7 Australian D-Day Vets return to Normandy

[TarJak]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-3...ersary/5490638

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-3...france/5490864

Good to see these blokes getting over to the commemorations in France.

[Dread Knot]

[Onkel Neal]

You really have to salute the veterans from Australia, New Zealand; they could have easily said, hey, this fight ain't ours, it's happening on the other side of the planet.

[BossMark]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

You really have to salute the veterans from Australia, New Zealand; they could have easily said, hey, this fight ain't ours, it's happening on the other side of the planet.

As being part of the British commonwealth, did they have a choice but to fight?

[Onkel Neal]

Yeah, I know what you mean, they were obligated.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

You really have to salute the veterans from Australia, New Zealand; they could have easily said, hey, this fight ain't ours, it's happening on the other side of the planet.

Nope and answered below.

Originally Posted by BossMark

As being part of the British commonwealth, did they have a choice but to fight?

Allegiance to King and Country.

[Downunderjock]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

You really have to salute the veterans from Australia, New Zealand; they could have easily said, hey, this fight ain't ours, it's happening on the other side of the planet.

Actually, they didn't have a choice, it was King and Country they served.
And they felt it was their fight.

Plus, we would have served in a major way, but got shipped out to fight the Japanese. (Sadly, not much support from Britoin.) I think they didn't want us their??? No disrespect intended, to other Allied friends, or Vets.

As per the Politics at the time.

Also, there were some Aussie's attached, to the British Army and Navy, etc. (I believe??)

I believe the Weather man, whose job it was to say 6th June was clear for action, at Churchhill's War room, under ground, was an Aussie???

But, I am happy to be corrected.

[Downunderjock]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

BE HAPPY! James Martin Stagg, an Edinborough educated dour Scotsman, 'called the ball' as the head of a contentious meteorology team for June 6th using German deciphered weather reports to make a final determination after the cancellation of June 5th!
Some required background: https://medium.com/history-and-politics/the-weather-on-d-day-85ea0491a14f Essentilly there was no mystery for the Germans that June 5,6,and 7th were ideal tide and moon conditions. They had planned their own invasion Operation Sealion. "The Germans believed that the weather was too bad for the Allies to invade. This was not the fault of poor forecasting. Group Captain Heinz Lettau—later a revered professor of meteorology at the University of Wisconsin—saw the same succession of fronts as did the Allied forecasters. He may or may not have noted the marginal improvement of the weather on the 6th. Even had he seen this, however, his orders were clear. The High Command had decided that an invasion was not possible if there was a risk of the winds reaching force 4 or higher. (The Germans had put off their own planned invasion of Britain, Operation Sea Lion, in 1940, in part because they could never get what they felt was a calm-enough sea for the troops to cross.) Lettau was confident—and right—that there would be a force 4 wind on June 5, 6, and 7. Ergo, there could be no invasion. What the Germans failed to find out was that the Allies thought force 4 was just fine." Essentially, a difference in pain threshold weatherwise made the difference. Or to quote Hitler directly: "On land I am a hero; At sea, I am a Coward" sort of worked its way down the ladder of command...

Thank you, for correcting me on that.