I'm beginning to regret speculating about age! You're all making me feel ancient!
BTW - I can remember D-Day - I was almost 2 year old - we were in Southampton at the time and I remember my mother walking up to the shop on the corner of the road with me - and what seemed like hundreds(!) of planes overhead...year later I mentioned this memory and she told me that was D-Day.
Aged 53 and counting. Dad was in the Home Guard and a reserved occupation making bits for aeroplanes. Uncles served in North Africa, Sicily, Anzio, and three as Monte Cassino. One Uncle was recalling the crossing of the River Po (one of the last great events in Europe) and that the done thing for Brits was to pee in it - obviously
My late father-in-law was in HMS Serapis off Gold (we think) and later in the day took Admiral Ramsey back to Dover.
The exploits of Canberra's and Sumter's dads in Burma deserve more coverage as I suspect, generally speaking, they had a rougher time of it than those in Europe. I also imagine that most people think that Burma was a mainly American effort.
As far as D-Day goes I seem to recall it was used for a lot of actions and is a more general term but June 6th seems to have cornered the market.
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
Of my grandfathers one was in Burma with the 7th Queens Own and the other with the Polish 10th Dragoons a few days after D-Day (that and the cousin who was a Capt. in the Polish airborne taken in by glider at Arnhem).
The Free Dictionary:
D-day - Noun
The day selected for the start of some operation [after D(ay)-day, the day of the Allied invasion of Europe on June 6, 1944]
US History Encyclopedia:
D Day
The "D" and "H" are derived from the first letters of "day" and "hour."
Your Dictionary.com:
D·-day or D-Day (d??d??) noun
The day on which a military attack or other important event is to take place; specif., June 6, 1944, the day of the invasion of W Europe by Allied forces in WWII
Etymology: D, the first letter of day
Yes your right it just stands for Day, I think that it is in fact an American term it was the Americans I believe who also introduced the letters for the various time zones.
WN 62 Omaha Beach, the spot of one of the machine guns was sighted.
This image is hidden for guests. Please log in or register to see it.
Wn60 to Wn 73 the whole beach.
This image is hidden for guests. Please log in or register to see it.
And the ones that were left here
This image is hidden for guests. Please log in or register to see it.
This image is hidden for guests. Please log in or register to see it.
I am sorry I have not yet covered the British beaches yet, its something I must start but there is far less to see now as they are far more built up with holiday homes and hotels.
Another thing that should be on all school visit lists is a War Cemetary. It's the only way to bring home the real impact of war without actually experiencing it.
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
We use cookies to improve our website and your experience when using it. Cookies used for the essential operation of this site have already been set. By continuing to use this site you are agreeing to this. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, see our privacy policy.
