this day 71 years ago the Allies embarked on a mission to invade and fee occupied France From Hitler and his Armies, let us commemorate those who gave their lives to fee German controlled France
Hear the breaking story on radio from 4 June 1944.... [FONT="]Complete Broadcast Day D-Day : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive Lest We Forget! [/FONT]
There was a story I remember from some book I was reading about Winston C., and he argued that the term "invasion" shouldn't be used in reference to the Normandy landings. Ever the wordsmith he was trying to make the point that the western allies weren't invading exactly, they were going into France to throw out the invaders and liberate the French. He lost out in this, and the word invasion was used by nearly everyone when referring to the Normandy landings. I don't know/remember which term he preferred over "invasion", but it wasn't adopted obviously.
and the struggles in the MTO and Rome were almost forgotten except for those that were engaged there. Salute to those that came ashore, an uncle of mine for one ................
"You just went with the flow. When they said 'go,' you went. An awful lot of them never got out of the water. Somebody'd be right there with you, and the next minute he was gone. You didn't really have much time to dwell on it and you didn't want to either." ~ Frank Cloyd, my father, talking about landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. For all the men of D-Day. Heroes one and all. (Yes, I posted this in two threads. But I'm kind of partial, he's my dad.)
Just for fun, here is a link to five short clips on the D-Day landings. Goto: Normandy - The Great Crusade: Preparing for D-Day : Video : Military Channel
To all the brave men and women who made that undertaking possible, to those who went through hell on the beaches and cliffs, and to those who gave their all to set a continent free, our many thanks. :S!
RA, Nice post. I agree mightily. View attachment 13376 Senior U.S. officers watching operations from the bridge of USS Augusta (CA-31), off Normandy, 8 June 1944. They are (from left to right): Rear Admiral Alan G. Kirk, USN, Commander Western Naval Task Force; Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, U.S. Army, Commanding General, U.S. First Army; Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble, USN, (with binoculars) Chief of Staff for RAdm. Kirk; and Major General Hugh Keen, U.S. Army. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives.
"Invasion" was the word used by the German propaganda. Using this was admitting the occupied territories were part of the Axis and would consider the allied as intruders rather than liberators. I think it was the term "landing" (or "debarquement" in French) which was adopted instead.
