D Day

[Albert Tatlock]

more

[Donald Trumps]

At least it's not like them beaches in Italy with drowned dead black people all over the place

[Shake me up Judy]

That's in rather poor taste young Trump m'lad. You could have mentioned the landings in Sicily and mainland Italy in 1943 which are often overlooked in these commemorations, and which were just as bitterly fought, with similar losses. I'm talking about the 'D-Day Dodgers'.

 

But you didn't. Now go and stand in the corner.

[The Sick Moon]

The welfare state was what Britain got out of the madness of D Day and all that. But now those who make the biggest effort to be seen to most appreciate the sacrifice are the very same who are ripping it all to bits. Read all about it! And weep!

[Bananaman]

You pugnacious prig! Only a twat would take away what happened that day for a spurious smugfest! Just let us all remember what happened and what these people did.

 

Could you or would you do the same?

 

Edited as I put a extra a where it shouldn't be, but why do the sick moon and tj like every post they both make?

[Thomas Jefferson]

I liked his post on account of the link to the article in The Guardian by Harry Leslie Smith, a WW2 veteran, which I thought contained very good points; and which I feel is a powerful reminder of the social and economic backdrop faced by a great many veterans going into and coming back from the two world wars.

[John Wright]

My dad was in North Africa and then in Europe following DDay and part of the occupation army in Hanover. One summer he took us in the motorhome from Normandy through Northern France the Low Countries and to Hannover and told us some of the things he had done. He was in the signals. After the end of hostilities he set up sound and lighting in the herrenhausengarten gardens for the first civilian classical concerts and opera. I was about 10, bored by it all. Wish I'd paid more attention. It was still very close then, only 20 years before that trip.

 

My mum was based in Blackpool dealing with welfare issues for Polish forces. She became fluent in Polish.

 

Dad always said it was a terrible waste of 7 years of his life. He despised the officers and some of the things he was made to do. He had no time for the British Legion or festivals of remembrance. He said they glorified the war, militarism and warfare. He wanted to forget, as much as possible. He may or may not have been right, he was convinced that there wasn't a lot to choose between military leaders on either side. He became a pacifist and a humanist because of his war experiences. His experiences and reaction shaped my outlook on these things more than I sometimes care to admit.

 

His best story was of one colonel in the desert who went a bit mad. Sent out his troops to collect "jerry" cans and build them into pyramids. All sorts of odd things. One day he went out on a patrol and was shot by his men with a captured German gun and left.

 

I've still got his discharge papers, his mention in despatches, etc packed away somewhere.

[Shake me up Judy]

Nice thoughts John. I'm reminded of a great Spike Milligan story, whether true or not. He was with a patrol in North Africa when they came across some German soldiers. Thinking that it could get a bit 'sticky', Spike was surprised when the Germans, who, like them, had probably had enough of fighting in the desert, and being outnumbered, immediately offered to surrender. The officer leading Spike's patrol refused the surrender on the grounds that they 'didn't have the facilities' and so waved the Germans on without a shot being fired. Priceless.

[Albert Tatlock]

Nice thoughts John. I'm reminded of a great Spike Milligan story, whether true or not. He was with a patrol in North Africa when they came across some German soldiers. Thinking that it could get a bit 'sticky', Spike was surprised when the Germans, who, like them, had probably had enough of fighting in the desert, and being outnumbered, immediately offered to surrender. The officer leading Spike's patrol refused the surrender on the grounds that they 'didn't have the facilities' and so waved the Germans on without a shot being fired. Priceless.

He wrote some pretty funny books about WW2. Such as Hitler, my part in his downfall.

 

My favourite quote was when he had turned up late after missing the call up, and to make up the time offered to 'fight nights'.

[Albert Tatlock]

One of the most influential periods of my life was joining the RAFA club after coming out of the RAF. I was lucky in the 1990s to have met some pretty heroic blokes who had taken part in the Battle of Britain, and numerous other epic battles and skirmishes of WW2. The RAFA club ended up closing, simply because, at their ages, they were all dying off, too old to get out, or being shipped off to their last posting at a Nursing Home - and far fewer these days in the RAF join RAFA after leaving. Many people would be very surprised at what many people living on this island into old age had got up to in WW2.

 

They didn't talk about the war much, but occasionally when they did, some of the RAFA stories were anything from gut wrenching to funny as hell.

 

My uncle was in the RAF in WW2, met and married my aunt here whilst training. He described his 5 year war as lasting around 9 minutes. After spending time guarding various UK installations, he was shipped out to the far east and they were attacked by Japs for around 5 minutes and several ships were sunk or badly damaged and lots of men died, including several of his mates he'd trained with. They arrived on an island and sat there guarding it for 18 months with nothing happening, and then the Japs struck again for around 4 minutes and similar carnage, and again he lost people who he had bonded with over that time.

 

There were very many different wars experienced by many people during WW2.

[Shake me up Judy]

Was that the RAFA club in Douglas, on Prospect Hill, Albert ? I remember it well. I think it's gone now hasn't it ? I played the occasional game of snooker in there. I loved all those old servicemen's clubs; they were a really important part of the community and helped preserve the values of a generation. There were always so many fascinating stories if you bothered to ask and to listen.

[Albert Tatlock]

Was that the RAFA club in Douglas, on Prospect Hill, Albert ? I remember it well. I think it's gone now hasn't it ? I played the occasional game of snooker in there. I loved all those old servicemen's clubs; they were a really important part of the community and helped preserve the values of a generation. There were always so many fascinating stories if you bothered to ask and to listen.

Yes it was, and gone now.

 

Just the British Legion left now, but that's just basically a cheap drinking club these days. The only times I've been in there in recent years is for the odd PAG meeting and to collect and drop off poppy tins and poppy items to sell.

[John Wright]

Yes, RAFA on corner of Prospect Hill and Myrtle Street, and there was a Naval Association on Hill Street which moved to Regent Street. Like most clubs they failed after the change in our drinking laws in the late 1980's. They had an advantage of an extra hour drinking during the week and Sunday drinking in winter.

 

I agree Albert most people had very different experiences of war and for a lot of the time sat around doing not very much. Dad was over on D day plus 2 (ie 70 years ago today) and then was involved in the push to Arnhem to support the parachuted in forces that were taking the bridge. Too late.

 

Most of what I remember of the trip in 1966 was a string of bridges over rivers and being told that he had crossed a bit further down on a bailey bridge. He told me he had never fired a gun once in anger, just training. I wasn't allowed toy guns as a child. Or to join the scouts etc; he really didn't approve of militarism and/or training for regimented unthinking order taking in any form.

[P.K.]

He wrote some pretty funny books about WW2. Such as Hitler, my part in his downfall.

 

My favourite quote was when he had turned up late after missing the call up, and to make up the time offered to 'fight nights'.

 

I have the set of 7 volumes of Spike's war memoirs, plus Puckoon. The memoirs are not only funny but, because Milligan could write such wonderfully descriptive stuff, very poignant as well. For example he recalls running around the gun position to try and find a pen and paper so a comrade could write a last letter to his wife whilst his life leaked away through a huge wound to the neck. We take a LOT for granted.

 

My dad was RAF, wounded in N Africa. He only ever talked about the comradeship. I can understand this because I'm sure it's only the bonds formed with comrades, bricks, sections, platoons and company that makes any of the things the military have to do possible.

[John Wright]

Went past the old RAF Club tonight. Noticed that the initials RAFA are cast into the render on the top front of the gable wall. Never seen that before