D-Day 80th Anniversary.
- Thread starter runnach
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stevensmith91
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Agreed , its a very moving ceremony
wish I could be in Normandy today but sadly not
wish I could be in Normandy today but sadly not
stevensmith91
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We need to make our children aware of what happened
runnach
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Last year while visiting the Nazi gun battery at Longeus Sur Mer, and this was March, there were lots of coaches dropping off French school kids to visit the battery, in the basement of the spotting bunker, a teacher was delivering a class on the topic of triangulation, which wouldd have been used by the spotting tower to feed back to the gun bunkers for adjusting guns angles etc, with a view to blowing a vessel from the water.
Not far from here at Chauvigny, outside the Hotel De Ville, there is a plague in place in memory of a random shot by the Nazis, we pass another plaque on the outskirts of Chauvigny en-route to the village, same again, some random shot by the Nazis.
I don't know if this is similar with other countries occupied by the Nazis? Certainly here in France it is in your face a lot of the time, plus remains of Nazi defences.
UK, all we have are what is left of various defenses jotted around the UK, nothing as the grand scale in occupied countries. I am certainly not defending the % figures, if true, then surely the families have a duty to educated their children of both WW1 & 2.
korky
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Whilst I was aware of WW1 and 2 when I was growing up, we never studied it and I don't believe I had specific knowledge of D Day when I left primary school in 1968. There was nothing like the media coverage then either. At secondary school, history was taught up to 1913.
My stepson,now in his early 30's was taught about both world wars and was interested when we visited Ypres in the van as they had studied that area and its place in history at his school.
Pauljenny
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Alas that was probably pre the tik tok generation and the joys of YouTube.
That's the modern kids of the modern world, they mostly choose to listen and view, only what they self- select
I would guess that most of their teachers are under 50 and what happened 80 years ago is of no interest or validity .
And now, we have to protect the youngsters from being alarmed by scenes of mass carnage.
My first grandchild, now 20, went to a grammar school
And was given a history project, to find all the details available on one of the names of the war memorial.
Being a trumpeter, he was chosen to give the bugle salutes . each Remembrance Day.
His younger brother, 15, attends a good local state school.
There's little mention of the current anniversary, in the playground and the majority of his age group don't watch network TV.. .
That's the modern kids of the modern world, they mostly choose to listen and view, only what they self- select
I would guess that most of their teachers are under 50 and what happened 80 years ago is of no interest or validity .
And now, we have to protect the youngsters from being alarmed by scenes of mass carnage.
My first grandchild, now 20, went to a grammar school
And was given a history project, to find all the details available on one of the names of the war memorial.
Being a trumpeter, he was chosen to give the bugle salutes . each Remembrance Day.
His younger brother, 15, attends a good local state school.
There's little mention of the current anniversary, in the playground and the majority of his age group don't watch network TV.. .
korky
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Don't think it is anything to do with the age of the teachers, more likely national curriculum. I'm 68 and watch little network tv, it's tripe in the main.
Today though is an important and humbling anniversary and those that sacrificed their lives have enabled us to enjoy the peace. A peace I fear is not going to endure for much longer.
runnach
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yes indeed, worrying times ahead!!
Pauljenny
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OMG!
Imagine all those pairs of bloomers being thrown by elderly fans......?
That's going to give the rest of the world a shock..!
Rumour
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We were in Normandy on the 6th, but chose to stay away from the main celebrations. We go every June to pay our respects, my dad came in on the "Jig Green" part of the Normandy landing beaches at Asnelles. He was a driver, who was then seconded to dispatch rider, only two of his lot survived the war. We don't ever go on "special" anniversaries, I don't see the difference. Each year is equal in my eyes, but the crowds and the pomp doesn't cut it.
We look for an inland cemetery and pick one marker to put a poppy on. Four years ago, we went to a Chinese cemetery and horrified to find that the allied forces paid Chinese workers to come and dig trenches in the First World War. We paid them obscene amounts of money (to them) to get blown to bits...
As for kids today? Of what relevance is it to them? They are generations removed from the war. It is much like us learning about the Boar War, the Napoleonic war and the Black war. It is history. And lets be fair to them, we are only really interested in D-Day! Because it is easy to be part of. My town is 60k people strong. On the 11th November or the nearest sunday, we get around 300 people turn out. Out of 60k! But the 80th D-Day celebrations, in the park with entertainment and refreshments got over 1500.
We are interested deeply in D-Day because it is part of our recent history, it is not the same for school kids today.
We look for an inland cemetery and pick one marker to put a poppy on. Four years ago, we went to a Chinese cemetery and horrified to find that the allied forces paid Chinese workers to come and dig trenches in the First World War. We paid them obscene amounts of money (to them) to get blown to bits...
As for kids today? Of what relevance is it to them? They are generations removed from the war. It is much like us learning about the Boar War, the Napoleonic war and the Black war. It is history. And lets be fair to them, we are only really interested in D-Day! Because it is easy to be part of. My town is 60k people strong. On the 11th November or the nearest sunday, we get around 300 people turn out. Out of 60k! But the 80th D-Day celebrations, in the park with entertainment and refreshments got over 1500.
We are interested deeply in D-Day because it is part of our recent history, it is not the same for school kids today.