D-Day +60 Years

[MolliG]

60 years ago they came from the sky and sea, to help liberate a continent from the grip of evil and tyranny. Many came from afar and many from close by. Many never returned home. We now remember those who died, on both sides, and thank those who are still with us for fighting so that our elders, us and our children could be free.

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BAYEUX, FRANCE - JUNE 3: French soldiers patrol at the British military cemetery June 3, 2004 in Bayeux, France. French authorities are enforcing extremely strict security precautions ahead of the June 6 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, which various world leaders are scheduled to attend. (Photo Sean Gallup/***** Images)

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PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND - JUNE 3: Members of The Normandy Veterans Association prepare to take part in a parade in Portsmouth to mark the 60th Aniversary of D-Day held on June 3, 2004 in Portsmouth, England. (Photo by Julian Herbert/***** Images)

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PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND - JUNE 3: Ex-Royal Naval Commando Jim Johnston, 81, prepares to carry his standard at a parade in Portsmouth to mark the 60th Aniversary of D-Day held on June 3, 2004 in Portsmouth, England. (Photo by Julian Herbert/***** Images)

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VIERVILLE, FRANCE: Normandy Drop Zone club members patrol wearing US World war II uniform, 03 June 2004 in Crisbecq near Utah beach. Hundreds of US and European WWII collectors landed in Normandy for the upcoming celebrations to mark the 06 June 1944 D-Day landings 60th anniversary. AFP PHOTO JOEL SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/***** Images)

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VIERVILLE, FRANCE: Regis Lange, a 33-year-old frenchman wears an US parachutist uniform of the World War II and Iroquois Indian war paints, 03 June 2004 in Crisbecq near Utah beach. Hundreds of US and European WWII collectors landed in Normandy for the upcoming celebrations to mark the 06 June 1944 D-Day landings 60th anniversary. AFP PHOTO JOEL SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/***** Images)

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BAYEUX, FRANCE: French soldiers patrol, 02 June 2004 in the British military cemetery of Bayeux, before the international commemoration to mark the 60th anniversary of the Normandy landings. The US Second Ranger Battalion landed 06 June 1944 on the Pointe du Hoc. AFP PHOTO MYCHELE DANIAU (Photo credit should read MYCHELE DANIAU/AFP/***** Images)

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COLLEVILLE SUR MER, FRANCE: A US soldier stands guard 30 May 2004 at the entrance of the Colleville sur Mer military cemetery. A vast security operation has been put in place to protect the 17 heads of state or government and some 20,000 participants who will be attending ceremonies next week-end to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in northwest France. For the day of June 6 -- when US President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will be among world leaders paying homage to the war dead -- an 80 kilometre (50 mile) stretch of Normandy countryside will be sealed off. AFP PHOTO MYCHELE DANIAU (Photo credit should read MYCHELE DANIAU/AFP/***** Images)

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POINTE DU HOC, FRANCE: French soldiers of Metz Premier Regiment patrol 02 June 2004 near Omaha Beach, on the Pointe du Hoc site, before the international commemorations of to mark the 60th anniversary of the Normandy landings. The US Second Ranger Battalion landed 06 June 1944 on the Pointe du Hoc. AFP PHOTO MYCHELE DANIAU (Photo credit should read MYCHELE DANIAU/AFP/***** Images)

Please feel free to add more.

[Kitsune]

And Schröder will there be, too. Did you know that he plans to visit only a British soldier cemetry, but not the German one? Is there any foreigner, who can understand such a behaviour?

[ZeroPositive]

And Schröder will there be, too. Did you know that he plans to visit only a British soldier cemetry, but not the German one? Is there any foreigner, who can understand such a behaviour?

sort of offends ur war dead tbh....
what a strange strange man...

[Merik]

I wonder how many French fries are going to show up to protest Bush and the war in Iraq, let alone the war on terror.

[Crazyjack]

I wonder how many French fries are going to show up to protest Bush and the war in Iraq, let alone the war on terror.
The war in Iraq is a against terror?
I thought it was/is fought against the weapons of mass destruction saddam had.

Well but thats another question!

