sacrifices on D-Day, at Montecasino, and the Russian advance (which cost more lives than all the rest) finally put a stop to it.

My grandad wasn't at D- Day, but survived Dunkirk and later Burma, I don't think he'd be turning in his grave now. At the moment no one is being led off to gas chambers, our cities aren't being bombed from the air. They gave their lives so we can have what we take for granted - life and peace.