Quote: zooo @ June 6 2009, 2:18 PM BSTOooh. Wow.
He didn't take that photo, but several of the most well-known D-Day photographs were taken by the famous Robert Capa. All but 11 of his shots were ruined in a darkroom mistake.
http://www.skylighters.org/photos/robertcapa.html
Some aerial photographs of the landings:
http://www.historylink101.com/wwII_b-w/d-day/aerial/index.html
Quote: Gavin @ June 6 2009, 1:44 PM BSTHe is a cock, and can I just say this Messiah thing with Obama is getting really old now.
I must admit, it's embarrassing how some people in the media talk about Obama and his wife. Everyone goes on about how good-looking they are, but are they really? Yes, they're both tall and statuesque, but he looks like a black version of Ted, the bald bloke who lives with his Mum, from Scrubs, and she looks like a young James Brown, and has an underbite that sticks out like a piranha's.
Compared to most politicians, is the point, I'd say. 
They both look like nice people. But no, they're not exactly stunners.
Quote: Gavin @ June 6 2009, 1:44 PM BSTcan I just say this Messiah thing with Obama is getting really old now.
Amen. It's nice when an American president gets a warm welcome during overseas visits, but the rock star treatment and fawning by foreigners makes me a little sick to my stomach.
Quote: Gavin @ June 6 2009, 1:44 PM BSTHe is a cock, and can I just say this Messiah thing with Obama is getting really old now.
It was really old 18 months ago.
Quote: Chappers @ June 6 2009, 2:08 PM BSTEven De Gaulle seemed to resent us after we bailed them out.
De Gaulle was an ungrateful little shit who we should have killed.
Quote: catskillz @ June 6 2009, 4:22 PM BSTI must admit, it's embarrassing how some people in the media talk about Obama and his wife. Everyone goes on about how good-looking they are, but are they really?
Not in the slightest.
Thanks for mentioning this, DaButt. I knew it was today, but have been so swept up in learning about the opposing side for my history course to have looked into it much yet today.
Speaking of Obamania, your prime minister just renamed Omaha Beach Obama beach. 
Gordon Brown is a massive, massive penis.
'Omaha' is as equally f**king ridiculous a name as he is a person, mind.
(As is 'Obama'.)
Brown is unbelievable. Obama Beach??
Like Sarkozy he just wants front page photos of Obama smiling at him; he has Obama on the brain. He doesn't give a shit about paying respects to the fallen or commemorating D-Day. He wants good press all to himself, which is why the Queen was not allowed to go because she would divert attention. You see, HM is quite highly regarded in many circles (just sadly not in our own Government). Obama would naturally greet her and that is the photograph that would be syndicated - Golden Boy and the Lovely Cuddly Old Lady.
Brown even got booed by octagenarian war veterans! When will he take the hint??
This week highlighted one of the drawbacks faced by Have I Got News For You; they never get to confidently stick the boot in on election results. This week's episode showed the Purnell resignation breaking as they recorded.
Quote: DaButt @ June 6 2009, 7:16 AM BSTThe invasion of Normandy (D-Day) took place 65 years ago today. I still get choked up in many ways when I watch the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan.
My Dad was there. The real event I mean, not the film.
I remember bothering my Grandad about it when I saw him asking him all about it. Only thing he was strict on he didn't talk about some of the things. I never forget how sad he looked when talking bout it 
Bless him.
Quote: Gavin @ June 6 2009, 8:52 PM BSTI remember bothering my Grandad about it when I saw him asking him all about it. Only thing he was strict on he didn't talk about some of the things. I never forget how sad he looked when talking bout it
My Dad didn't talk about it until he got dementia, then it troubled him greatly and he told us some terribly upsetting things.
It was distressing to see and I just can't begin to imagine how it must have felt for the young men who were there. I am glad this thread was started as I think it is important to rememember and respect those who were involved.
True heroes.
My Great Uncle joined the T.A. when he'd just turned 18, in 1939, and was called up for service not long after. He went away with a head full of curly hair, and when he returned home years later, his mum didn't even recognise him, as all his hair had fallen out.
He wasn't part of the D-Day landings, in fact he wasn't even in Europe, but I'll tell you about him anyway. He was a dispatch rider, in the Desert. He used to tell me all sorts of stories, e.g. I remember him describing locals sneaking into his tent, in the middle of the night, with knives between their teeth, looking for stuff to steal. Also, one time he was riding across the desert, and he found another dispatch rider, whose bike had broken down, and whose water supply was running low, and he rescued him. I met the man he rescued, when I was about 9, as I'd become friends with his Grandson, purely by chance.
The last time I saw my Great uncle, a couple of years ago, I told him he should write about his experience, but he died soon after.
I worked with a guy whose father was an American citizen who fought on the side of the Nazis during WWII. He had traveled to Hungary to manage his family's business and was forced into service against his will. He lost an arm to a Russian rocket attack and returned to the U.S. after the war. I always hoped he would write a book about his experience.