@ Kitsune Es ist in Deutschland doch normal, das man die Gefallenen des zweiten Weltkriegs nicht ehrt. Immerhin haben sie ja für ein Regime gekämpft.
:|

[Vance]

Wish I could be there. :(

[Merik]

I was talking to my dad about an hour ago and he said he was watching the evening news last night and they interviewed a lot of vets over there. One of them said he was a 101st trooper who moved to St. Maire-Eglise(sp?) in the mid 80's. It was pretty interesting because he pointed out that he landed in that cemetary right over there, hopped over this fence here, and met some fellow troopers and started the war from right over there. I love hearing those little anecdote(sp?) stories like that.

[MolliG]

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[kris777]

That last one is great :)

[Scottie]

Yeah :) :)

[Operation Ivy]

The war in Iraq is a against terror?
I thought it was/is fought against the weapons of mass destruction saddam had.
Hey little shi t dont start that in this thread


Nice pics guys :D

[Wilco]

So, are they going to do a reenactment of the landings at the beaches? I would love to see one.

[tooms]

So, are they going to do a reenactment of the landings at the beaches? I would love to see one.

I do not think vets would be happy to see that again. :(

[AFG]

i hear some of the Paratrooper vets are gonna go parachute

[NcDeuce]

Clever thread title, MolliG!!!

God bless the men who fought there! Especially the ones that waded ashore under withering fire and the paratroopers who jumped in or glided into battle!

[VorpalDoom]

yea, 6 guys from the 101st are gonna jump on sunday, they even had to do requalification jumps. Nothin cooler then a handful of 80 year old men jumping out of a perfectly good airplane... again. :D

[Bulkowski]

Schröder is going to visit the German tomb of the uknown soldier, as for the cemetary I don't know

[ShadowNeo]

So, are they going to do a reenactment of the landings at the beaches? I would love to see one.

I saw some footage of the news which had a few landing craft positioned on a beach with American tanks rolling off them and some of the general public standing around, but no outright reenactment.[/quote]

[Pook2]

I am a US 29th Infantry World War Two reenactor. I live in Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the 29th Infantry's K company. I am only 17 years old so I can't make the trip to Normandy, but hopefully I can someday. My goal as a reenactor is to study the weapons, tactics, training, and everyday life of not just the 29th Infantry GI, but of the American soldier in general. In fact, I have done more study of the American Paratrooper than I have of the Infantryman. I own a full field kit and several barracks items. As for weapons, I have a 1945 M1 Garand with all matching parts and an early serial M1 Carbine. I am also familiar with the MkII frag grenade, M1911 and M1911A1 pistol, M1919 .30cal machine gun, M1918A2 BAR, Thompson M1928 and M1, M2 60mm mortar, Pole Charges and M1A1 bangalore torpedo charge. The 29th Infantry reenactment unit is probably the biggest in the United States, with over 150 members enrolled all over the east coast. We sometimes attract the guy who likes to play cowboy and indian, but most of the guys are current or former military who want to experience the life of a soldier of the past.

This summer we are heading to Solomon Island, Maryland for a week long course on amphibious assault which includes: Weapons familiarization on all company level weaponry, small unit tactics, explosives, wire-cutting, climbing, landing craft operations, rope ladder techniques and of course, close order drill. I have signed up for the fourth man in the wire-cutting team for our assault boat. At the end of the week we will conduct an actual amphibious landing using pyrotechnics and blank ammunition. We will disembark from US Navy MIKE boats provided by the Navy. The great thing about this event is that it will be open to the public all week, and the reenactors will be acting like soldiers from the 1940's, so if someone asks us, "Is this better than the M16?" we have to say, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Maybe I will post some pictures of my kit here later on.

[NcDeuce]

yea, 6 guys from the 101st are gonna jump on sunday, they even had to do requalification jumps. Nothin cooler then a handful of 80 year old men jumping out of a perfectly good airplane... again. :D

120 active-duty 101st Airborne Division soldiers are making the jump as well, I'll post an article as soon as I find an online version.

[Hydro]

D+ 21900...

I know, as I sit here, drunk from a few too many beers, that hundreds of thousands of young men, from The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The United States of America, and Canada, part of the Commonwealth of His Majesty 60 years ago were climbing into planes, gliders and landing craft to invade France, and vanquish the greatest foe the 20th century had ever seen.

