I've found myself very moved by the stories of Operation Dynamo. The thought of so many amateur sailors out in boats never intended to go that far, and the realisation that without them another 338,000 men might never have got home, in addition to those already slaughtered.
On a totally different tack ('scuse the nautical reference - ha ha) does anyone know where we might be able to get second-hand, i.e. cheap or even FREE, those weeny curtain track fittings that you use in campers and caravans?
Without these sailors I wouldnt be here. My Grandfather was lifted off by in the end two of these boats, the first He was on got hit halfway out by the bombers and He was one of the lucky ones go got picked up by another passing. Have spent this pass week listening to him tell me each day what they were doing at this point and how they were feeling. The first time he has ever shared this with me. So like you amazed and very very grateful.
ReplyDeleteMy former father-in-law was dropped by parachute and was in the battle for Pegasus Bridge. He managed to get across the Rhine and was then sheltered by the Dutch resistance before being smuggled back to Blighty.
ReplyDeleteI watched 'Saving Private Ryan' for the xth time this week and was just as shocked by it as the first time.......and I'm sure it didn't even come close to the horrors of the Normandy beach landings.
PP and I went to all the Normandy landing beaches when we were in France two years ago. In every tiny village there is a large memorial to all the Allied soldiers who died on the beaches..... whole battalions in some cases.
We owe such a lot to those (mostly) young men.