Heroes on the beaches

BY BRIAN J BROWN

SPECIAL TO THE NATION

 The 6th of June marked the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy, France in 1944 that were the true "beginning of the end" of the battle for Europe in World War II.

 Various heads of state and dignitaries attended commemorations as guests of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Joining US President Obama were the UK's Prince Charles (representing the Queen) and Prime Minister Gordon Brown along with Canadian premier Stephen Harper. But pride of place belonged to some of the few surviving veterans, all well into their 80s.

 In the past week there were reports that France had not invited H.M. Queen Elizabeth II to the ceremony.  One wonders how much was due the press generating a story and what was the truth.  Countries do not just give out invitations on the spur of the moment; they have their foreign ministries via their respective ambassadors make enquiries as to whether a certain prominent person would accept any invitation, no matter what the occasion.  In relation to the D-Day ceremonies it is known that the Queen usually attends each tenth anniversary so all being well she will be there in 2014. In the end the problem was solved by an invitation for Prince Charles to attend being made.

 President Sarkozy welcomed President Obama and his wife, Michelle, to the Prefecture in Caen, Normandy where the two presidents held private talks which were due to last an hour but went on longer than expected; as a result a press conference was delayed.  The two men were questioned about their thoughts on various world matters and on most points they were in agreement.  One question was put to Obama as to why he did not make a longer stay in France.  His reply in effect was that he would love to be in Paris for week to be able to walk along the Champs Elysees, do some shopping, take his wife for a quiet meal or have a picnic in the Luxembourg Garden but that would have to wait until after he has finished his time as president, a very diplomatic response.  Sarkozy on the other hand was somewhat tetchy saying that presidents do not sit around chatting but have many important subjects to attend to. Shortly after a press conference given in Caen -- the scene of fierce fighting in '44 as the Allies pushed the German army inland -- President Obama and the first lady made the 50-kilometre journey to the American Cemetery at Colleville sur Mer which overlooks Omaha Beach.

 Omaha and Utah were the codenames given to the two beaches where American troops waded ashore to mount their part of the invasion of Nazi Germany-occupied Europe. At Utah the casualties numbered about 200 but at Omaha the carnage was terrible, with 3,000 killed, injured or missing in the course of that one day. Beside those who fell during the landings are buried American personnel who were killed in other actions during the war in Europe from 1941 to 1945 -- in total 9387.

 The ceremony was very moving, as these ceremonies usually are, especially for the veterans and their families. After the playing of the national anthems of France, Canada, the United Kingdom and America -- the four major countries involved in the invasion -- and a brief prayer, the four presidents stood in turn to give speeches. All paid homage to the men who had lost their lives in the invasion as well as the veterans present, and traced in their actions the origins of the life we all enjoy today.

Widening the focus beyond the D-Day landings and America's role, President Obama described the part Britain played in holding out against the Germans in the earlier years of the war and the huge losses the Russians suffered.

 Meanwhile, PM Gordon Brown made a gaffe when he referred to Omaha Beach as Obama Beach. Things got worse later in the day when he travelled east to a ceremony at Arromanche, one of the beaches for the British landings. There, he was booed by people blaming him for the media controversy over the absence of the Queen, who is head of state and served during the war.

 One can still see remains of the Mulberry Harbours, the five temporary harbours originally built at Arromanche's Omaha, Utah, Sword, Juno and Gold beaches. After the failed raid on Dieppe earlier in the war, the Germans had fortified the harbour making it impossible to take from the sea. The British decided to design a harbour which could be towed in pieces across the channel to be installed after the initial landings, enabling stores and equipment to be transported ashore more easily. The pieces that can be seen a short distance offshore at Arromanche are the caissons, which measure 60-metres long by 18 high by 15 wide.

 As President Obama mentioned, D-Day would never have happened but for the staunch defence of the British earlier in the war, goaded on by prime minister Winston Churchill. As the country came under attack from wave after wave of German bombers, the Royal Airforce took to the skies and won what became known as the Battle of Britain.

Two weapons that played key roles in the success of the D-Day landings were deception and secrecy. Fictitious units were set up in the coastal county of Essex to give the impression that troops were amassing there for an invasion at the Pas de Calais. German spies caught in Britain were given an ultimatum -- "Help us or be shot as a spy" - then given false information concerning the landings to feed to Berlin.

 Secrecy was necessary in the preparations for the landings. A full-scale dress rehearsal for D-Day - Exercise Tiger -- off the English coast was surprised by German torpedo boats, resulting in the death of some 700 men. The survivors were sworn to secrecy, with the threat of court-martial for anyone who spoke of the event. Details of the incident were not released until after D-Day.

 So, along with those who waded ashore to meet their fate on June 6, 1944, thoughts should go to the many men who gave their lives while preparing for that day.

  The writer served in the British Army for nine years, two of which at a base in Singapore. He also spent six months in 1967 working in Northeast Thailand on a road project for SEATO.