I thank all of you.

[Jehuty]

D+ 21900...

I know, as I sit here, drunk from a few too many beers, that hundreds of thousands of young men, from The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The United States of America, and Canada, part of the Commonwealth of His Majesty and French 60 years ago were climbing into planes, gliders and landing craft to invade France, and vanquish the greatest foe the 20th century had ever seen.

I thank all of you.

Corrected.

[Hydro]

D+ 21900...

I know, as I sit here, drunk from a few too many beers, that hundreds of thousands of young men, from The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The United States of America, and Canada, part of the Commonwealth of His Majesty and French 60 years ago were climbing into planes, gliders and landing craft to invade France, and vanquish the greatest foe the 20th century had ever seen.

I thank all of you.

Corrected.

Thanks mate, I knew something was missing. Here's to the French! *Raises glass*

[memphiz]

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VIERVILLE-SUR-MER, FRANCE: A sand sculpture of soldiers landing on a beach, is seen, 28 May 2004 in Vierville-sur-mer (Omaha beach) on the French Normand coast. The ephemere sculpture which is made out of 70 tons of sand, brought from the 5 D-Day landing beaches of WWII (Juno, Omaha, Utah, Sword and Gold), was performed by two British Edmund Dudley and Mark Anderson, two New Jersey firemen, John Gowdy and Matt Deibert, Canadian Dale Murdock and two French men. International leaders will gather in Normandy next week to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings. AFP PHOTO MYCHELE DANIAU (Photo credit should read MYCHELE DANIAU/AFP/***** Images)

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VIERVILLE-SUR-MER, FRANCE: Men work on a giant sand sculpture of soldiers landing on a beach, 28 May 2004 in Vierville-sur-mer (Omaha beach) on the French Normand coast. The ephemere sculpture which is made out of 70 tons of sand, brought from the 5 D-Day landing beaches of WWII (Juno, Omaha, Utah, Sword and Gold), was performed by two British Edmund Dudley and Mark Anderson, two New Jersey firemen, John Gowdy and Matt Deibert, Canadian Dale Murdock and two French men. International leaders will gather in Normandy next week to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings. AFP PHOTO MYCHELE DANIAU (Photo credit should read MYCHELE DANIAU/AFP/***** Images)
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JUNO
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A Canadian war veterens attends a memorial service in the Canadian War Cemetery on June 6, 2003 near Juno Beach at Beny-sur-Mer/Reviers, Normandy, Northern France. The D-Day Canadian Memorial serves as a reminder of the tremendous Allied operation of 6 June, 1944 where 340 Canadians were killed and 574 wounded at Juno Beach on the first day of battle along the Normandy Beaches. (Photo by Graeme Robertson/***** Images)
I have the 2 medals on the far right

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FRANCE- JUNE 6: Canadian Army soldiers parachute into the Canadian War Cemetery on June 6, 2003 near Juno Beach at Beny-sur-Mer/Reviers, Normandy, Northern France. The D-Day Canadian Memorial serves as a reminder of the tremendous Allied operation of 6 June, 1944 where 340 Canadians were killed and 574 wounded at Juno Beach on the first day of battle along the Normandy Beaches. (Photo by Graeme Robertson/***** Images)

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German prisoners captured by Canadians on Juno beach on D-Day are escorted to landing craft for transfer to England. (National Archives of Canada PA 133742)

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HMCS LCI(L)-118 of the 262nd Flotilla disembarking troops in NAN sector of Juno Beach

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HMCS LCI(L)-276, HMCS LCI(L)-118 and HMCS LCI(L)-135 at Southampton, England, loaded with Canadian troops waiting to cross the channel to the Normandy invasion beaches. All of these landing craft were in Flotilla 262 They were loaded on 4 June 1944, delayed sailing and sailed around noon 5 June 1944. The serial numbers on the front of the bridge refer serials Operation Order No1 of 9th Canadian Brigade 3rd Canadian Division. Serial numbers 1702 and 1703 carried members of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders. 1705 was a mixed loading carrying members of the Highland Light Infantry of Canada, Stormont Dundas Glengarrian Highlanders, the Defence and Employment Platoon of 9 Brigade Headquarters and members of the Canadian Provost Corp. Flotilla 262 was in 'J' Force.

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[VorpalDoom]

About the 120 active 101st airborne, thats frickin sweet! I cant wait to see pictures of that.


Also, great pics woot

[Vance]

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COLLEVILLE SUR MER, FRANCE - JUNE 4: A British veteran of the D-Day invasion visits the American soldiers' cemetery on June 4, 2004 at Colleville sur Mer, France.

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COLLEVILLE SUR MER, FRANCE - JUNE 4: U.S. veteran of the D-Day invasion, Walter Staruk of Worcester, Massachussetts, searches for the grave of a comrade at the American soldiers' cemetery on June 4, 2004 at Colleville sur Mer, France.

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VIERVILLE SUR MER, FRANCE - JUNE 4: A young French boy dressed in World War II-era clothing stands among members of a D-Day enthusiast's club June 4, 2004 at Vierville sur Mer, France.

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MAGNEVILLE, FRANCE - JUNE 4: Spectators greet U.S. veteran Howard Huebner, who as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division parachuted into France during the D-Day invasion, at a memorial service to honor 22 American airmen killed when their plane was shot down during the D-Day invasion June 4, 2004 in Magneville, France.

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LA CAMBE, FRANCE - JUNE 4: A woman examines the headstone of one of the 21,222 graves of German soldiers who were killed during the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944 June 4, 2004 at a cemetery at La Cambe, France.

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LA CAMBE, FRANCE - JUNE 4: German Bundeswehr soldiers clean the graves of some of the 21,222 German soldiers killed during the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944 June 4, 2004 at a cemetery at La Cambe, France.

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LA CAMBE, FRANCE - JUNE 4: The unidentified grave of "A German Soldier" lies among 21,221 other graves of German soldiers killed during the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944 June 4, 2004 at a cemetery at La Cambe, France.

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BAYEUX, FRANCE - JUNE 3: A man walks among headstones of British soldiers killed in the 1944 D-Day invasion at the British military cemetery on June 3, 2004 in Bayeux, France.

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COLLEVILLE SUR MER, FRANCE - JUNE 4: A couple carrying a wreath walk among thousands of graves of American soldiers killed in the D-Day invasion June 4, 2004 at Colleville sur Mer, France.

[usa320]

Im not sure i like the idea of this re-enactment stuff. Its too much of a broohaha if you will. I think a solemn and sincere service in remembrance of the sacrifices these men made would have been far more appropriate.

For me i will probably remember this day by paging through my grandfather's scrapbook from the war. He landed on Omaha,V Corps i believe, i think on D-Day +1...not positive though.

[Vance]

Re-enactors do nothing BUT have respect for the veterans, it's why they set out to do it in the first place - they have the upmost respect for every single veteran.

[memphiz]

I was just watching a documentary on the D-Day, and they said the youngest Canadian killed on Juno was 15 years and 9 months, but his headstone said he was 16

[HumanShield]

yea, 6 guys from the 101st are gonna jump on sunday, they even had to do requalification jumps. Nothin cooler then a handful of 80 year old men jumping out of a perfectly good airplane... again. :D

My platoon sgt. John Robinson, from Op: Lion Claws 3 is also jumping with them. He was airborne during nam. He was telling us about doing the jumps with those 80 year old guys...and how they turned down a guy that was around 90. They figured that the harness would hurt/kill him when the chute opened. Robinson said that the guy was willing to die doing it the first time, and he couldnt think of a better way to die at 90. :hug:

[n4292936]

D+ 21900...

I know, as I sit here, drunk from a few too many beers, that hundreds of thousands of young men, from The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The United States of America, and Canada, part of the Commonwealth of His Majesty and French and the ever reliable Australians 60 years ago were climbing into planes, gliders and landing craft to invade France, and vanquish the greatest foe the 20th century had ever seen.

I thank all of you.

Corrected.

Corrected once again :D

[seventy6er]

Has anybody heard the story of the young German soldier who operated an MG42 on June 6th? He fired more than 12.000 shots and was said to have killed nearly 3.000 US soldiers at Omaha Beach.

[NcDeuce]

Has anybody heard the story of the young German soldier who operated an MG42 on June 6th? He fired more than 12.000 shots and was said to have killed nearly 3.000 US soldiers at Omaha Beach.

I thought roughly 2,500 total Americans died on D-Day?

[Scottie]

D+ 21900...

I know, as I sit here, drunk from a few too many beers, that hundreds of thousands of young men, from The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The United States of America, and Canada, part of the Commonwealth of His Majesty and French and the ever reliable Australians and the good old Norwegians in Lord Lovat’s commandos and on the first ship to be sunk on D-Day Svenny ,60 years ago were climbing into planes, gliders and landing craft to invade France, and vanquish the greatest foe the 20th century had ever seen.

I thank all of you.

Corrected.

Corrected once again :D

Now Corrected :D :)

[Hydro]

That'll teach me to post while inebriated, I think I forgot Eisenhowers cat...;)

[king_nothing100]

If I get my camera i'll take some pictures of my books and put the pictures up here.

[kris777]

http://cache.*****images.com/comp/50925917.jpg?x=x&dasite=MS_GINS&ef=2&ev=1&dareq=E2399169AC85D6DE4E7AC94947954A7E9E2FBA7CE5C4F7A2

Why do some the graves have crosses while the others just plaques?

[aeternum]

Has anybody heard the story of the young German soldier who operated an MG42 on June 6th? He fired more than 12.000 shots and was said to have killed nearly 3.000 US soldiers at Omaha Beach.

Yea Hein Severloh the 'Beast of Omaha' Beach'.


Still searching for peace: the German who felled more than 2,000 Allied soldiers
With Germany represented at commemoration for the first time, Tony Paterson meets the 'Beast of Omaha' Beach'
05 June 2004


He would be a war hero if he were British or American. Yet Hein Severloh is nicknamed the Beast of Omaha Beach for the carnage he inflicted on D-Day. He is reputed to be the German soldier who killed and wounded the most enemy troops in a single day during the whole of the Second World War.

Four thousand, one hundred and eighty-four Americans were shot in front of his bunker WN 62, above Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944. Hein Severloh was responsible for at least half of those deaths. He fired his machine gun at advancing GIs, almost without a break, for nine hours. The heat from the gun barrels he had to keep changing set the grass on fire around his bunker as American bodies bobbed and floated towards him on a flood tide stained pink with their blood.

Today his victims lie buried in the vast American cemetery above Omaha Beach that President George Bush will visit this weekend. They account for nearly a quarter of the 9,368 white stone crosses and Stars of David that cover the graveyard.

Hein Severloh was a raw 20-year-old Wehrmacht private on D-Day, and the invasion was his first real taste of action. He is now a frail and bespectacled pensioner of 81, who lives in a timbered farmhouse in the village of Metzingen near Hamburg. He speaks with a lisp, the result of a stroke he suffered years ago.

Last week, he nervously slapped his thigh in an attempt to fight back his tears as his mind went back to that day of slaughter. He wept as he said: "What should I have done? I thought I would never get out of there alive. I thought I am fighting for my life; it's them or me, that's what I thought."

This weekend, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder will become the first post-war German leader to attend D-Day anniversary celebrations. Opinion polls show more than 70 per cent of Germans are glad he is going. The German Chancellor said the decision to invite him to the D-Day celebrations "shows that the postwar period is over and done for good". On D-Day, he was two months old.But that day is all too real for Hein Severloh. He is plagued by a recurring nightmare, not from when he was mowing down Americans 600 yards away on Omaha Beach. "At that distance, the enemy look like ants," he said. It happened when he reached for his rifle during a lull in the fighting.

A young GI who had survived the onslaught in the sea was running up the beach. Mr Severloh took aim and fired. The round smashed into the GI's forehead and sent his helmet spinning. The soldier slumped dead on the sand. Mr Severloh still remembers the man's contorted expression. "It was only then I realised I had been killing people all the time," he said, "I still dream of that soldier now. I feel sick when I think about it."

For Hein Severloh, the war began and ended that day. His bunker was knocked out by a grenade which killed his commanding officer. He was taken prisoner by the Americans and sent to the United States five days later. He spent three years as a prisoner-of-war.

By 1959, his story had become well known in the United States. The Americans called him the Beast of Omaha Beach. Mr Severloh was too ashamed to tell his four children about his experiences, yet he was desperate to meet Americans who had survived. Eventually, he found David Silva, a GI wounded three times on Omaha Beach. When the men met in Germany in the 1960s they hugged each other for five minutes. "He never asked me to forgive him, but I have done so all the same," Mr Silva says today. "It is important for him." Franz Gockel served with Hein Severloh at bunker WN 62. Yet in many ways he has been luckier. For the 78-year-old veteran, the country he once occupied has become a second home. Every summer, he and his wife Hedwig rent a cottage in the Normandy village of Colleville-sur-Mer, barely a quarter of a mile from the former killing fields on Omaha Beach.

Tomorrow, Franz Gockel will be among the handful of German veterans who will meet Chancellor Schröder and President Jacques Chirac at D-Day celebrations in Caen castle. "I am glad Schröder is attending," he said. "For me and my former comrades, it demonstrates the terrible experiences of the Second World War are now behind us and that we are now finally on the way to build a new Europe."

On D-Day, Gockel was just 18. He was ordered to his gun emplacement at one in the morning on 6 June, hearing gunfire to the west as the Allies were parachuted in at the start of the invasion. As dawn broke, his crew was horrified to see the sea in front of them thick with warships, troop ships and landing craft. "We knew we had no hope of fighting off such a force," he said.

The shelling lasted for five hours. Franz Gockel cowered under the heavy wooden platform that served as a mount for his machinegun and prayed. "We could do nothing against the shells. I just kept shouting out, 'Hail Mary Mother of God, please save me'. Somehow, it helped."

As the Americans began to pour out of their landing craft, the young soldier stood to his Polish-made machinegun and opened fire. Six hundred yards away across the sand, the bodies began to slump in the water. "I didn't know how many I was killing until the corpses started being washed up the beach on the tide," he said.

Then his gun was knocked out in a grenade attack that left him with only a few cuts. Then he poked his head over the edge of a slit trench and felt a massive blow to his left hand. "I saw three of my fingers dangling from their tendons," he said. " But for me it was a million-dollar shot; I was out of the battle." Franz Gockel was evacuated with other wounded Germans. Back in action in November 1944, he was captured by the Americans in eastern France.

Today, a tall obelisk commemorating the American dead stands above the grassed-over remains of bunker WN 62. There is nothing to remind the millions of visitors to the site, of the Germans who were killed there. Last year, Franz Gockel erected a small wooden cross outside his bunker in memory of the 18 men of his 25-strong unit who died in action. Less than a week later, it was vandalised.

Chancellor Schröder said the D-Day anniversary "means that for us Germans the Second World War is finally over." But the German survivors of D-Day know the war, and all the guilt, will end only when they are dead.

[Airborneranger4israel]

[quote="MolliG"]http://cache.*****images.com/comp/3319698.jpg?x=x&dasite=MS_GINS&ef=2&ev=1&dareq=81F5490205A3EEE63837E671CB6BC39E

are those bombs or blimps?

[Operation Ivy]

blimps

incase aircraft attack theres hope that they'll get there wings cut up by flying around the balloon wires

[Macs.]

Those are blimbs, to protect the ships from Attackplanes.

[ZeroPositive]

pretty obvious they are blimps mate...
No way can they be bombs....

[Vance]

Has anybody heard the story of the young German soldier who operated an MG42 on June 6th? He fired more than 12.000 shots and was said to have killed nearly 3.000 US soldiers at Omaha Beach.
Well I don't think that's possible, there weren't even 3,000 dead on Omaha to begin with. In my opinion I say he killed around 900.

[SiFiOn]

http://blob.home.nl/feed/NL_HOME/NIEUWS/ARTIKEL/00127170.jpg

U.S. para-troopers perform a memorial-jump above Sainte-Mère-église.

[Kriz]

True heros, many gave their lives for our freedom. Allthough the real veterans are slowly becoming extinct, their sacrifice will never ever be forgotten.

[seventy6er]

Has anybody heard the story of the young German soldier who operated an MG42 on June 6th? He fired more than 12.000 shots and was said to have killed nearly 3.000 US soldiers at Omaha Beach.
Well I don't think that's possible, there weren't even 3,000 dead on Omaha to begin with. In my opinion I say he killed around 900.

