D-Day - 6 June 1944

mdingwall

mdingwall

Administrator
D-Day - any of your folks serve in WWII?
My old man was in the 8th Army - Egypt and Libya with the Royal Engineers. On D-Day he was actually billeted in Russell Square in London - he said the Square filled with people who came out to watch the air armada as the bombers and the airborne troop carriers went over - said it was difficult to see the night sky as there were so many planes in the air.

 
Respect to all who served. My uncle was killed at Monte Cassino.
qGV09Ib.png
 
Grandad used to call me Arnhem when I was a bairn, he always found it funny I was born on D-Day. The penny didn't drop until I was much older. Wish he was still here because I'd love to have heard all about it. But like many he wasn't for talking about it much.

Managed to get his records / medals sent to me a few years back. They take pride of place in my home.

Can only imagine what went through some rando Nazi's mind when a 6'6'' Fifer dropped from the sky in a foul mood thanks to a mile long wedgy.

Rest in piece old boy.

Random fact, I remember his shaving routine from when I was a bairn and I copy it to this day. Same razor n everything.

Raising my cup of her majesties finest to all who served.
 
A cousin James MacDonald who was a trooper with the 43rd Gloucestershire Regiment.

His ship the Derrycunihy was anchored off Sword Beach on the 24th June it was decided to move the ship to Juno Beach but it tragically hit a German mine.It sank with the loss of 183 men which represented the biggest single loss of life off the Normandy invasion beaches.
 
My Grandfather was a Sergeant in the 2nd battalion Royal Ulster Rifles and landed on Sword beach on D Day. Fought all the way across to Germany and happily survived the war.

This is a good site for regimental photos. I think I've noticed him in one of them, possibly two but will have to check with my uncle before being sure as my grandfather died when I was very young.

royal-ulster-rifles-ww2.blogspot.com

2 RUR Gallery

 2 RUR drilling at the Ballymena Barracks 8 November 1940 - none of men have more than 3 months service (IWM) 2 RUR drilling at the Ballym...
royal-ulster-rifles-ww2.blogspot.com royal-ulster-rifles-ww2.blogspot.com
 
mdingwall said:
D-Day - any of your folks serve in WWII?
My old man was in the 8th Army - Egypt and Libya with the Royal Engineers. On D-Day he was actually billeted in Russell Square in London - he said the Square filled with people who came out to watch the air armada as the bombers and the airborne troop carriers went over - said it was difficult to see the night sky as there were so many planes in the air.

Click to expand...
 
mdingwall said:
D-Day - any of your folks serve in WWII?
My old man was in the 8th Army - Egypt and Libya with the Royal Engineers. On D-Day he was actually billeted in Russell Square in London - he said the Square filled with people who came out to watch the air armada as the bombers and the airborne troop carriers went over - said it was difficult to see the night sky as there were so many planes in the air.

Click to expand...
My uncle was in the middle east with the Royal Engineers. 8th army i think.
 
My Dad was with the Royal Engineers, seconded to the 50th Northumbrian Division at Arromanches (Gold Beach).

He went in on H-Hour and after getting ashore and clearing obstancles, etc, they found themselves stuck behind the corner of a sea wall with German machine guns and an 88mm threatening them.
Cue a bluddy big AVRE Petard rolling up and blowing the f*** out of the Germans.

A few minutes later he was shot in the arm and that was the war over for him.
I think I mentioned before on here that as he lay on the first-aid section of the beach with British forces pushing onwards, he was beside wounded German soldiers, and he shared his cigarettes with them.

Although he was genuinely in the first wave of soldiers landing at Arromanches, he said that Naval frogmen had been there for about a day, hunched up and hidden among the shadows, having cut wires and signalling out to sea.

The whole atmosphere about these landings was one of dread -- my father told me that just about everyone in his lot thought that they were simply going to their deaths.
Even in the landing craft going ashore, he looked around and all he could see was the entire spectrum of feelings: stark terror, resignation to fate, grim expressions.

Going over the Channel itself was something out of a surreal nightscape -- rockets, high-flying bombers, low-flying fighters, every size and shape of ship imaginable, massive bone-shaking naval salvoes, screeches, horns, sirens, blasts and bangs.
His best mate was shot death right beside him in the landing craft as they headed towards the beach.

