D-Day - 75th Anniversary

[HouTex 1878]

38 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I have a little animosity towards the German leadership in the 1930s, so I totally understand.

Ya think? Same here. That said, the Brits and French had many opportunities to squash that little corporal and they failed.  

[tx 3 putt 77060]

my uncle would always say about Vietnam, the hero’s are the ones that never came home. 

[UpperWestside 6169]

This is a somber day I believe to remember the young men who died trying to retake Europe from the Nazis. There were so many more lives to be lost between Europe, China, the Central Pacific Drive, MacArthur retaking the Philippines, Iwo Jima and the biggest battle of all for Okinawa. Just so much death and yet here we are not learning the lessons that these brave men taught us 80 years ago. We need to do better and honor the few still left and insure the world is never plunged into the mass chaos that happened across the world from 1931-1945. 
 

 

[tx 3 putt 77060]

 

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

9 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

Great video. Halfway through is one my favorite WW2 pics.

Ike talking with troopers of the 101st just hours before their jump. He made a special trip to visit the Airborne due to the high casualties that were expected for them and the 82nd AB Divisions. Luckily they didn't receive the #'s that had been forecast.  

Lt. Stroebel (with his stick number 23) that Ike is talking with not only survived the "Day of Days", but also the war.

[tx 3 putt 77060]

 

 

[BillyGoatHill 4312]

8 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

 

While playing Major Howard in The Longest Day, he had his beret from D Day and wore it while filming.

[mchookem 16336]

11 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

Very cool, but it is either 1900 hours or 7PM.

I wish we could all move to the 24 hour clock.

fine... the French version is better 😋

[Eskimohorn 5635]

Hard times make hard men
Hard men make good times
Good times make weak men.....

Dinosaurs eat all the men
Women inherit the earth

[InkaUtexas 25986]

CNN covering President Biden's speech at Point du Hoc. Just said there are no longer any of those who scaled the cliffs walking among us anymore. Damn...

 

 

[YGIFS 19452]

At this moment after several hours of heavy bombing, Gen. Montgomery initiates "Operation Perch" in Caen.  I & XXX Corps of British Infantry and Armor will decimate the German positions in Caen after the bombings.  It will take a week and a heavy toll on our Allied brothers, but when it is done..........the push inland becomes much clearer.  Utah is finally cleared, making it logistically easier to move armor and reinforcements.  New Zealand and Australia have joined the chat.  And the march towards Paris has begun.  

[HouTex 1878]

9 hours ago, YGIFS said:

At this moment after several hours of heavy bombing, Gen. Montgomery initiates "Operation Perch" in Caen.  I & XXX Corps of British Infantry and Armor will decimate the German positions in Caen after the bombings.  It will take a week and a heavy toll on our Allied brothers, but when it is done..........the push inland becomes much clearer.  Utah is finally cleared, making it logistically easier to move armor and reinforcements.  New Zealand and Australia have joined the chat.  And the march towards Paris has begun.  

Yes, but they had to deal with the hedgerows first.  

[YGIFS 19452]

Yes, but what my timeline suggests is they pruned the hedgerows of many small villages, and rode off on the women.  

Wait, was "Three Amigos" not historically accurate?  

[Brisketexan 105154]

Yes, but they had to deal with the hedgerows first.  

Was there a bustle in there?

[AUS-97HORN 11809]

26 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Was there a bustle in there?

how lewd

[tx 3 putt 77060]

Never have seen this, amazing work 

 

[YGIFS 19452]

If you open that issue up to p. 37, there's a cartoon of a Kraut Pig at the Geneva Complaint Dept. with the caption of "I wish I was taller."  I think his name was S/Sgt. Volstein

[Catpfish 618]

Wall to wall D-Day (even though mainly concentrated on European Theater/Barbarossa) all weekend on Smithsonian channel.

[YGIFS 19452]

Why would that Jane Fonda movie be shown in a theater in Europe on such a historic week?  

[Brisketexan 105154]

Why would that Jane Fonda movie be shown in a theater in Europe on such a historic week?  

Because it was her hottest, sluttiest role? And isn’t that a good enough reason?

[InkaUtexas 25986]

14 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Because it was her hottest, sluttiest role? And isn’t that a good enough reason?

no

[Brisketexan 105154]

no

I find your lack of willingness to objectify Jane Fonda disturbing.

[InkaUtexas 25986]

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

I find your lack of willingness to objectify Jane Fonda disturbing.

She should have stayed in Hanoi.

[YGIFS 19452]

It is 0100 in Northern France.  In what will prove to be the biggest blow to the Luftwaffe during all of Overlord to date, dozens of German Bf-109's take off for Lion-sur-Mer to aerially bomb allied armor/infantry, under cover of night.  Several dozen more P-51 Mustangs will absolutely annihilate them.  This crushing blow further worries German Generals that they simply will not be able hold the Northern Continent without transferring a substantial portion of the Luftwaffe fixed wing groups from the Eastern Front.  Which Hitler will not allow.  

