D-Day

[frigidmagi]

On June 6th 1944, 70 years ago, western allied forces landed on Normandy France to begin the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupication. Called Operation Overlord, it would last from today June 6th to August 25th. The opening Operation Neptune, the invasion itself, lasted until mid July and was followed up by Operation Cobra, the breakout from Normandy beginning on July 25th. Over 2 million Americans, British, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, French, Norweigians, Czechs, Poles, Dutch, Belguims, Greeks and others took part. Over 36,000 allied soldiers would die in this effort and over 153,000 would be injuried.

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May we never forget what our forefathers did. May we and our childern and theirs be spared such great and terrible events.

[rhoenix]

Mu grandfather told me his own stories of the time, of how his B-17 was shot down over the small island of Corfu, near Greece - and had to duck and dodge Nazi troops all the way back to Georgia, so he could get he and the rest of his crew home. How villagers helped to hide them, and how annoyed the Nazis were by this, to the point where my grandfather wasn't able to ever find some of them again after the war was over.

He, and all the others like him will have my eternal respect.

[Josh]

The sheer scope and scale of material in WWII always boggles my mind. Everything was manpower-intensive in those days, and the logistics of a global war effort is hard to wrap your brain around.

I remember when I was a kid reading about the Mulberries and not grasping (in my landlocked, desert, no comprehension of maritime freight way) why they'd need to build large artificial harbors to dock ships at.

[LadyTevar]

I had great-uncles on both sides who were at D-Day, in various waves. Nitram's maternal grandfather landed D-Day+22 and fought at Caens. My Great-Uncle Walter was given Medal of Valor for keeping communication lines open; as soon as the German bombs took out the wire, he was there fixing it, often under continuing enemy fire.

[General Havoc]

My various relatives were all in the Pacific Theater, but I certainly don't stint on my praise on that account.

[Lys]

The closest I have to a WW2 veteran family member was my... um... great grand-uncle I think? Anyway he was part of the Republican secret police in Barcelona, so he wisely made himself scarce when the city fell to the Nationalists. (My father's maternal grandfather was dragged out of his home and summarily executed in front of his family and neighbours.) He was in France when when suddenly Nazis, and the Gestapo was very interested in an exiled Spanish commie, but because he was a chemical engineer they put him to work in a munitions factory instead of sending him to a death camp. While there he passed whatever information he could to the French resistance until he was liberated by the Allies. I've heard two versions of the story of what happened to his wife: In one she stayed in Barcelona until he came back for her after the war. In the other she was with him in France and the Nazis sent her to a camp in Poland, which she survived to make an epic trek across Germany to be reuinted with her husband back in France.

[Josh]

My various relatives were all in the Pacific Theater, but I certainly don't stint on my praise on that account.

Mostly the same here, though I'm not really sure where my grandfather in the Army Air Corps deployed.