Hi Everyone
Eighty years ago this week on the 6th June 1944, 156,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen from thirty different countries together with 60,000 ships carried out the biggest invasion in the history of warfare when they crossed the English Channel onto the beaches of Normandy in France. Just before the 50th anniversary of D Day in May 1994 we spent our two week holiday in Normandy. President Clinton came for the commemorations that year but we went a few weeks earlier as Bill never sent us an invitation, unless it got lost in the post of course. We spent the last three days of our holiday on the beaches where the landings took place. Even though it is a very different place now it should be a trip on everyone's bucket list. We based ourselves in Arromarches where the remarkable Mulberry harbour was built in just a few days to enable thousands of vehicles to come ashore. There were a number of things that remain fresh in our memory. When we arrived in the town we needed somewhere to stay and possibly somewhere to eat in the evening. We stopped outside this small hotel to look at the evening menu. We had not been there for more than ten seconds when Edith appeared in our midst. We never found out her name but we christened her Edith as she was just like the French cafe owner in the comedy TV show 'Allo'Allo. Within a few seconds more she swept us into her hotel to sign us up for three nights before we could say, Sacre Bleu. By this time in the holiday, we had plenty of experience of dubious French bedrooms but fortunately, the evening meals made up for those shortcomings. When we went to bed at midnight and when we got up early in the morning Edith was there watching over her flock. The museum at Arromarches is right on the seafront, is very impressive and we were pleased to see many French school groups being taken on guided tours. Finally, we visited Omaha Beach where the American troops suffered devastating losses. The cemetery there has over 9000 graves which was about 50% of the losses as many bodies were returned home to the US. In the middle of the beach was a German concrete machine gun post. At the entrance was a small wooden cross with a few flowers which could only have been there for a few days. On the cross was the name of a German soldier, a timely reminder that they too suffered many losses. As we drove back we came across another American cemetery at St. James. Walking among the headstones we were stunned to see that the vast majority of those who died were between eighteen and twenty three years of age, a lost generation. You will probably know that Dday was originally planned for 5th June, but General Eisenhower postponed the invasion for twenty four hours due to bad weather in the English Channel. When we arrived back at Caen for our ferry home to England the Frenchman at the ticket office informed us that we were a day late for our boat. I reckoned if it was good enough for Eisenhower, it was good enough for me.
As you know the Junior Partner lived through two world wars (or 3 if you include his marriage to the Senior Partner), one he took part in and the other as a safe spectator. One of his favourite words that I remember from those days was "propaganda" as he thought we were told only what we were supposed to believe was the truth. Having listened to what the various political parties have to say so far in this election battle, it seems to me that nothing much has changed except that propaganda has been replaced by a new word - misinformation. It was summed up for me in a recent question and answer TV programme when a man in the audience said to one of the politicians that he wanted to vote for her party but that she had spent the last hour not directly answering a single question. Does that mean that we carry on in hope or give up in despair?.
Just a Thought:
General to Private "Have you come here to die?" Private to General "No sir. I came here yester-die".
Fake news is cheap to produce. Genuine journalism is expensive.
Brian
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