A fecking nightmare.

However, it had to be done and someone had to do it.

God help us if this country ever had to look about for the same calibre of people to do something similar again.
 
My dad was a marine engineer in the merchant navy.
In 1940 his ship was part of the disastrous SC7 convoy from Canada to the UK, in which 20 out of 35 ships were lost to U-Boats. His ship, the SS Blairspey took at least 3 torpedoes from two separate U-Boats near Barra Head, and although the ship was abandoned miraculously it survived and was rebuilt. There was a story in the Sunday Post in 1989 telling how the desk from the Captain’s Cabin ended up in a licensed grocers in Castlebay

A year later in 1941 his new ship was torpedoed and sunk off the south coast of England, however my dad escaped from the engine room and made it to a lifeboat.

In 1942-43 he was part of the Arctic (Russian) Convoys which sailed from Loch Ewe in Wester Ross taking supplies to Arkhangelsk in north west Russia and amazingly he got there safely, despite so many ships in the various 78 convoys being sunk.
Thankfully he survived the rest of the war before he started working for oil companies in the USA and Middle East.
Coincidentally my daughter-in-law was born and brought up in Arkhangelsk, and it did cross my mind as to whether we shared any dna! :) ;)
 
On this day in 1944, Operation Overlord, better known to us know as ‘D Day’ saw the invasion of Normandy by Allied forces.

It is difficult to imagine the chaos, but today alone 156,115 troops used 6939 ships, 2395 powered aircraft and 869 gliders to force their way into the beaches.

C47 ‘That’s All Brother’ was piloted by Lt Colonel John Donalson on that day, leading the formation of over 800 C47s carrying 13,000 troops to their drop zone on the beaches.

Aircraft on the day wore the infamous D Day stripes on their wings and fuselage. These were hurriedly applied to help stop friendly fire in the chaos above the beaches.

Lest we forget.
 
My generation born after the war has been the lucky one. I could not begin to imagine what it must have been like on the front line. Heroes, every single one of them. I was scared shitless just watching the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. The action was so real. I don’t know if I could have survived such an onslaught. Words aren’t enough to describe all who fought against fascism. I’ve been reading about the Brits who came upon Belsen concentration camp and suffered as a result for the rest of their lives. The trauma of war is difficult to comprehend unless one has experienced it. In memorium.
 
Last edited:
An Uncle (my mothers' side of the family) served in 2nd bt Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and was KIA in Sicily, August 1943. He was aged 23 years old. They were fighting to take a Nazi position high on the slopes of Mount Etna. Field Marshall Montgomery visited the regiment the night before and said that the 5th division could not move on until the mountainous position was taken and set the regiment the challenge.

All members of my Uncle's patrol were killed and they are nearly all buried beside each other in a row at Catania War Cemetary. The position was eventually taken.

'Faugh La Ballagh' (Clear The Way) is a traditional motto for all the Irish Regiments and is so apt here. And everytime I also hear the Regiment's rousing battle song, 'Killahoe' with its famous yell it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

That is why I wear my 'Poppy With Pride'.
 
Last edited:
MusicMan Majesty said:
Respect to all who served. My uncle was killed at Monte Cassino.
qGV09Ib.png
Click to expand...
I have had to break my self-imposed ban on commenting on this site in order to reply to your post.

My uncle was killed in the same action as yours, on 19 March 1944. If you have spent any time with the 9 Commando survivors’ group and their families (The Black Hackle Society) you will have all the details of that battle. If not, you might be interested in an account I have written. I have visited the key places, spoken with surviving members of 9 Commando and their families, and spent days at the National Archives in Kew going through the 9 Commando archives. I have also been in touch with the German National Archives in Freiburg who put me in touch with some of the surviving German paras, many of whom had served on the Eastern Front.

It was an intense battle, known as “Operation X” fought at close quarters (sometimes hand to hand) in a wadi system north of Anzio against a German paratroop battalion regarded as one of the best in Italy. 9 Commando lost 24 killed that day.

I would be happy to send you a copy of my account of the battle if we can find some way to get in touch off forum. I believe I may know how your Uncle died, but I would not tell you here.
 
skorn said:
My Dad was with the Royal Engineers, seconded to the 50th Northumbrian Division at Arromanches (Gold Beach).

