Carry On Up The D-Day.

Apparently, our “master spy” in Europe who helped enable the landing’s success was…. A Spanish chicken farmer called Garbo.

Marvellous. Pimms all round, I think. 😀

Blimey Woppit, that’s brought a lump and some dust into the office.

The fact that the Allies faced 50,000 Germans, and not more than that, had very little to do with the Eastern Front and a hell of a lot to do with the outstanding success of Operation Fortitude – the D-Day deception operation.

It was also greatly helped by the fact that in addition to the hundreds of locomotives the French Resistance destroyed in the run up to D Day they destroyed a further 52 locomotives and cut railway lines in 500 places on D Day itself.

“The dice is on the carpet”

and “It is hot in Suez”

My grandad was there, as well as missing the evacuation of Dunkirk (due to an injured companion – they had to hide out in France for some time afterwards) plus fighting in Africa and other places.

I spent a few days touring the beaches and cemeteries of Normandy a few years ago, from the grand impressive but busy American to the small peaceful British ones (still perfectly-kept) in the corners of sleepy villages. I’ll always remember a quiet chat (in my very limited French) with an elderly French couple out walking through one of the British ones. Also visited Pont du Hoc which was the closest I’ve been to imagining what they went through. Would recommend the trip to anyone but spend a few days there.

My grandfather never spoke of his experiences, I was in my early teens when he passed away and wasn’t interested in ‘history’ anyway. But I always wish I’d had the opportunity to talk to him about it, and now that I’m older to express my gratitude for what he and so many others did. As others have said, it’s incredible to compare our lives with to the things they went through. We don’t know how lucky we are.

My grandad spent most of the war in a Stalag Luft POW camp after being captured at Tobruk.

I don’t. People will and do still pull together in times of crisis. I hope my children do not have to though…

A maternal great-grandfather was a submariner at the time – his main effort in the war was done. My maternal grandfather was in training and soon to be a Coldstream Guard in 1945 and so missed it. My uncle Eric was as a professional soldier rather than a conscript. He said it was a dreadful experience – particularly the fierce fighting behind the beachheads. I could never see Eric as a trained killing machine, he was a lovely, kind, gentle and humble man…