The British D Day Memorial at Normandy

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Pelican
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The British D Day Memorial at Normandy

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BRITISH D DAY MEMORIAL UNVEILED

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57373932
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQgtq_Fssek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IkZq2m_hSU

Royal Navy
On this day in June 1944, Hitler’s vaunted Atlantic Wall was punctured by the bravery, ingenuity and overwhelming firepower of Allied forces.
Today marks the anniversary of D-Day, the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi tyranny under the banner of Operation Overlord and its naval element, Operation Neptune.
Nearly 200,000 naval personnel – more than half of them Royal Navy, plus 25,000 Merchant Navy seaman – manned an invasion force of nearly 7,000 vessels, from battleships and cruisers pounding German positions, through more than 4,000 landing craft and a good 1,500 supporting vessels.
The ring of steel drawn around the invasion fleet, plus Allied air cover – including Fleet Air Arm patrols – largely protected it from the German Navy, but losses in the attacking waves of landing craft were heavy: one fifth of 47 (Royal Marines) Commando was wiped out in the initial assault wave at Gold Beach.
Along the coast at Juno Beach, fellow Royal Marines suffered heavy losses as it stormed and captured the seafront village of Langrune-sur-Mer.
In all upwards of 10,000 men on both sides were casualties on the first day of the invasion; at least 100 sailors and Royal Marines with no known grave are honoured on Portsmouth Naval Memorial alone.
Their sacrifice is also being remembered with the formal dedication of the new Normandy Memorial overlooking what was Gold Beach on June 6 1944.
New patrol ship – freshly painted in ‘dazzle’ camouflage like her sister HMS Tamar – is due to act as guardship for proceedings, stationed in the waters just offshore.
Given the pandemic, veterans and family members/descendants have been invited to an event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire where they can watch proceedings and also link up with old comrades.


See - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... y-at-d-day

AND

On the 77th Anniversary of D-Day, Remembering Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Higgins Boat

I am aware of only one man who was praised by both Eisenhower and Hitler. A repost on the 77th anniversary of D-Day.

General Dwight David Eisenhower said that “Andrew Higgins … is the man who won the war for us. … If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different.”

Adolph Hitler referred to Andrew Higgins as the “new Noah,” though his admiration was more begrudging. On the 77th anniversary of the Normandy landings, better known as D-Day, it seems worthwhile to remember Andrew Higgins and the amazing Higgins boat.

Continues at:
http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2021/06/on-t ... more-57691
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Re: The British D Day Memorial at Normandy

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On This Day - Decoys at Woolverstone, on the river Stour in Suffolk, East Anglia, England

77 years ago today, codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle known as D-Day, began. 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target, with fake landing craft and other military equipment in Woolverstone used for this purpose. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans.
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HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Re: The British D Day Memorial at Normandy

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War Graves guardians take over new £30m Normandy memorial


The impressive new memorial to Britons killed liberating Normandy in 1944 will be cared for by the guardians of the nation’s war dead.

From October, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission takes over maintenance of the British Normandy Memorial, which was dedicated in June.

The monument at Ver-sur-Mer, overlooking what was codenamed Gold Beach in 1944, has been created over the past five years as the sole site of memory honouring all 22,442 men and women under British command lost in the Battle for Normandy between June 6 and late August.

One in ten of those casualties was a sailor or Royal Marine.

They and their comrades feature on the roll of honour, spread across 160 columns which line the walkways leading to the centrepiece of the £30m: a courtyard and statue of three troops charging ashore.

Now the memorial is open to the public, the commission has been appointed to ensure its upkeep with gardeners, stonemasons and other specialist staff taking on the routine maintenance, inspections and care of the iconic site.

“Our local teams will ensure the British Normandy Memorial remains a fitting place for families and visitors to pay their respects,” said Claire Horton, Director General of the War Graves Commission.

“Our century of expertise in caring for some of the world’s most important memorials and commemoration sites stands us in great stead to ensure the sacrifice of all those who fell here is never forgotten.”

The memorial has been funded by the LIBOR penalties imposed on banks, fundraising by veterans and the public and private donations.

From - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... y-memorial
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Re: The British D Day Memorial at Normandy

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BRITISH NORMANDY MEMORIAL 2022

https://www.britishnormandymemorial.org/news/
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Re: The British D Day Memorial at Normandy

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British Normandy Memorial

Our Normandy Veteran Patron George Batts MBE is 97 today! On this special day, we share a short video capturing his emotional reaction to seeing his dream finally realised. George visited the completed Memorial for the first time in October 2021.
Happy Birthday George!

See - https://twitter.com/britishmemorial/sta ... 5234093057
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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Re: The British D Day Memorial at Normandy

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D-Day veteran George Batts dies aged 97

A D-Day veteran who led a campaign for a memorial near the Normandy beach where he landed in World War Two has died at the age of 97.

George Batts, who lived in Barming, near Maidstone, Kent, was an 18-year-old sapper when he landed in France on Gold Beach in June 1944.
Last October he visited the British Normandy Memorial which honours fallen colleagues for his first and only time.
The British Normandy Memorial charity said Mr Batts's legacy would live on.
His daughter, Linda, said: "I couldn't be prouder of my dad and his achievement in realising the memorial which will keep alive the memory of all the veterans and their fallen comrades."

Continues at - <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-63561637>
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
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