Today marks the seventy-eight anniversary of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of North-Western Europe.
As I wrote last year, with every year that passes, the number of surviving veterans seems to be diminishing with growing rapidity, and it will not be long before the last serviceman or woman who took part in the Second World War will have died.
I concluded last year's D-Day blog post with the thought that it is our duty and our honour to remember the veterans of the Second World War on days like today, alongside all those who served their country before them, and who have served it since.
We should never forget the sacrifices they made.
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Walking to the shops this morning I was thinking that at this time 78 years ago, the landings were taking place and the airborne drops had already happened. We should certainly never forget the sacrifices they and many others made for our freedoms that we enjoy today.
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteAmen to what you wrote in your comment.
All the best,
Bob
BOB,
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed sad to think that all our WW2 Veterans will soon be gone to God...an entire Generation gone- though certainly not forgotten. We should never forget the sacrifices our previous generation have made for our freedoms and peace. Best Wishes. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteI am not surprised that you agree with the subject of my blog post, although I have heard younger people who would not. They see even just wars as too horrific a price to pay for freedom.
All the best,
Bob
It doesn't seem so long ago we were talking about the last survivors of WWI. Harry Patch et al. Let's cherish the ones that remain from WWII. And not just the servicemen. Anyone from that generation as it was a total war.
ReplyDeleteNundanket,
DeleteVery true. My recent spell of ill health has made me realise that I am fast approaching becoming a member of the so-called ‘older generation’, and that we are going to lose my parent’s generation (those born in the 1920s and 1930s) within the foreseeable future.
All the best,
Bob
My father in law was a captain in the Royal Engineers and spent this day, seventy five years ago, clearing mines from Gold Beach.. He spent the night before sheltering from the Luftwaffe underneath a truck. When they clambered out in the early morning they discovered it was an ammunition lorry. My mother in law (still with us at 99) was in the WRENS and when it was all over, they discovered that it was she who had signalled the order for George's ship to sail on D-Day.
ReplyDeleteJon S,
DeleteThanks for sharing your family's stories with us.
That was a generation that did remarkable things every day during the war (and afterwards) ... and regarded what they did as unexceptional and normal.
They set an example that we should emulate.
All the best,
Bob
Somedays I find it slightly disturbing when I consider that the whole 9/11 thing will be 21 years ago in September, followed shortly by the 4th? Afghan War (so to speak) and then remember that it was in 1967, just 22 years after WWII when a 12 yr old me joined the Black Watch Cadets, donned a war surplus WW2 battledress uniform and started to learn drill etc. and only 27 years after WW2 but 50 years ago this August when I was sworn into the regular Canadian Forces before reporting to Military College.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, my own service was closer to WWII than it was to today! Anyway, and now there is war in the Ukraine and somewhere some one is probably basing a wargame on it.
Ross Mac,
DeleteAs I have written before, it is a bit of a shock to the system when you start teaching students about events that you lived through ... and then have to listen to their incredulity when you tell them so!
I was born in 1950, just three years after my father finished his National Service and just before the outbreak of the Korean War. I can remember my parents discussing the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Uprising, and the daily scramble to read of the events of the Six-Day War ... and then the Yom Kippur War.
In the media, we remembering the Falklands War, which took place forty years ago! The young men that I knew who went the to fight are now reaching (or have reached) retirement.
Time may be linear, but our memories aren't ... which is why memorable events have habit of sneaking up on us every so often and making us realise just how old we are!
The war in the Ukraine is already beginning to interest some hobby wargamers. I must admit that I find this a bit disturbing as I see wargaming as essentially a history-related hobby, and not current affairs.
All the best,
Bob
PS. When I was born, the Battle of Waterloo had taken place 135 years beforehand. To someone born today, the equivalent date would be 1887 ... the year that Zululand became a British colony, Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print, and Wilhelm Canaris and Bernard Montgomery were born. It was also the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee!