D Day was 73 years ago today

[Orlantina]

I still can't imagine what was going through people's minds that day. The troops on the landing craft approaching the beaches with gunfire bouncing off the ramp.
The troops jumping out of planes with flak all around.
The families at home waiting.

So brave.

It must have been a hell of a thing.

Thank you for reminding us.
Those first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan is one of the most shocking and heartbreaking scene in any war film. My dad was in the Korean War in the 50s and he said the sounds and smells of warfare have haunted him ever since, he found that film very hard to watch.
All those brave men from all over the world who gave their todays for all our tomorrows should never been forgotten.

95% of the first wave at Omaha were killed or injured.

I just can't imagine that.

Wow. My grandads war ended in 1944 when he lost his hand so he didn't take part in D day. We all felt like losing his hand probably saved his life, but he just wanted to keep fighting. So brave. Hardly any of that generation left now.

my late father in law was parachuted in days before and because it was delayed spent time hiding in a ditch below a bridge with Germans going over the top. He was also one of the last to leave Dunkirk. He will always be a hero .

I can't imagine the hell those men went though, and their families at home. They wouldn't have known if their loved ones were alright for a long time. Heroes indeed.

I wish I'd been able to ask my dad more about the war, but it upset him too much and I couldn't risk his heart. He always said those that kept talking about it never really seen anything. Dh's dad too, he was one of the first soldiers in to liberate Belsen.

And they were so young.

I was just a few weeks old but my dad was there. He didn't talk about it ever.

I can't imagine what it must have been like for the people in France. Cities like Caen were devastated in the landings and the bombings but it was a necessity to get the Germans out.

I was thinking this earlier.

Pre-DCs we went on a wonderful holiday to Normandy and pretty much spent the whole week visiting the D-Day sites. Highly recommended, and I hope to return when the DCs are old enough to appreciate/understand it.

The Allied paratroop actions before the actual beach landings were incredible too.

My grandad landed on the beaches in 1944. Here is a photo of him at the celebrations in France in 2010. He was so proud to be there, it was an amazing trip.

My father doesn't talk about it either. He was captured by the Allies in September 1944, on his way back to Germany. He says in his (very limited) memoirs that he "thanked God" for his capture. Horrible times for many - he was 19, had zero sympathy with "his side" and has been in the UK ever since.

Lovely photo Kelly

You can put 6 June 1944 into the Commonwealth War Grave Commission database to find the names of all people serving in British & Commonwealth forces, and British and Commonwealth civilian war dead, who died on this day.

2188 dead.
1124 on 7 June.
1040 on 8 June.
674 on 9 June.

This covers areas other than France, of course.

It doesn't include people serving in US forces, or civilians in France. However it does include people serving in Dutch and Polish forces, and it includes quite a few in German forces buried by Commonwealth troops.

What an amazing picture Kelly!

Respect to each and every person affected.

That's a lovely picture. It still feels wierd when you visit the beaches and know that so much slaughter happened on them many years ago.

There's so many heartbreaking stories. One that really gets me is the resistance fighters in Caen prison. The Allies were supposed to take it on the first day but the attack slowed down. 87 prisoners - some as young as 17 - were shot by the Germans on that day in case the prison got overrun.

www.normandythenandnow.com/where-is-colbert-marie-the-caen-prison-massacre-of-6-june-1944/

Just one tragic story amongst many.

Lobster, one of my in-laws the same. Similar age and date, went out on an errand and came back to find his regiment gone and the position in Allied hands. Has lived in the UK ever since - married the daughter of a British WWI veteran.

One among many, but I would like to mention a very brave man Max Lewinsky, a former refugee from the Nazis, who was killed even before his British landing craft got to the beach on this day.

He is buried in Normandy with his comrades, but his life wasn't lost in vain. Somewhere he has a daughter who never knew him but I hope she feels the very proudest of him. He and his kind saved us from terrible times and we owe our freedom to them.

We will remember them.

My friend posted on FB today that he was proud to be there and to fight for Europe. He's a proper hero.

SurelyYoureJoking interesting! Do you know where his prison camp was? My father was just outside Norwich - my maternal grandfather was in the RAF during WWII and initially none too impressed that his daughter was seeing the enemy. They'll have been married 65 years next month.

I always remember this day, so important not to forget it.
I have read many eyewitness accounts, this website is good.
I can't find it at the minute, but there is such a sad one. Young american on I think Omaha. Before they boarded the LCs they were all laughing and joking, and his buddy wore a really gaudy tie, he reckoned no one would bother busting him over his uniform on D Day, they all laughed.
Anyway, obviously they stepped in to hell, it is all so detailed, this guy was alone, couldn't find any buddies alive, he got to the bluff eventually. And then through the smoke he sees this guy, and he thinks, I know that guy, I know him...then the guy turns around, and his face is partially blown up, and he is missing an arm, and he is just wandering about...and then he sees the tie he is wearing. And before he can go to him he disappears in the smoke, and he never sees him again.
My neighbour, now sadly passed away, was in the British paratroopers. He jumped on D Day, was lost and alone. He coulkd hear singing, and crept through the trees, there was a big house full of German soldiers all drinking and singing.
The next thing he feels a gun at his back! He thinks "I'm done for!"
But it was a Resistance guy, who brought him to some other English. They went on to attack and capture a German bridge.

Thank you for posting this OP, it's easy to forget and we never ever should.

My grandad was a Royal Marine Commando & piloted a landing craft onto one of the beaches (I forget now which one).

I never knew anything about it until I was in my 20s & he had started telling his stories to my dad - he was always just my grandad who was a baker.

Watching the start of Saving Private Ryan really brought it home to me how incredibly brave all those young men were.

He married a Yorkshire lass, Lobster, so I've always assumed it was one of the northern camps - but I admit I've never thought to ask!