12th Panzer will begin moving into the area in a few hours to support 21st Panzer, which has been doing the brunt of the armor fighting (and losing).  

At sea, also at this exact moment...the Battle of Ushant will begin off the far western tip of the North French seacoast.  French and Canadian ships are struck and several hundred sailors are stranded in the water (thankfully, almost all are rescued).  But two Kriegsmarine Destroyers are sunk, putting another dent in the idea that the North Sea can be held by Germany.  The true badass of the day is a Polish Grom-class Destroyer which makes way to the area (it was harbored in England since the 1939 invasion).  She would provide security for 83 convoy runs leading up to this D-Day+3.  She becomes the most highly decorated ship in Polish Naval History and is still on display today in the Polish port city of Gydnia. It is becoming already apparent that neither the English Channel or Alboran Sea will long be viable options with which to launch Kriegsmarine offensives.  They'll soon shift to merely 'guerilla-styled' attacks on single ships.  An awful lot of U-boats are about to start causing an awful lot of trouble

[YGIFS 19452]

Not every troop in the German Wermacht was an evil Nazi.  It's an easy leap of logic, but that's now how armies are raised nor how wars are waged.  Many are simply trying to either hold Northern France or retreat to safety and begin defending the Fatherland.  I'm not excusing anyone, but that's just what's happening right now.  

But in 30 minutes, a Waffen SS company (of Germans, not the occupied, conscripted type) will be briefed on the reprisal mission for resistance activities and the death of SS Maj. Helmut Kampfe in Ouradur-sur-Glane, a village a few hours south of Normandy.  The company will spend the next 24 hours murdering 700 villagers.  They will shoot most of the men in the legs and then burn them alive.  They will also torch an entire church full of women and children who had sought sanctuary in the town Cathedral.  Only a handful will escape to tell the tale, some died days later of their wounds.  Rommel formally condemns the mission, one of the many reasons he will choose a cyanide capsule in 14 weeks time.  

While many other atrocities are occurring all across the East, this one sticks out to many military historians.  All across from Cherbourg to Calais, their German brothers are fighting for their lives and suffering heavy casualties---and they know it.  And this Waffen SS full company spends the day burning innocent villagers alive in barns, schools, and churches.  

there's "following orders" and then there's ordering pure evil.

[YGIFS 19452]

It is now completely dark in Northern France.  For the first time since the landing, most troops will finally get a 'decent' night's sleep at this hour as there are enough taken villages and towns to accommodate that many men.  the invasion continues to go better than anticipated.  But 10 June holds a very grim fate for the Allied Expeditionary Force.  Tomorrow morning will begin the bloodiest day since the beachhead.  Several thousand men fall asleep now for the last time---tomorrow will bring 15,000 casualties (~5,000 KIA) including POW/MIA.    

[atomheartbevo 89727]

On 6/8/2024 at 2:57 PM, Catpfish said:

Wall to wall D-Day (even though mainly concentrated on European Theater/Barbarossa) all weekend on Smithsonian channel.

Wait until 2033 when it’s the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Grenada.

[YGIFS 19452]

Dude, this 20 December is the 35th anniversary of the invasion of Panama.  You have any idea how many Van Halen downloads I'm giving away as Christmas presents.  You don't even know bro, you don't even know.  

[InkaUtexas 25986]

57 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Wait until 2033 when it’s the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Grenada.

SEALS are going to surf in for the ceremony.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

17 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Wait until 2033 when it’s the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Grenada.

Hopefully Gunny Highway will still be around for that

[statsman 5472]

nm

Edited June 10 by statsman

[YGIFS 19452]

Not directly related to Normandy, but quite monumental to the war effort.  

the very last USN battleship is commissioned in a few hours.  It will serve primarily in the south and central Pacific.  She will serve the USN intermittently for the next half-century.  Last of it's kind

BB-63.  Some may know her better as the Missouri.  And 15 months from now and Overlord......the war will come to a close on her deck with the formal, unconditional surrender of Japan.  

[YGIFS 19452]

It is 1515 hrs. in Normandy.  At this very moment, Supreme Allied Command is informed that Omaha and Utah have converged, thus completing the entire aggregation of all 5 landing zone forces.  80km wide, 30km deep.  

18 divisions, 55k vehicles.  All at this moment, locked in unison.  Though there are very large, though disconnected patches of both Germany and Russia personnel on the Eastern Front, this is the largest connnected military movement in human history.  

Edited June 12 by YGIFS

[YGIFS 19452]

it is sunrise in Northern France.  Operation Perch which, as I mentioned above started about one week ago, will fail to take Caen after all.  The British will fall back and regroup and prepare for either a counter-offensive or await more more armor/aerial support.  

Some good news though, the first V-1 rocket will be shot down soon by an RAF twin-engine fighter.  The V-1's have, and will continue to, wreck havoc over the Channel and Southern England as the Wermacht haphazardly compensate for lack of Luftwaffe capabilities in the theater.  But this first air-to-air strike will provide a model going forward by which to protect everything from Bristol to Calais.  

Today and tomorrow will relatively stable for American forces in Normandy with all due respect to the casualties endured.  Expected progress is made.  Most attention for U.S. brass will shift later today towards the Pacific where the Battle of Saipan will begin with deployment of B-29's in a few hours and roughly 100,000 soldiers, airmen, marines, and sailors will convene upon the battle in a short while.  Nearly 50,000 casualties on both sides will result over the next 3 weeks, twice that of D-Day.  

[Dutch 4474]

Of note, yesterday a mixed unit of troops from the 101st and 2nd Rangers fought a delaying action against elements of the 2nd SS Panzer at Ramelle, keeping a bridge over the Merderet out of German hands just long enough to allow 4ID to reach them and finally drive off the German attack.  Had 2nd Panzer taken the bridge, they could have driven into the flanks of invasion forces driving inland from Utah. 

[4th and 5 4914]

Bro that is Saving Private Ryan. Ramelle does not exist.

The battle was at the bridge over the Merderet at La Fiere.

I have stood on this bridge

pics below

 

 

The mortal ferocity of the four-day battle for control of the small stone bridge over the Merderet River at La Fière in Normandy is testament to the bridge’s strategic importance in the D-Day invasion of June 1944. Without control of the bridge and its vital causeway, American forces coming from Utah Beach would not have been able to force their way inland. 

Fought largely by paratroopers and glidermen from the 82nd Airborne Division, the battle to secure the bridge at La Fière is described as “probably the bloodiest small unit struggle in the experience of American arms.” Victory at La Fière cost more than 250 American lives, and yet the fateful engagement’s story is largely untold. 

Edited June 15 by 4th and 5

[4th and 5 4914]

Private First Class Charles N. DeGlopper^[1]
United States Army

for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

He was a member of Company C, 325th Glider Infantry, on 9 June 1944 advancing with the forward platoon to secure a bridgehead across the Merderet River at La Fière, France. At dawn the platoon had penetrated an outer line of machineguns and riflemen, but in so doing had become cut off from the rest of the company. Vastly superior forces began a decimation of the stricken unit and put in motion a flanking maneuver which would have completely exposed the American platoon in a shallow roadside ditch where it had taken cover. Detecting this danger, Pfc. DeGlopper volunteered to support his comrades by fire from his automatic rifle while they attempted a withdrawal through a break in a hedgerow 40 yards to the rear. Scorning a concentration of enemy automatic weapons and rifle fire, he walked from the ditch onto the road in full view of the Germans, and sprayed the hostile positions with assault fire. He was wounded, but he continued firing. Struck again, he started to fall; and yet his grim determination and valiant fighting spirit could not be broken. Kneeling in the roadway, weakened by his grievous wounds, he leveled his heavy weapon against the enemy and fired burst after burst until killed outright. He was successful in drawing the enemy action away from his fellow soldiers, who continued the fight from a more advantageous position and established the first bridgehead over the Merderet. In the area where he made his intrepid stand his comrades later found the ground strewn with dead Germans and many machineguns and automatic weapons which he had knocked out of action. Pfc. DeGlopper's gallant sacrifice and unflinching heroism while facing insurmountable odds were in great measure responsible for a highly important tactical victory in the Normandy Campaign

[YGIFS 19452]

It is dawn in Northern France.  Operation Charnwood under the direction of General Montgomery has just begun.  Along with aerial bombardment, Canadian and British units will have great success in taking the city and the path through Eastern France.  Much of, unfortunately, will go sideways during the subsequent days.  Arguably the most costly battle between the D-Day landings and the Battle of the Bulge in terms of casualties, armor, and supply lines.  Final plans are being made for the subsequent operation, Jupiter.  Which aims to disable a substantial portion of Panzer armor in France.  It won't be easy, but the late Summer and early Autumn will bode well for the Allies.  Until a miserable and deadly winter sets it.  

For tonight though, taking Caen is critical but will be incredibly costly.  Remember this day the next time you meet a Canadian.  After Juno, this was perhaps their finest hour in a war in which nobody attacked them and they had only slight obligation to Britain to fight.  But they pressed through to Caen, led by a bunch of odd-sounding Nova Scotians and paved the advanced to Berlin.  Suffered heavily along the way.  TO THE CANUCKS!

[atomheartbevo 89727]

Next up - Market Garden

 

 

[atomheartbevo 89727]

“Out of ammunition. God save the King." 80 years ago today, the last, defiant broadcast by Digby Tatham-Warter, commander of A, Coy 2nd Parachute Battalion from the Arnhem road bridge, where his boys held positions without reinforcement or resupply and under fierce German attack.

Commemorations are taking place this weekend in Arnhem to remember the sacrifices made during the battle. Paratroopers serving now, jumping and walking in the footsteps of their forefathers. Ready for anything

[InkaUtexas 25986]

A Bridge Too Far is amazing. There are a few full movie youtube links out there.

[atomheartbevo 89727]