I don't know, SpiegelTV said he killed nearly 3.000. Like someone earlier mentioned, there were around 5.000 GI's killed at Omaha. 10.000 allied soldiers during D-Day.

I think it doesn't matter if it were 900 or 3.000, it must be hell to live 60 years with the conscience that you took so many lives... :(

[seventy6er]

Path of Forgiveness

On June 6, 1944, the Allies stormed the beaches at Normandy, gaining a tenuous foothold on the shores of France. On a stretch of shoreline the Americans had code-named "Omaha Beach," the Allied forces were subjected to one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War. For seven hours, German private Heinrich Severloh fired at the oncoming invaders, and was credited with killing more troops than any other German soldier. Like a madman, he fired his machine gun killing soldiers that, for him, had no names or faces. Except for one. American David E. Silva survived the massacre. Miraculously the two men became friends and met again years later at the notorious Omaha Beach.

Path of Forgiveness airs Tuesday, June 1 at 9 pm ET/ 11 pm PT.

Source (http://www.historytelevision.ca/dday04/programming/tuesday.asp)

[Operation Ivy]

Has anybody heard the story of the young German soldier who operated an MG42 on June 6th? He fired more than 12.000 shots and was said to have killed nearly 3.000 US soldiers at Omaha Beach.
Well I don't think that's possible, there weren't even 3,000 dead on Omaha to begin with. In my opinion I say he killed around 900.

I don't know, SpiegelTV said he killed nearly 3.000. Like someone earlier mentioned, there were around 5.000 GI's killed at Omaha. 10.000 allied soldiers during D-Day.

I think it doesn't matter if it were 900 or 3.000, it must be hell to live 60 years with the conscience that you took so many lives... :(

I thought there was 5,000 casualties on Omaha 2,500 of them killed

[oldsoak]

Path of Forgiveness

On June 6, 1944, the Allies stormed the beaches at Normandy, gaining a tenuous foothold on the shores of France. On a stretch of shoreline the Americans had code-named "Omaha Beach," the Allied forces were subjected to one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War. For seven hours, German private Heinrich Severloh fired at the oncoming invaders, and was credited with killing more troops than any other German soldier. Like a madman, he fired his machine gun killing soldiers that, for him, had no names or faces. Except for one. American David E. Silva survived the massacre. Miraculously the two men became friends and met again years later at the notorious Omaha Beach.

Path of Forgiveness airs Tuesday, June 1 at 9 pm ET/ 11 pm PT.

Source (http://www.historytelevision.ca/dday04/programming/tuesday.asp)

Good to hear - shows that theres hope for mankind yet. Could not have been much fun for the the German soldiers knowing that the rest of the world has just turned up on your doorstep to sort you out. Thank G*d it wont ever happen again.

[MARINO]

There were spanish soldiers who take part in D-DAY with Spanish company Nº1 with British army, and into IIDB in 9º Company, wich was called la novena wich means the nineth in spanish. But they hadn't be invited to this anniversary.

[SiFiOn]

Has anybody heard the story of the young German soldier who operated an MG42 on June 6th? He fired more than 12.000 shots and was said to have killed nearly 3.000 US soldiers at Omaha Beach.

I thought roughly 2,500 total Americans died on D-Day?

I've read this story (sorry, I have only a Dutch source but I shall quote it for those who can read it:


'Beest van Omaha Beach' doodde 2000 geallieerden
Van onze correspondent

Tientallen jaren zweeg hij over zijn rol als Duitse soldaat op D-day. Totdat Heinz Severloh in tijdschriften las dat hij het 'Beest van Omaha Beach' werd genoemd. ,,Dat zie ik als een blijk van erkenning.''

Het is een twijfelachtig record maar wel een record. Heinz Severloh schoot op D-day 2000 of misschien wel 3000 geallieerde soldaten neer, die probeerden te landen op Omaha Beach. In totaal verloren de Amerikanen daar 4184 soldaten, een groot deel daarvan door kogels die Severloh onophoudelijk vanuit zijn hooggelegen positie afvuurde op de landende troepen.

