June 6th

 

Nothing less than what Mr. Turnbull says as, 75 years later, he stares down at the same harbour that once brimmed with convoy ships.

“We had a job to do – and we did it.”

This job: 

A few days before the invasion, five men in Randal’s company gathered for a few drinks. Three, all in their mid-twenties, thought they may last a few days, or never return. Two, both 18, thought they would make it to Berlin: they were dead by the end of the week.

They had good reason for their fear; Juno Beach was arguably one of the most important sectors. It sat astride from the Caen Bayeux road, which Allied planners anticipated would be the primary thrust of Germany’s counterattack. They were right. By the evening of June 6, three panzer divisions, some of the best units in Hitler’s army, would be hurled towards Juno Beach. Men like Randal would face them head-on in a desperate series of battles in little towns like Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse and Norrey-en Bessin. It was estimated that 250 men of his company held off a regiment of 1,000 soldiers. Their training, equipment, professionalism and bravery helped them carry the day.

(Sidebar: compounding the already difficult task of retaking Europe via fortifications and high cliffs was the weather.)

The Allied invasion consisted not only of Americans, Britons and Canadians but Australians and those from the invaded countries of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, New Zealand,  Norway and Poland.

Those who fought on the first day of the invasion probably never imagined recounting their difficult struggles to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. After years of keeping these thoughts to themselves, they now share them before time runs out.

When they have gone, the torch will be passed onto others to remind the world that their sacrifices were for those whom they never and would never meet.

It will be a great loss for a civilisation that forgets this.


Also, today marks Memorial Day in South Korea: