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D-Day 6th June 1944

I wonder how many Charlton fans (incl Eisenhower of course) were making the final preparations for the greatest land invasion ever?
Among the many brave souls who were willing to make the greatest sacrifice in order to rid tyranny from Europe and beyond.
A lot has changed in the 70 years that have followed, some good, some bad, but we must be forever grateful to those who set off from our shores tonight.
This is probably the last chance we will get to remember alongside many who were there, but when they are gone the memory must live on.
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Comments

  • Thanks for the reminder Absurdistan. I often think that many of us, certainly myself really don't realise what a sacrifice those involved in the war both on the front line and at home did for us. Good post.
  • The bravery and sacrifice is almost beyond comprehension.
  • You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.

    Dwight D. Eisenhower


    The debt of gratitude we owe to those who marched on that day and beyond is immeasurable. This and the memory of their sacrifice will live in eternity.
  • We should never forget. Of all the places I have been in the world, the cemeteries in Normandy hit me like nothing else.
  • they thought today was the day, but was delayed because of bad weather, tonight 70 years ago allied soldiers, men like you and me, dropped from the skies to liberate europe. Puts your ills in the modern world into perspective
  • That is a terrific post Davo. Top notch.
    My grandad also landed in Normandy D_-Day plus 6.
    Fantastic generation.
  • Some unreal stories.

    Fast forward 50 years and it's another brilliant day.. The day I was born
  • @Davo55 my Dad landed in Normandy on the Seventh day and he said it was pretty bad as well. His unit were due to land day 1 but got put back for some reason which probably saved his life. He was in the Infantry but never really spoke about it.
  • Some great posts guys.D Day and everyone who fought should never ever be forgotten all are true heroes.
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  • That is a terrific post Davo. Top notch.
    My grandad also landed in Normandy D_-Day plus 6.
    Fantastic generation.

    Cheers Micky. Strange to think your grandad and my dad might have seen or even known each other.
  • red10 said:

    @Davo55 my Dad landed in Normandy on the Seventh day and he said it was pretty bad as well. His unit were due to land day 1 but got put back for some reason which probably saved his life. He was in the Infantry but never really spoke about it.

    My dad much the same red. He used to josh my uncle Frank (navy) about spending the war enjoying a Mediterranean cruise while Frank said my dad spent his war taking pretty French nurses to the pictures. Any stories of the war and the struggles on the home front were kept very light hearted but I'm sure they all experienced very bad times.
  • Some unreal stories.

    Fast forward 50 years and it's another brilliant day.. The day I was born

    Happy birthday for tomorrow GJ.
  • Davo55 said:

    Some unreal stories.

    Fast forward 50 years and it's another brilliant day.. The day I was born

    Happy birthday for tomorrow GJ.
    Thank you mate
  • Is there a minutes silence planned does anyone know? Out and about tomorrow but would stop everything if so.
  • Happy birthday Greenie Junior
  • Rob said:

    Happy birthday Greenie Junior

    Thank you mate
  • edited June 2014
    Edit - posted on wrong thread!
  • Davo55 said:

    That is a terrific post Davo. Top notch.
    My grandad also landed in Normandy D_-Day plus 6.
    Fantastic generation.

    Cheers Micky. Strange to think your grandad and my dad might have seen or even known each other.
    Yes, that's what I thought when you said it. I think my Grandad landed on Sword beach and might have been there on d-day, but for the spin of a coin to decide which unit went first!
  • edited June 2014
    My dad, a Charlton fan of course, and then Sapper Hayes 33rd Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal, was 18 and somewhere near Southampton waiting to go over and clear beaches and minefields.

    But there was a UXB (unexploded bomb) near Leeds so his team where sent to deal with that. One of his colleagues was so relieved as he'd convinced himself he would be killed in the invasion. A few days later that sapper was killed trying to lift a British mine from a British beach.

    Salute to all those who fought and to all those who died fighting fascism and for a free Europe.

    Never forget, never again.
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  • This day should never be forgotten, of the few veterans that are left many are in their 90's and the raising of their 'flag' this year will probably be one of the last official occasions. The sacrifice that many of the young soldiers gave was the ultimate one can give, and that alone means we are able to have this forum and our liberty. God bless all who fought and RIP all those who lost their lives on such a bloody day. As an ex-serviceman myself (albeit in the 1970's) today feels very special I hope it is a day that will never be lost.
  • The bbc are doing a great job of this special day I must say .My Father landed at sword beach at lion sur-mer and was with the 7th armoured division ,Hobarts funnies'
  • Davo55 said:

    My dad, aged 19, went into Normandy on 12 June 1944. When I was a kid I stupidly thought this was some time after D-Day and, fuelled by comics in the 60s, thought the allies were half way to Germany by the time dad pitched in. How wrong I was. Just 6 days into the invasion, things were still a bit hairy in Normandy.

    Dad was in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps and drove mainly Bren gun carriers. He fought through Northern France, Belgium, Holland and Germany before coming home to blighty in 1947. One of 10 children, he had 6 brothers, one of whom died as a toddler. Of the remaining 6 sons, 5 fought in the Second World War at the same time; 1 as a marine, 1 as a paratrooper, 2 in the navy and 1, my dad, in the army. One was badly wounded, one was a P.O.W. But all survived.

    Sadly, dad passed away in 1998 but he was and still is my hero. A true addick who once lived in both Floyd Road and, later, Valley Grove, I have him to blame / thank for my lifelong addicktion.

    Love, respect and grateful thanks to all those men, dads and heroes who "did their bit" for the liberation of Europe and in the whole of that terrible conflict.

    RIP Ron Davis, my hero x

    My grandfather was in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps too but he was fighting in Africa and Italy instead. I was only about eleven when he died. He was mentioned in dispatches but no one not even my grandmother or my father knew the reason why because he refused to discuss it.

  • “Why do you still march old man,with medals on your chest?
    Why do you still grieve old man,for those friends you laid to rest?
    Why do your eyes gleam old man,when you hear those bugles blow?
    Tell me why you cry old man, about those days so long ago.

    I'll tell you why I march young man, with medals on my chest
    I'll tell you why I grieve young man, for those I laid to rest,
    Through misty fields of gossamer silk come visions of distant times,
    When boys of tender age lost lives, and all their mothers pined;

    We buried them in a blanket shroud, their young flesh scorched and blackened,
    A communal grave newly gouged in blood stained gorse and bracken,
    And you ask me why I march young man, I march to remind you all,
    That but for those apple-blossom youths, you'd never have known freedom at all.”
  • The Normandy Veterans Association will disband this year at their November meeting re the ages of their members.
    Just finished a book about The Long Range Desert Group their Association has already disbanded but the SAS have incorporated it into their own as they didnt want the bravery and the recognition that these brave men to be forgotten.

    Although time stops for no one the fact that there will so few of these brave men around soon is very sad.
  • A geezer at our football club, Bill, was in the Durham Light Infantry. I once asked him about D-Day and he said "the weather was shit in the morning but by afternoon it turned out quite nice...." He also said that the blokes they were fighting against in the following weeks, which included some SS, were "just normal lads like him."

  • The bravery and sacrifice is almost beyond comprehension.

    Echo this...it's almost unbelievable
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