D-Day - 80 years ago.

[cakeorwine]

It's just so hard to imagine how the troops felt. Beaches with all kinds of defences, mines, machine guns, artillery. The fields flooded to prevent parachutists landing.

And still the Allies came. Scattered over Normandy when they dropped. Often alone trying to find their friends.

Storming ashore. Many killed on the first wave. The famous quote was "Gentlemen, we are being killed on the beaches. Let us go inland and be killed." when demoralised troops on Omaha beach needed rallying.

I just can't imagine it. So many people died and were injured on the first day.

But it had to be done.

Its mind blowing. My dad was in the war.

Yes, it did. I believe that WW2 was one of the very few justified wars in human history.

My grandfather fought, aged 16, at the battle of the Somme during WW1. Thankfully, though gassed and physically injured, he survived. He lived into his late 80s but suffered from terrible, terrible nightmares for the rest of his life.

It’s so sad that as the remembrances took place, there’s another terrible war raging in Europe. Why does mankind never learn?

I do wonder whether things would be quite so bad now had the West fully acknowledged the pivotal role that Russia played in “winning” WW2. It was swiftly swept under the carpet.

Nothing but complete respect and admiration for the veterans. Bless them all, allies and foes.

We also had soldiers who were fighting in Europe in Italy - which people often forget about - Monte Cassino and all that - which was really hard. There are also the troops who fought in the Forgotten Army in Burma.

I just can't imagine DS taking part. Yet he would have been there. I just can't imagine how it felt to have your children take part in this.

And I think this 80th anniversary is very significant. There are still some veterans alive who were there to remember that day and their fallen comrades. I doubt there will be for the 90th.

The coverage I've watched or read about this week has moved me to tears and yet there's so, so much more we'll never know about.

That men, women and children are suffering these horrors again right now is devastating, when it was thought to be a war to end all wars.