June 6th 1944

Steyn Online ^ | 6 June 2019 | Mark Steyn

[Rummyfan]

In Dennis Sullivan's photograph above, a landing craft from HMCS Prince Henry carries Canadian troops toward Juno Beach in the early hours of D-Day. Many years ago, I spoke to someone who'd been aboard the Prince Henry's sister ship, HMCS Prince David, who talked about the subtly different dynamic among the guys on those landing craft. The Royal Canadian Navy men at the front are concerned to make their rendezvous on time: They're in the middle of the mission, and they want to complete it. The infantrymen behind them are waiting for theirs to start. As the Prince Henry recedes behind them, they know they're leaving the best-laid plans, and that what awaits them on shore is about to go agley.

A lot went wrong, but more went right - or was made right. A few hours before the Canadians aboard the Prince Henry climbed into that landing craft, 181 men in six Horsa gliders took off from RAF Tarrant Rushton in Dorset to take two bridges over the River Orne and hold them until reinforcements arrived. Their job was to prevent the Germans using the bridges to attack troops landing on Sword Beach. At lunchtime, Lord Lovat and his commandos arrived at the Bénouville Bridge, much to the relief of the 7th Parachute Battalion's commanding officer, Major Pine-Coffin. That was his real name, and an amusing one back in Blighty: simple pine coffins are what soldiers get buried in. It wasn't quite so funny in Normandy, where a lot of pine coffins would be needed by the end of the day. Lord Lovat, Chief of Clan Fraser, apologized to Pine-Coffin for missing the rendezvous time: "Sorry, I'm a few minutes late," he said, after a bloody firefight to take Sword Beach.

[Rummyfan]

Arlette Gondrée was a four-year old girl that day, and she has grown old with the teen-and-twenty soldiers who liberated her home and her town. But she is now the proprietress of the family café, and she has been there every June to greet those who return each year in dwindling numbers:

That's the late Bill Bray and the late John Woodthorpe with Mme Gondrée on the seventieth anniversary.

[Track9]

“And in the three-quarters of a century since June 6th, no D-Day veteran has ever had to pay for his drink at the Café Gondrée.”

[norwaypinesavage]

I knew three men who stormed the beaches that day. A generation apart, I could call them friends, though I was mostly friends of their children. I have always held them in awe.

One, a co-worker, was a real friend. His unit took 97% casualties on Omaha Beach. He was among them, though his wounds were on day 3. He would point to the scar on his neck where the bullet went through. He woke in a hospital and last remembered collecting his own blood in his helmet, so "they could put it back in later". He had a very cute daughter my age, and I thought I should try to date her, but I held back in awe of him. I later found out that he was actually trying to make the connection. At his funeral, I learned that he 'rarely' spoke of his military history. I was surprised that he said as much to me as he did.

The second was a Ranger who stormed Point du Hoc. He was a close friend of my parents. I never heard him speak of his military history. I last saw him at my parent's fiftieth wedding anniversary.

The third was my next door neighbor for three decades. He was probably the most shy man I have ever met. He proudly put his American Flag on his front porch daily, and did tell of marching in on D-Day, and from there across France. That's all he ever said of it. He spent his last years in a VA home.

All are gone now.

[Track9]

Thanks for the stories. Surprisingly emotional for me. God bless

[dfwgator]

You see more American flags around Normandy these days than you do in many parts of the US.

[dfwgator]

One thing that occurred to me, is how many such landings were there in the Pacific War?

It’s kind of a shame that our focus on the Pacific war pales in comparison to the European war, not that D-Day doesn’t deserve all of the attention that it gets, but the fact is, the conditions those who fought in the Pacific faced were much tougher than even in Europe.

[Paal Gulli]

"One thing that occurred to me, is how many such landings were there in the Pacific War?

It’s kind of a shame that our focus on the Pacific war pales in comparison to the European war, not that D-Day doesn’t deserve all of the attention that it gets, but the fact is, the conditions those who fought in the Pacific faced were much tougher than even in Europe."

It's obvious military history is not your strong suit.

And neither is diplomacy, if you think a discussion of the 75th anniversary of D-Day is the proper venue for broaching your dissatisfaction with the deference given to D-Day.

[norwaypinesavage]

"how many such landings were there in the Pacific War?"

There were many, many more. Most, if not all, of the land battles after Midway started with beach landings opposed by Japanese forces with entrenched defenses. Many, if not most, had higher casualty rates than Normandy. The total forces, though were much smaller. Many of the mistakes made in the early landings provided important 'lessons learned' which improved the effectiveness of the Normandy landing.

My father in law was an aircraft mechanic on a Pacific 'Jeep carrier', one of the small carriers built by Henry Kaiser at the start of the war. His was one of many built from already designed Liberty Ships. His stories of the landings, and Kamikaze attacks were hair raising. Though an aircraft mechanic during off time, in battles, my FiL was an anti-aircraft gunner on one of the side gun pods on the ship. A native Minnesotan, he described the gunfire from the ship during the attacks as "snow falling backwards" from the tracer bullets fired from the guns at the Kamikazes.

During one such attack, a Kamikaze was flying at wave height directly at his gun position. The 'snow' was flying sideways. At the last minute, the ship's one 'big' gun knocked one airplane wing. The plane hit the water, and bounced right over the ship. My FiL felt the heat from the burning plane as it bounced over him. My later-to-be-born wife and daughters are forever grateful for the lucky hit.

[norwaypinesavage]

"how many such landings were there in the Pacific War?"

There were many, many more. Almost all the battles after Midway started with beach landings opposed by Japanese forces with entrenched defenses. Many, if not most, had higher casualty rates than Normandy. The total forces, though were much smaller. Many of the mistakes made in the early landings provided important 'lessons learned' which improved the effectiveness of the Normandy landing.

My father in law was an aircraft mechanic on a Pacific 'Jeep carrier', one of the small carriers built by Henry Kaiser at the start of the war. His was one of many built from already designed Liberty Ships. His stories of the landings, and Kamikaze attacks were hair raising. Though an aircraft mechanic during off time, in battles, my FiL was an anti-aircraft gunner on one of the side gun pods on the ship. A native Minnesotan, he described the gunfire from the ship during the attacks as "snow falling backwards" from the tracer bullets fired from the guns at the Kamikazes.

During one such attack, a Kamikaze was flying at wave height directly at his gun position. The 'snow' was flying sideways. At the last minute, the ship's one 'big' gun knocked one airplane wing off. The plane hit the water, and bounced right over the ship. My FiL felt the heat from the burning plane as it bounced over him. My later-to-be-born wife and daughters are forever grateful for the lucky hit.