He went in on H-Hour and after getting ashore and clearing obstancles, etc, they found themselves stuck behind the corner of a sea wall with German machine guns and an 88mm threatening them.
Cue a bluddy big AVRE Petard rolling up and blowing the f*** out of the Germans.

A few minutes later he was shot in the arm and that was the war over for him.
I think I mentioned before on here that as he lay on the first-aid section of the beach with British forces pushing onwards, he was beside wounded German soldiers, and he shared his cigarettes with them.

Although he was genuinely in the first wave of soldiers landing at Arromanches, he said that Naval frogmen had been there for about a day, hunched up and hidden among the shadows, having cut wires and signalling out to sea.

The whole atmosphere about these landings was one of dread -- my father told me that just about everyone in his lot thought that they were simply going to their deaths.
Even in the landing craft going ashore, he looked around and all he could see was the entire spectrum of feelings: stark terror, resignation to fate, grim expressions.

Going over the Channel itself was something out of a surreal nightscape -- rockets, high-flying bombers, low-flying fighters, every size and shape of ship imaginable, massive bone-shaking naval salvoes, screeches, horns, sirens, blasts and bangs.
His best mate was shot death right beside him in the landing craft as they headed towards the beach.

A fecking nightmare.

However, it had to be done and someone had to do it.

God help us if this country ever had to look about for the same calibre of people to do something similar again.
Click to expand...
Wonderful story sir. Thanks for sharing
 
My Mum’s uncle was a Rear Gunner on a 614 Sq Liberator, lost over the Adriatic on 7th March 1945 after an icing incident on a bombing mission with another crew member who bailed out just before the captain of the aircraft got it under control again. This is him and his wife, he had two young children and had volunteered for aircrew. He had 4 other brothers who all served in the RAF but came home.

F43-E4-D54-7-B85-4-EBA-803-B-7-C7-E0-D1-F42-BB.jpg


My Dad’s uncle was in the RM Commandos and was one of the first wave onto Sword on D-Day. He survived the war, sadly him and his wife were killed in a car accident a few years ago. He never really spoke to me about it even though he knew how much I was into military history. I was too young at the time. It’s a matter of regret to me I couldn’t do it in later years when I could have.
 
Fantastic thread with many great stories of heroes. They are known on this side of the Atlantic as The Greatest Generation never a truer word was spoken may God Bless all of them. We will never see their like again and as a previous poster said God help us all if we ever have tyfind people of that calibre again. My Papa served 22 years in the Argylls including the 6 years of WW2, he survived, he never spoke about it much but he was a Hero.
 
My dad's dad was in a transport unit and was captured during the Battle of Crete in May 1941. He spent the rest of the war in a POW camp in Austria before getting back and setting up home with my gran in the south side.

My mums dad was a Commando who was involved in pretty much every British campaign including the raid on Dieppe, North Africa, the invasion of Sicily, and then from there onto the D-Day landings, where his unit was involved in scaling cliffs under fire to secure the end of one of the beaches. I was fortunate that I lived with him and my gran for a spell when I was about 18 and he told me a few stories, apparently he hadn't ever spoken much about it to anyone else. He was captured by Italians in Sicily, very fortunate because the Germans would shoot commandos. When the Italians chucked it 4000 Italians then presented themselves to him and a few of his mates for surrender. He was a remarkable man who worked until his early 80's before passing peacefully in his sleep. Certainly remember them and their like today.
 
BlueDragon99 said:
I have had to break my self-imposed ban on commenting on this site in order to reply to your post.

My uncle was killed in the same action as yours, on 19 March 1944. If you have spent any time with the 9 Commando survivors’ group and their families (The Black Hackle Society) you will have all the details of that battle. If not, you might be interested in an account I have written. I have visited the key places, spoken with surviving members of 9 Commando and their families, and spent days at the National Archives in Kew going through the 9 Commando archives. I have also been in touch with the German National Archives in Freiburg who put me in touch with some of the surviving German paras, many of whom had served on the Eastern Front.

It was an intense battle, known as “Operation X” fought at close quarters (sometimes hand to hand) in a wadi system north of Anzio against a German paratroop battalion regarded as one of the best in Italy. 9 Commando lost 24 killed that day.

