D-Day 75

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Pelican
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D-Day 75

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D-DAY VETERANS TO BE SALUTED IN STYLE
23 April 2019
In one of the biggest mobilisations of the UK Armed Forces in recent years, the Ministry of Defence has announced details of plans to pay tribute to remaining D-Day veterans during the 75th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.

With less than 50 days to go plans are being finalised by the Royal Navy, Army and the RAF to offer ceremonial and logistical support to D-Day75.

In total over 4000 personnel will be involved in the UK and France, along with at least 11 Royal Navy vessels, and multiple aircraft from the Red Arrows to the iconic Spitfire.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “75 years ago troops from 14 Allied countries united together, many on the south coast of Britain, before launching the historic operation to liberate Occupied Europe.

"Britain must always keep the legacy of that special generation alive. I urge people to join our Armed Forces in showing that all of us, young and old, will never forget the price they paid for the freedom and peace we now enjoy.”

In the UK, on the 5 June, there will be a national commemorative event held on Southsea Common, Portsmouth, attended by D-Day veterans, VIPs and current serving personnel.

People are being encouraged to head to Portsmouth on the afternoon of 5 June where much of the invasion force sailed from.

There they will witness a flypast of 26 RAF aircraft, and later in the evening have the chance to wave off up to 300 veterans, who are all over 90 years old, as they embark on their journey to Normandy onboard The Royal British Legion’s specially chartered ship.

Portsmouth City Council will host a series of D-Day events from the 5 to the 9 of June, on Southsea Common including a service of Remembrance, a screening of the commemorative events in Normandy, musical performances and the Portsmouth Revival Festival.

Beyond Portsmouth, there are events across the country including a service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum and parachute and air assault displays at IWM Duxford.

Any veterans who would like to attend events in the UK or Normandy, who still haven’t come forward, are encouraged to contact The Royal British Legion.

Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Nick Carter said: “The Armed Forces are honoured to dedicate so many personnel and assets to this significant commemoration.

"Our forebears, who planned and executed Operation Overlord, and those who enabled it to happen by fighting in Italy, Africa and beyond, have the enduring respect of our Armed Forces. We will ensure the example of that special generation lives on.”

Assistant Director of Commemorative Events at The Royal British Legion, Bob Gamble OBE said: “The 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings will be a momentous occasion and every Normandy Veteran that participates will be treated as a VIP throughout to ensure they have the memorable and remarkable experience they deserve. The Legion is taking 300 Normandy Veterans to Bayeux on a specially chartered ship.

"We ask other Second World War veterans that fought for the liberation of France and who are planning to attend the National Commemorative Event in Portsmouth, the Legion’s two services in Bayeux, or the event at the National Memorial Arboretum, to get in touch with us and register your place.

"If you have a family member or friend who is a Normandy Veteran, please spread the word to ensure no one misses what will be an extraordinary experience.”

David Williams Chief Executive Portsmouth City Council said: "The scale of D-Day 75 is unprecedented with Portsmouth at the heart of commemorations on 5 June.

"The city will provide the back drop for the armed forces to mark this historic occasion and, most importantly, to pay tribute to veterans and their comrades and reflect on lessons learned."

The main D-Day75 events for June include:

Embarkation
5 June 1130 The National Commemorative Event

On Southsea Common in Portsmouth veterans will join today’s Armed Forces and VIPs for a programme of live music, performance and flypasts. In the skies they will see a RAF flypast of 26 aircraft including the Red Arrows and a Spitfire.

5 June 1825 The Royal Navy’s Salute

The Royal British Legion’s ship will sail her 300 veterans from Portsmouth carrying to them Normandy. As the vessel departs HMS St Albans, a Type-23 Royal Navy frigate, will escort her along with four smaller Royal Navy vessels.

Royal Navy ships docked alongside will pay their respects, before the ship emerges into the Solent to be met by a flotilla of Royal Navy vessels from frigates and minehunters to small patrol craft and support vessels, who will then sail past her in salute with sailors lining the decks.

People are encouraged to line key vantage points to wave off the veterans as they retrace the journey they made in 1944.

Airborne landings
5 June 1500 (local time) Descending from the skies

Members of the Army’s 16 Air Assault Brigade will drop over Normandy from RAF Hercules aircraft and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s C-47 Dakota.

They will jump along with French Army paratroopers to recreate the famous airborne landings. Shortly after, the organisation ‘Daks over Normandy’ will drop veterans and reenactors from 30+ Dakotas. In the evening the Army will support events taking place at Pegasus Bridge.

Early hours
6 June 0726 (local time) Lone Piper on the Mulberry harbour

At Arromanches in Normandy the Army will mark the exact moment the first British soldier landed on Gold beach.

6 June AM The D-Day memorial inaugurated

The Normandy Memorial Trust’s statue will be unveiled at Ver-Sur-Mer, Normandy in the presence of senior leaders, military musicians and personnel.

Pushing inland
6 June 1000 (local time) Bayeux

In this first town liberated by the allied forces The Royal British Legion will hold events commencing with a service at Bayeux Cathedral and a cemetery service at Commonwealth War Graves Commission Bayeux where they will be supported with a tri-service Guard of Honour and military musicians.

6 June 1600 (local time) Arromanches

In the afternoon British veterans escorted by Army personnel will move to Arromanches for informal events including a flypast by the Red Arrows and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

To access further information on how you can attend events in Portsmouth, please visit https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/D-Day-events and check for updates. D-Day themed events in Portsmouth will continue until the 9 June. For a full list visit https://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/d-day-75

Information about how veterans can accredit to attend events can be found on The Royal British Legion’s website rbl.org.uk/DDay75

From, which includes images - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... y-veterans
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Re: D-Day 75

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SAILORS REMEMBER PRE-D-DAY TRAGEDY
29 April 2019
The sands at Slapton in Devon were imprinted with bootprints – 75 years to the day that a D-Day practice landing there turned into a bloodbath.

