D-Day + 80 years: The Untold Story!

[Jason]

Here's a Poser-style video slideshow I created about 15 years ago, featuring women in the first wave at Omaha Beach (only now being reported for the first time!). The music is adapted from "The Longest Day" (1962), a star-studded war movie that provides the best overall account of that epic day. Enjoy!

https://www.mediafire.com/file/cdwas7hd ... h.wmv/file

[xj900uk]

My Dad was in D-Day, he was on the beaches the night before mapping out the underwater obstacles, obstructions, booby traps, and fields of fire from the German pillboxes and strong points, all in complete darkness and silence.
On the day itself he was on one of the bombardment ships, his commando unit was 'in reserve' in case it needed to fill in gaps, but he wasn't sure exaclty what they might do, as they had had no training about specific targets to be taken, the ground, etc. However he managed to wangle his way up to the radio and communications room on the ship and helped with fire co-ordination (he was a trained signaller and radio operator with the Royal Marines)

He died years ago back in 1995, but he never bothered with any of the offical D-Day celebrations, even then. He could never understand what all the fuss was about, he only ever treated it as 'just another bloody operation where people would get killed or be shot at'

[Jason]

My Dad was in D-Day, he was on the beaches the night before mapping out the underwater obstacles, obstructions, booby traps, and fields of fire from the German pillboxes and strong points, all in complete darkness and silence....
He died years ago back in 1995, but he never bothered with any of the offical D-Day celebrations, even then. He could never understand what all the fuss was about, he only ever treated it as 'just another bloody operation where people would get killed or be shot at'

Thank you for your story and for your father's service.

I am an amateur historian and know the associated history very well. As such, I also have some sense of the sacrifices involved. I believe that (like your father's example) the real heroes are those millions who quietly and competently did their jobs, without seeking any laurels. I'm sure you know that no disrespect was intended by my video.

[xj900uk]

My Dad was in D-Day, he was on the beaches the night before mapping out the underwater obstacles, obstructions, booby traps, and fields of fire from the German pillboxes and strong points, all in complete darkness and silence....
He died years ago back in 1995, but he never bothered with any of the offical D-Day celebrations, even then. He could never understand what all the fuss was about, he only ever treated it as 'just another bloody operation where people would get killed or be shot at'

Thank you for your story and for your father's service.

I am an amateur historian and know the associated history very well. As such, I also have some sense of the sacrifices involved. I believe that (like your father's example) the real heroes are those millions who quietly and competently did their jobs, without seeking any laurels. I'm sure you know that no disrespect was intended by my video.

Of course not, your video was only ever intended as a spot of enjoyable fun.

BTW for the record, the worst battle my Father was ever involved in during WWII was at Monte Cassino in Italy, in late '43-early '44. He said that if you could survive that, you could survive anything.
He was in a signals/observation post spotting for the long-range guns at the rear, and whilst he was out checking the phone0line cable back to the rear, the post got a direct hit from an American bomb and everyone in it was killed - he was incredibly lucky.

[Totallibertarianism]

D day ?

Sorry to put a big stone in the pond, but the history has always to be viewed without the political bias.

D-day had been possible to made it only because more than 90 % of the Wehrmacht was involved in the eastern front, which means russians did 90 % of the job of the WW2 !

Just imagine if Adolf Hitler had kept the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Non-Aggression treaty with Staline and never broke it as he did in june 22 1941, the world today will be completely different as now. Nazi germany would keep the most part of Europe and would keep all his forces concentrating against the UK and the USA with Japan challenging the USA from the far east, there would be no second front for the Nazi and futhermore the western power would be hit hardly by the "Decolonization" in Africa and Asia that would follow these events, giving to nazi Germany and the USSR huge advantages and powers against the USA and the UK...

The nazi invasion of USSR in june 1941 was effectively the "game changer" of the WW2, the changing of the course of the war.

The nazi Germany lost its war because of the crazy stupidity of Adolf Hitler, Hitler had just shot a bullet in his head when he decided to invade Russia in 1941.

There is still no consensus among historians why Hitler has decided to open a new front against the USSR in 1941, suddenly he decided to break the Non-Aggression treaty with Staline and put his "evil" empire in the collapsing state.

Megalomania like Napoleon ? He became crazy ? He was an agent working for the Wall Street Bankers (conspiracy theory) ?

Anyway, this is a lesson for the humanity that has not to be forgotten, a single person with an idea (1 idea), a stupid idea, can change the world enormously !

[xj900uk]

Napoleon wanted to be master of Europe and achieve world domination, but his dreams foundered in the frozen wastes of Russia...
Hitler spent ages studying Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the campaigns, and the battles, to make sure he did not make the same mistakes, but at the end of the day it made little difference and his armies too foundered and froze to death in the Russian winters.

BTW, curious fact - more than half the Wehrmacht troops that faced the Allies on D-Day were not German! Rather they were reserve Eastern troops (Oestruppen) from places like the Baltic States, Belorussia, the Ukraine, Georgia and a loads of other places that had thrown in their lot with Hitler rather than stay one more day under Stalin's rule.

[dolungbridge]

The attachment war_is_heck____pointe_du_hoc_by_dolungbridge_d8qtdky.jpg is no longer available

Nor does anyone remember the critical role the USO Song Girls played in capturing German positions on that mighty day...

[Jason]

Nice work, and THANK YOU for keeping it fun!