Nu, 60 jaar later, staat hij geduldig de rijen journalisten te woord die willen weten hoe hij destijds zo koelbloedig op zijn post kon blijven. ,,Ik zou het zo weer doen'', zegt hij de ene keer. Maar de andere keer luidt het antwoord: ,,Ik zou nooit meer schieten, zelfs niet als ik zou weten dat ik door kogels zou worden getroffen.'' Hij weet duidelijk nog steeds niet wat hij met D-day aanmoet.

Toen de soldaat in de vroege morgen van de zesde juni zag dat de zee voor Normandië vol lag met geallieerde schepen, dacht hij maar één ding: ,,Hoe kom ik hier uit?'' Maar hoewel voor de 21-jarige soldaat glashelder was dat hij geen schijn van kans had, moest hij op zijn post blijven. Als de eerste soldaten met hun knieën in het water staan moet je beginnen met schieten, had zijn commandant gezegd. Seversloh schoot, totdat de zee rood zag van bloed.

Negen uur lang, ook toen alle andere Duitse schutters al waren teruggetrokken, bleef zijn machinegeweer ratelen. Terwijl het schieten met dat geweer iets abstracts had, omdat hij daarmee groepen tegenstanders in één beweging neermaaide, kwam het schieten met de karabijn echt in aanraking met de tegenstander. ,,Altijd als een boot landde, doodde ik 90 procent met mijn machinegeweer, als de overgebleven soldaten zich begonnen te verspreidde pakte ik mijn karabijn.'' Die één op één confrontatie met slachtoffers gaf hem gek genoeg pas echt het gevoel met doden bezig te zijn.

Pas na 12.500 stuks munitie hield Severloh op met schieten. Hij vluchtte en werd nog dezelfde avond krijgsgevangen genomen. Tijdens de drie jaar durende gevangenschap in België en de Verenigde Staten vertelde hij nooit iets over zijn bloedige rol bij de aanval die het einde van de oorlog inluidde. Pas in 1959, toen D-Day groots werd herdacht, las hij tijdschriften over de 'langste dag'. Daarin werd hij 'het beest van Omaha genoemd'. Severloh beschouwt dat als een erenaam. ,,Het is alsof de tegenstander mij de erkenning geeft dat ik me als soldaat heb gedragen. En dat ik nooit mijn post heb verlaten.''


very short translation:

German pvt Heinz Severloh should have killed some 2000 or maybe even 3000 allied soldiers on Omaha Beach on june 6th, 1944. Therefore hey received a nickname: The Beast Of Omaha Beach.
It also states that he fired some 12.500 rounds to kill so many people. I think his accuracy is way to high (12.500/2000 is almost one out of 6) for a machine gun.

[Vance]

Every account I have ever read has never exceeded the total dead on Omaha past 3,000.

[Laconian]

Stephen Ambrose in D-Day puts the total casualties at Omaha Beach (killed, wounded, & missing) at 2200. Cornelius Ryan in The Longest Day puts the losses at Omaha Beach at 2500.

Based on those numbers it is doubtful that Severloh killed 3000 even from a concrete MG emplacement on the high ground, with a T&E, & cleared fields of fire.

[J-10]

US soldiers at Omaha Beach:

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc01.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc02.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc03.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc04.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc05.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc06.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc07.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc08.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc09.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%d6%d0%bb%aa%d7%d4%d3%c9%c1%aa%c3%cb_fc10.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%b0%ee%b5%c2%c5%ae%c0%c9_PAR121451.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%b0%ee%b5%c2%c5%ae%c0%c9_PAR121453.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%b0%ee%b5%c2%c5%ae%c0%c9_PAR121452.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%b0%ee%b5%c2%c5%ae%c0%c9_PAR121454.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%b0%ee%b5%c2%c5%ae%c0%c9_PAR121455.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%b0%ee%b5%c2%c5%ae%c0%c9_PAR121456.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%b0%ee%b5%c2%c5%ae%c0%c9_PAR121457.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%b0%ee%b5%c2%c5%ae%c0%c9_PAR121458.jpg

http://images.sonicalbum.com/upload_641/myphotos/%b0%ee%b5%c2%c5%ae%c0%c9_PAR121459.jpg

Respect these brave US soldiers!