D-Day Anniversary Live Commemorations

Queen arriving at Bayeux

Nice coat !

Lime green ?

Great weather....if raining would be terrible.

very emotional programme. some amazing people

Yes it sure is .

Her Majesty looks stunning as usual

Is Barack chewing gum by any chance?

merk trying to blend into background

Very humbling

been at work and haven't had chance to watch any of this yet, but I always think of D Day every 6th June anyway. My father was in the RN and was in charge of a landing craft on Sword. One of the things I always find hard to take in was that he had only just turned 21. He didn't speak about it much but one of the things I did remember him saying was that a lot of marines were happy (if that word can be used here)to get out onto the beach, as they'd been so bad with sea sickness on the way over.

Nice post Sultan...listening to a lot of veterans tell their stories, i'm often struck by the dry sense of humour so often laced through them which i take to be a natural default method of coping with such brutal and horrific memories. Read a lot about the sea sickness too...guys getting repeatedly sick into their helmets. Will never comprehend just what it must have been like that morning

Bit poignant its today, I have just come back from a Holocaust survivors funeral, not a dry eye at the service when his daughter read an eulogy.
Here is his story written a couple of years ago for anyone interested.
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http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/news/redbridge_man_who_miraculously_survived_the_holocaust_tells_his_remarkable_story_1_1426308

could say it kinda went downhill after this noble act.
Ok there was sort of maggies war in the 80s but will they be holding such ceremonies for either iraqi conquest or perhaps Afghanistan in 70 years time?
me thinks not

You have forgotten the Third World War (of the future)

dont think theyll be too many left to commemorate that one

A bit of a choker isn't it.  And are we not guilty of selling off  our country since those brave guys got rid of the third reich.

We are living in the United States of Europe 4th Reich (NAP)

Ironic that France is welcoming the "liberators" now when most French were happy to collaborate during the 2nd World War and the most popular political party in France today is some Far Right Racist party

"most French were happy to collaborate during the 2nd World War "


go and make yourself a toy bazooka out of some bog rolls you skidmark

Excuse me? If you have nothing grown up to add please refrain from childish playground name calling.

The Free French fought in Africa before De Gaulle got involved. Plenty of French fought the Nazis, and plenty flew in the Battle of Britain. They also helped immensely with the allied invasion on June 6th.

I read a fantastic book about the time around 1900 and the innovations within.
France seemed to suffer from collective neurasthenia and had a lowering birth rate and got done over a number of times.
Confidence was at an all time low, they werent necessarily collaborators they were just widely pathetic, albiet not entirely, the resistance were decent.
France was always there of sorts, just in the south vichy.
They aint what they used to be thats for sure

French generally like Italians and fight on whichever side looks like winning.

What % of the French population actually actively resisted the Nazi regime?

200,000 babies Fathered by the Wehrmacht suggests not many of the women and the number of Jews sent off to death camps suggests the general population were not much better.

Remaining passive and doing nothing is collaborating.

Most French had a ball during the "occupation", Paris was party central during that time.

So you are comparing The fascist Italians with the French?

How many of the women were raped? There were collaborators - yes. but every country has them..

There were far more rapes committed on French women by Americans during World War 2 than Germans that is a well established fact despite the fact Americans were only there for a few months.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/new-book-reveals-dark-side-of-american-soldiers-in-liberated-france-a-902266.html

Poor women eh? Or are you still persisting with your contradiction?

What you mean?

You think all 200,000 Wehrmacht babies were results of rapes?

I am not defending the Wehrmacht, they committed loads of crimes but vastly in the East.

I have no idea, do you? But as the Americans were far more violent towards the women (according to you) than the Nazis, all French women were collaborators, no? And what about French jewish women? Did they all collaborate?

This is not the time for a league table but 100,000 more French people died in WW2 than did British.
This came less than 30 years after the best part of 2 million died during WW1 -(about double the number of British deaths, During that war, without the French Army, the BEF would have been totally destroyed, making the rest of the century's history rather more German than it turned out to be.
I think one or two on here need to have a look at themselves, preferably followed by a visit to a library.

Yes Pandorica, more French people died in World War 2 than British you cant escape these facts.

But this was largely because about double the amount of French civilians were killed by Anglo-American bombing raids on France, than British civilians in German Bombing raids on Britain.

Also of course French Jews being sent to death camps.




Guinness, you were the one saying that the Wehrmacht were raping French women. I am sure that was the case, I merely pointed out the Americans did more. Just trying to understand what your point is about the rapes? Of course horrendous war crimes which ever side was guilty of them.

I'm not sure it actually matters how they died. They died.
They died on top of 2 million plus, just a few years earlier, fighting the same enemy on the same ground. The difference between the French and the British 39-44 was a few miles of water, not some mystical national characteristic.

The difference between France and Britain has always been the same few miles of water.

Erm... yes.

My point is that you said this - 200,000 babies Fathered by the Wehrmacht suggests not many of the women You were suggesting that most of these women were collaborators? I don't, and can't agree with that. Rapes happen in every war, by every nation. To suggest that 200,000 babies were born mostly because of French collaboration by the mothers, i find obscene.

he obviously has no close French friends

So you would say that sleeping with the enemy is not collaborating?

In some circumstances no, not really. What about the honeytraps that the English used?

Plenty of women, French or otherwise slept with the 'enemy' to stay alive, feed their family, umpteen reasons, who are we to judge?

nothing glorious about war,but many had no choice either side

It's the fcukwits @t the top with power who send us their

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http://thebrigade.thechive.com/2014/06/06/the-longest-daythis-is-d-day-143-hq-photos/

good pics, from the us angle though. Still show it .

I am not judging any of the women.

Merely saying that when France was "occupied" that the lives of most people went on as normal. So I'd find it hard to believe that many of the French women sleeping with the Wehrmacht were doing so to "stay alive"

27m Russians paid the ultimate price in WW11 but this fred is about the heroics of the Normandy landings and sacrifices many of our own paid .We  owe them all .

Fred: you or i, cannot make that judgement, we weren't there. I'd find it even harder to believe that the majority of French women were collaborators..

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http://thechive.com/2014/06/06/our-grandfather-and-his-journey-to-the-beaches-at-normandy-55-hq-photos/

Well it depends, do you consider happily going along with your life and doing nothing collaboration or not? I would definitely say yes, you are not making any stance or objection to your situation and happily going along with it. There seems to be very little in the way of disgruntlement in the general French population to their "plight" during that time in the articles I have read.

Obviously after the war it was a different story, just as in Germany straight after the war you'd find it hard to find anyone admitting to ever having voted for Hitler.

Less than 1% of the French population put up any resistance of note.

ever wondered why most of these vets have only come back for the first time today !!??

No, is my answer to your question. Collaboration with the enemy, by helping said enemy within ones own country, is treason.

coz they cannot afford it

fkers were ditched by the political classes

just fn cannon fodder

you all need to grow up

Has there been a mention of Bill Millin, "The mad piper" yet? Truly amazing story.