#WW2 On 11th April 1940 In Norway...

On 11th April 1940, German forces advanced so to link up from Oslo to Trondheim.

The German ship Lutzow was badly damaged by the British submarine HMS Spearfish, as a result Lutzow returned to base on April 18th 1940.

Why was Britain and France involved in Norway? The reason was its neighbour - Sweden. In winter, iron ore from Sweden was exported from the Norwegian port of Narvik - whoever occupied Norway would control the supply of iron ore to Germany. If Britain controlled the Norwegian ports, the North Sea would be virtually closed to the German navy, and the Baltic would be in striking distance.

#WW2 #OnThisDay1940 10th April 1940 The First Battle Of Narvik

HMS Hunter sunk at First Battle Of Narvik, found at: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c02WufFlBsM/UOuVjacSJYI/AAAAAAAAjPU/oxlRj8ljbRg/s800/HMS_Hardy_1936.jpg

On this day in 1940 The First Battle Of Narvik took place.Five  British destroyers took on ten German destroyers and shore batteries near Narvik, (Ofot Fjord). 2 destroyers from both sides were sunk; Hardy & Hunter (British) and Wilhelm Heidkamp & Anton Schmitt (German).Three German destroyers were also damaged in the daring British attack. Eight German merchant ships and one ammunition carrier also were sunk. The British submarine Thistle was sunk by U-4 off Stavanger. 

It was no victory for either side, but the British had made their presence felt, and the Germans had half their destroyers put out of action.

Wrecked shipping at Narvik, found at:http://i4.minus.com/ibkaLRXtEBFfzU.jpg

Remember The Liverpool Blitz January 9th 1941

Lord St, Liverpool, found at:http://liverpoolblitz70.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/lord-street-blitz-1.jpg

One gets the impression that people are unaware that Germany bombed other towns and cities as well as our beloved capital - London. Liverpool in World War 2 was an importnat port as that was where most imports from the North American continent arrived, hence it became a target. Have a look at this link re. the Liverpool Blitz, http://liverpoolremembrance.weebly.com/bombings-1941.html .

1st Royal Norfolks

Image found at: http://lowres-picturecabinet.com.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/162/main/1/727233.jpg accessed 18/11/14.

I thought it was about time I changed my main picture of the Olde Curiosity Blog so Ichose the 1st Royal Norfolks to have pride of place. The picture of them is while they were pausing during an advance in Holland in November 1944.

D-Day- What Did It Achieve? #Dday70 #Dday

Royal Marines at Pegasus Bridge, image found at: 

http://www.military-art.com/mall/images/dhm1394.jpg

This question could be really simple to answer without going into great detail. Firstly Operation Overlord was the stepping stone the Allies needed to defeat Germany. They had to invade mainland Europe somewhere other than Italy, which turned out to be a tough old gut rather than the soft underbelly of Europe.

Caen was an objective which was supposed to have been taken on D-Day itself, but maybe it was an over ambitious objective? The British advanced from Sword Beach to 5km from Caen, they had landed 29,000 men and taken many prisoners. By noon the Juno, Sword and Gold beaches were consolidated into one large bridgehead. The British 6th Airborne had held onto Pegasus Bridge and the bridge at the River Orne and were relieved by Lord Lovat's Royal Marines. U.S paratroopers had caused havoc behind enemy lines even if most were dropped in the wrong areas. At Omaha beach, the Americans had encountered fierce opposition (352nd Infantry Division) and large numbers of beach obstacles and were nearly evacuated back onto the ships. At Utah Beach the American troops realised they had been  landed in the wrong place, but took advantage of  lighter opposition and made good progress inland. 

Carentan, St Lo and Bayeux were objectives which were not captured on D-day, but the Allies were able to consolidate their foothold in France and land more men, vehicles and supplies on the beaches and by using the Mulberry Harbours. What did D-Day achieve? It helped end the war in Europe in less than 12 months from the 6th  June 1944. We should not forget the sacrifice these people made.

#D-Day 6th June 1944 #DDay70 What Did Troops Eat on D-Day?

When troops either by sea or air landed in Normandy on D-Day how much food were they carrying? As a lover of food this is one issue that would concern me if I was a soldier. When would my next hot meal be?
The common  consensus is that troops carried sufficient rations to last 24 hours. The British and Canadians had ration  packs which included: meat, chocolate, oatmeal, sugar, chewing gum, matches, broth and boiled sweets. They would be supplied with a small stove to heat up water and cook the food which was mostly in dehydrated form or, like the meat tinned. There is an excellent website where you can buy reproduction rations here: Reprorations.com.

Stalingrad

German prisoner with Red Army captor, Stalingrad 1943? Image found at: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TG865m5bV-A/TuJHg7g7XfI/AAAAAAAAmLE/CzBH9gWr9dY/s1600/Stalingrad+1942+%252822%2529.jpg, accessed 2/12/13.

One can only imagine the fear, isolation, cold and hunger experienced by Axis forces in December on the Eastern Front. At Stalingrad it went from bad to worse, surrounded and cut off, led by incompetent yes men like Von Paulus they had no hope of getting out of the noose.

Red Army camels,Stalingrad. Image found at ibid.

D-Day

(Image found at: http://www.normandy-france.net/D-Day/D-day.12.jpg , accessed 25/6/11.)


6th June 1944 witnessed the biggest invasion fleet in history. Soldiers, marines, sailors all landed by sea, glider and parachute in Normandy, France. I never cease at the enormity of the task that the Allied forces undertook to free mainland Europe from the Axis powers,primarily the Germans. Perhaps more accurately, troops wearing German uniforms, as the Germans had recruited Ukrainians, Turks, Poles and Georgians to name but a few.

The first troops to land in Normandy were glider borne soldiers of the British 6th Airborne, led by Major John Howard. Their task was to land by the Orne and Dives rivers, then capture and hold 2 bridges to protect the West flank of the invasion. They were closely followed by paratroopers of the British airborne who would capture and put out of action a battery of guns at Merville. The American and Canadian paratroopers also landed on the Contentin Peninsular and in the area near Juno beach.

Hey I could ramble on this retelling of an historic event in a narrative fashion, but I don't want to bore everyone, instead I will recommend a few websites I found interesting, and some good books for those who want to research further. D-Day is an event that should never be forgotten, if it were not for those who gave their lives for the free world then, where would we be now?

What can't be beaten is a good read, try these:


Books

Ambrose, S.E, D-Day June 6th, 1944 The Battle For The Normandy Beaches. (2002).

Beevor, A, D-Day The Battle For Normandy, (2009).

Hastings, M, Overlord, (1999).

Neillands, R & De Normann, R, D-Day 1944 Voices From Normandy, (1994).

Websites

http://www.dday.co.uk/

http://www.6juin1944.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/dday_beachhead_01.shtml

David Cameron - Think Before You Open Your Mouth Please

What On Earth Were You Thinking?

You may have heard, our P.M Mr Cameron made a right royal cock up by stating the following whilst on his hols in the United States;

We (Great Britain) were the junior partner in 1940 in the Second World War.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10719739

Are you mad?

We, the British Empire, were fighting alone after Dunkirk and The Fall of France. Apart from the American pilots in the Eagle Squadrons of the Royal Air Force and American sailors on armed escort ships and merchant shipping, there were no Americans taking part in active fighting against the Axis powers. However, if it were not for America, and in particular PresidentRoosevelt we would have not received guns, tanks other essential materiel.

The U.S.A did not win the Second World War, it was a combined effort from Great Britain and the Empire, The Soviet Union and The United States. Get your facts right Cameron.

Mr Churchill would never had said anything so demeaning about this country