I would be happy to send you a copy of my account of the battle if we can find some way to get in touch off forum. I believe I may know how your Uncle died, but I would not tell you here.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply. I would like to know more about what happened. I am still in touch with Albert's granddaughter. I have visited the cemetery at Cassino and also the monastery and I would like to take his granddaughter to it as well. I can p.m. you my e-mail address or address if you like to send me the account of the battle. Thanks in advance.
 
BlueDragon99 said:
I have had to break my self-imposed ban on commenting on this site in order to reply to your post.

My uncle was killed in the same action as yours, on 19 March 1944. If you have spent any time with the 9 Commando survivors’ group and their families (The Black Hackle Society) you will have all the details of that battle. If not, you might be interested in an account I have written. I have visited the key places, spoken with surviving members of 9 Commando and their families, and spent days at the National Archives in Kew going through the 9 Commando archives. I have also been in touch with the German National Archives in Freiburg who put me in touch with some of the surviving German paras, many of whom had served on the Eastern Front.

It was an intense battle, known as “Operation X” fought at close quarters (sometimes hand to hand) in a wadi system north of Anzio against a German paratroop battalion regarded as one of the best in Italy. 9 Commando lost 24 killed that day.

I would be happy to send you a copy of my account of the battle if we can find some way to get in touch off forum. I believe I may know how your Uncle died, but I would not tell you here.
Click to expand...
I tried to p.m. you but I got the message that you restrict who can message you.
 
Buzz07 said:
My Grandfathers only brother was killed in action in Northern France on 8th of June 1944.
He was 24 years of age and is buried at Bayeux War Cemetary.
Click to expand...
I’ve visited Bayeux Cemetery a few times on our trips over to Normandy. It’s very beautifully kept and heart wrenching. The ages of the soldiers and the inscriptions from their loved ones touch your soul.
 
Smokey bear65 said:
My father landed in Normandy on 12 th June 1944 with the Black Watch, served in Normandy, the Ardenne and the Rhine crossing, won the MM and this was presented to him by Field Marshall Montgomery, the picture of which is proudly hanging on my living room wall!
Click to expand...
My father beat yours by one day. He was in the back of a 3ton Bedford. As the King and Churchill were over on +3 he had obviously done his risk analysis properly. He lived long enough to get the Legion d'honneur off the French. :)
 
One of my uncles was a Wireless Operator on a Stirling bomber with 199 Squadron. He and his crew were on their 13th op when they were shot down on the bombing run. Only the bomb aimer escaped and he spent nearly two years as a POW.

My grandparents received a letter from the bomb aimer on his return home in 1945. He said the aircraft was coned by searchlights and two German fighters attacked. There was a large explosion and the aircraft went out of control and crashed on farmland near Hanover.

I as the eldest grandchild was bequeathed my uncle’s logbook and papers. I knew the bomb aimer’s name and about 30 years ago, I was reading a book by Martin Middlebrook about the RAF bombing Berlin. Amongst the contributors was my uncle’s bomb aimer who I was able to contact via the book’s publishers.

We struck up a correspondence and my wife and I visited him for a very emotional and poignant day.
 
For those unaquainted with it, I recommend a great, informative and extensive online site for Northern Ireland's Military contribution to World War 2. It is set up and maintained by Andy Glenburn at WW2ni.com. He asks visitors not to copy photographs without permission though.
 
bearmind said:
For those unaquainted with it, I recommend a great, informative and extensive online site for Northern Ireland's Military contribution to World War 2. It is set up and maintained by Andy Glenburn at WW2ni.com. He asks visitors not to copy photographs without permission though.
Click to expand...
Indeed. That pic of mine earlier was a contribution I sent to Andy for it, it was a post on FB.

“The Second World War In Northern Ireland” on there.
 
Fergie1872 said:
I’ve visited Bayeux Cemetery a few times on our trips over to Normandy. It’s very beautifully kept and heart wrenching. The ages of the soldiers and the inscriptions from their loved ones touch your soul.
Click to expand...
I've visited Thiepval and surrounding areas but knew nothing of my Grandfathers Brother at that time.
I am hoping to visit Bayeux as soon as possible to pay my respects to him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Latest posts

Back
Top