The ceremonial remembering of the 75th anniversary of the D Day Invasion of France on 6th June 1944 by Allied Forces started today in Portsmouth with the Queen surrounded by 16 world leaders paying tribute to those who died. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history, beginning the liberation of German-occupied France (and later western Europe) from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. It had been in planning for over a year with a decoy plan being leaked to the Germans to confuse them about the date and place of the landings.
The 6th June 1944 had a brutal Mars Pluto conjunction in Leo sextile Uranus Venus so it well described a dangerous military exercise that could easily have gone the wrong way. Tr Jupiter in Leo was exactly conjunct Uranus and opposition Pluto on the France chart giving it a better chance of success; and the Solar Arc Uranus was about to cross the France Ascendant exact within months for total freedom.
On the USA chart Uranus was on a full return with the Mars Pluto conjunct the US leadership Leo North Node as it took the lead. On the UK chart tr Neptune was in a highly-strung conjunction to the UK Uranus; with tr Jupiter moving through the hopeful 11th to conjunct the UK Saturn within weeks as the invasion slowly made headway.
One of the many stories told of the day is of Bill Millin, Lord Lovat’s personal piper, who stepped off the landing craft into the water and marched up and down the beach playing his bagpipes to rouse morale, with soldiers dying all round him. The Germans later said they hadn’t shot him because they thought he was mad. A sculpture of him now stands in Normandy. He was the only piper there since they had been banned in England after too many pipers died in WW1.
He was born 14 July 1922 in Glasgow and was a Sun in Cancer with his Pluto and Mercury also in Cancer square Saturn Jupiter in Libra and trine Uranus – patriotic, creative, tough-minded, confident. On D Day, his Solar Arc Mars was exactly square his Saturn and North Node for high risk; and in the weeks following when he returned home unscathed tr Jupiter was trine his Uranus bringing elation and relief.
Scottish Pipers:- Over a thousand Scottish pipers were killed in WW1 due to being at the forefront of the march / leading the fray. When the same situation arose in WW2 the War Office in London dictated that Scottish pipers should no longer be placed in this position, however hundreds of Scottish pipers were still included in the ranks until the end of WW2.
On D-Day Lord Lovat (cousin of David Stirling the Scottish founder of the SAS) asked his personal piper, Bill Millin, to pipe them onto and over the beach as he was well aware of the impact that the sound of the pipes had on Scottish troops and more so the enemy. Millin asked about the War Office directive. Lord Lovat replied, “that’s the English War Office policy but you and I are Scots.”
I’m so proud of the part that the Scots played in WW1 and WW2 even although they got little to no mention on the BBC’s D-Day commemoration programme. Of a population of 8% of the UK overall they’ve contributed between 25% to 35% of the British Forces over centuries until very recently. That has changed dramatically over the last few years with few signing on and many pulling out. No doubt through seeing the light.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Fraser,_15th_Lord_Lovat
On the other side of the world–the Pacific–my father was among the Marines who stormed Guadalcanal and Okinawa. As a child, I once asked him to “tell me about the war.” His response: “When you’re older I will.” I never heard another word. He never talked about it. He had shrapnel lodged around his knees, which didn’t impede his mobility. The bravery of those men–on the beaches of Normandy and Japan (and elsewhere)–is just beyond belief.
My mother and father fought in WWII. My Dad on the front line in Egypt. I still cry when I think of the sacrifices made by so many to ensure our freedom. My father was from New Zealand and his mother went to church every day to pray for his safety. He did return but as his mother said “not the same boy who left our shores”.
God bless and thank you to all to sacrificed and suffered so we could live in liberty and safety.
Angela
My Mum told me parts of southern England became eerily quiet in the weeks after D Day as over a million troops went to fight in France. In some places whole encampments were deserted overnight.
Over 87 000 soldiers died from the Indian sub-continent during the second world war, however, their contribution was not acknowledged. Also, soldiers died from the other commonwealth countries.
God bless your father and all those brave men, Larry. My father was fighting in Egypt and survived physically but not mentally, sad to say. Amazing stories from those strange dark times…..was it worth it? The world seems such a mess!
My father landed at Utah Beach, 2nd wave. Saw some action but survived to fight in the Battle of the Bulge and was wounded twice (sniper and shrapnel). He talked only twice about his tour in France: once about the chow lines and once about a TV documentary of fighting in French villages; the signpost of one village suddenly awakened hm – “Hey, I was there!”
I wonder what stories Cadet Bonespurs will tell his grandchildren of his being feted by the Queen of England.
My mother was a QA military nurse who was sent to France on May 30th 1944 to work in field hospitals. Can’t help thinking that she would have been only a few miles away from your father, Larry. The only thing she told me was that she used to burn toast and give it to soldiers who had hiccups.