77th Anniversary of D-Day

[Skandhaless]

Absolutely brilliant. I did a trip to Normandy in 2014 for the 70th anniversary and we had two veterans on our trip and they just made the whole thing for me. One was so bubbly and full of personality and the other quiet and reserved but so lovely and between them they regaled us with stories that had us absolutely riveted for a week. We stayed friends with them for a few years after the trip until they both sadly passed away a couple of years ago. To see the full veterans parade through Arromanches where the French shop keepers and cafe owners lined the streets and cheered them as they marched proudly through giving them flowers along the way is a memory I`ll never forget.

Isn`t the owner of that the daughter of the family that owned it on D-Day. Having a drink at the Cafe Gondre was something I`d wanted to do for years and was so pleased to finally get to do it.

That`s crystal meth isn`t it? There was a documentary about it a few months ago. I wonder what the long term effects were on the veterans who survived the war.

Yes she is /was , I think she was a small child during the landings . She was there when we went in , it was quiet and she spent about half an hour talking to dad . This was late 80s , she was a very charming french lady who had an old Tommy wrapped around her finger and puffed up with pride with her respects and gratitude

 

[woodlebert]

What an awful prospect to be nearing the beech in one of those landing craft. Very brave men.

It’s unthinkable isn’t it? What it must have been like in one of those landing craft. Heroes all of them.