British and American sailors and troops stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the southwestern shore of Lyme Bay – just as they did in April 1944 – to remember men killed during Exercise Tiger – a tragedy covered up at the time and forgotten for the next 30 or so years.

Practising an assault on a Normandy beach, a force of slow-moving landing ships and craft, laden with troops and their kit, was intercepted by German torpedo boats which caused havoc – chaos compounded by a string of errors or failures on the Allied side (radio problems and the absence of an escorting RN destroyer due to repairs).

Two landing ships were sunk, one was set ablaze, a fourth was damaged by friendly fire.

Continues with images at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... ay-tragedy
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Re: D-Day 75

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ROYAL MARINES AMPHIBIOUS TRIALS BASE REMEMBERS D-DAY

World War Two vehicles were put through their paces alongside their modern-day equivalents in the build up to the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
Royal Marines from 11 Amphibious Trials and Training Squadron, based at RM Instow, showed how the amphibious craft have advanced since landing on the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944.
Etc.
The 95-year-old said: "The build-up to D-Day was all about training, training, training. We trained so much that running on the beaches was like running on a normal road.
"When we set off there were thousands of landing craft. I have never seen so many vessels in my life."
Etc.
On June 5, Portsmouth is hosting a commemoration for D-Day with a range of events and ceremonies on Southsea seafront. Thousands of visitors are expected to gather to see the spectacle which includes 300 veterans sailing for France accompanied by a host of Royal Navy ships and a flypast.
Full article with photos at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... tmSzEgG2bE
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Re: D-Day 75

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Re: D-Day 75

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Royal Navy

This year commemorates 75 years since the Normandy Landings on D-Day 6th June. To mark this occasion, we have compiled a look at the history behind D-Day.
Watch, read and discover the moments leading up to this historical event:

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... ign=dday75

Also - https://www.facebook.com/DDay75UK/
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Re: D-Day 75

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Overwhelming Numbers Told
There has been no greater combined air, sea and land operation in the history of warfare than Operation Overlord – codename for the invasion of Normandy.

Over 175,000 men were assigned for the first day’s assault on Hitler’s vaunted Fortress Europe – an intermittent series of bunkers, fortifications, trenches, gun emplacements and strongpoints stretching from Jutland to Biarritz – first from the air (by parachute and glider) but mostly from the sea.

1,213 Warships
The seaborne element of the invasion – Operation Neptune – required 6,833 vessels from great battleships pounding German defences, down to small floating galleys, salvage tugs and landing craft.

The naval force was crewed by Frenchmen, Norwegians, Dutch, Poles, Greeks, Americans, but especially Britons and Canadians, who accounted for nearly 80 per cent of all the sailors taking part.

The Royal Marines bore a tremendous burden too. Of the hundreds of landing craft sent against the beaches of Normandy, two out of every three were crewed by marines.

11,590 Aircraft
Overhead was a gigantic umbrella of Allied air power – 11,590 aircraft, 443 of them from the Fleet Air Arm – flying some 14,000 sorties in the first 24 hours of the invasion. They dominated the skies that Tuesday. The Luftwaffe flew just 319 missions… and failed to shoot down a single Allied plane.



Full article which contains a very detailed map:

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... ign=dday75
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ivorthediver
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Re: D-Day 75

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Thanks David for that schedule of events and background information , its the time of year where you want to be able to be at them all but restricted to a few .
We are at the Trouping of the Colour's during these, but our hearts, like many I expect, will be with these remaining souls still around to celebrate them but our thanks, like many, is none the less uppermost in our minds for what was achieved and the loss of so many lives .
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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Re: D-Day 75

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ivorthediver wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 8:21 pm Thanks David for that schedule of events and background information , its the time of year where you want to be able to be at them all but restricted to a few .
We are at the Trouping of the Colour's during these, but our hearts, like many I expect, will be with these remaining souls still around to celebrate them but our thanks, like many, is none the less uppermost in our minds for what was achieved and the loss of so many lives .
On a personal note I was evacuated to Marden Hill, now Marden Hill House - try Googling it - for the last 3 years of the war. Its surrounded by fields and woods. Suddenly a couple of weeks before D Day hundreds of vehicles appeared parked in the woods within a few days and equally quickly they disappeared. Later we understood why. Opposite was Panshangar areodrome where pilots were trained on Tiger Moths - its now a large housing estate altho the grass runway has been retained. Returned there a few weeks ago, the house has been converted into pricey upmarket flats but Tewin has'nt changed much and the pub does a good lunch.
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Re: D-Day 75

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FROM NAVY NEWS:

VISITORS to the newly-restored Naval War Memorial on Southsea seafront can listen to stories of D-Day during the 75th anniversary period.

Historians at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which looks after the monument to sailors and Royal Marines who were lost in both world wars are adding a ‘sound installation’ – Voices of Liberation – to bring 1944 to life for those paying their respects.

From around 11am on Friday May 31 until June 9, a memorial bench – activated when you sit on it – will broadcast recordings of veterans of D-Day and other key clashes and moments between 1939 and 1945, as well as accounts from the descendants of some of the men who never returned from the struggle against Fascism.

For photos go to - https://www.facebook.com/NavyNewsUK/pho ... =3&theater
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Re: D-Day 75

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Shame we live so far away David , but given the jollies we have had this year not having any funds left its unlikely we will get to it sadly :(
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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