"D" Day.

[otherwise]

It's the 6th of June again.
I sure hope that they still teach kids at school about these things.

 

[CarlS]

I don't think they do. They don't teach any other war history - at least in the US. That was most certaily a pivotal day for western civilization - and it set the stage for the Cold War.

 

[The Seeker]

Not to be anal, but there were lots of "D Days" during WWII.

Of course the most famous one was Normandy. And no, they probably don't teach that in today's schools.

Is there any other big WWII days that are remembered in Australia? Perhaps the Battle of the Coral Sea? At least I think that's the pivotal battle that deterred the Japanese from a possible Australian invasion.

 

[otherwise]

Not to be anal, but there were lots of "D Days" during WWII.

Of course the most famous one was Normandy. And no, they probably don't teach that in today's schools.

Is there any other big WWII days that are remembered in Australia? Perhaps the Battle of the Coral Sea? At least I think that's the pivotal battle that deterred the Japanese from a possible Australian invasion.

The mainstream media don't mention any of these days any more, sad!
The anniversaries that people on public TV and radio talk about are,
D Day
VE Day
VP Day
and to a lesser degree Battle of the Coral Sea.

 

[The Seeker]

If my memory serves me right, the Battle of the Coral Sea was the first time in history that ships duked it out from over the horizon, using strictly aircraft and never coming into sight of each other.

 

[CarlS]

I think you are correct, AJ. It changed the course of naval warfare.

 

[hemibee]

Back when I was in school, I'm not saying it was all that long ago but Moses was a rookie principal, History didn't get to WWI. We would barely make it to the War of Northern Aggression.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[otherwise]

I left school in 1967 and in those days at morning assembly the Head would make announcements before we sang "God Save The Queen" and move off to class. D Day always got a short mention on the 6th June.

 

[hemibee]

We were already out of school for the summer by the 6th of June so that held down on a school time connection.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DaveM]

We don't hear about that stuff here either these days. In fact even Poppy Day (Remembrance Day) passed us by with not a mention. Normally all the TV presenters would wear a Poppy but nothing was done. :y8:

 

[Rocky]

We don't hear about that stuff here either these days. In fact even Poppy Day (Remembrance Day) passed us by with not a mention. Normally all the TV presenters would wear a Poppy but nothing was done. :y8:

That's sad to hear.
Remembrance Day is a pretty big deal here with church services, military marches and parades, etc.

 

[Gromit]

I was surprised when my son came home with a history assignment on the desert strategies of WWII - although they are not covering WWI or II in great detail, they are at least touching on some of the bigger battles. They started with the poem Dulce et decorum est which I did at school and didn't think they covered this today - then they moved on through I and brushed over II. Besides, his Gran will not let him forget that she was in the RAF and did her bit in "The War". I think there is just too much world history for schools to cover today especially with the internet and everything being so instant - the art of books and written record is dying I'm afraid. I think that unless a young person today is going to specialise further studies in world war history, I don't think current generations will ever really know what went before them. Advents such as the atomic bombs are definitely taught but in the physics class, not history.
From my experience, I don't think my son's generation have any idea the brutality of either of the WW's vs the almost sterile warfare today with guided missiles etc. To have soldiers engaging in hand to hand combat as our parents did is a thing of the past I think. And I don't think this generation has the vaguest concept of what true heros the WW soldiers and pilots really were and how truly brave they were. If it wasn't for the History channel, I think much of this would be lost on this generation altogether - and that's if you can get them to watch the History channel.

 

[otherwise]

I've been talking to Dave via PM's about SA and WW2 his comments have got me searching further. I now know a few things new and very interesting. I had forgotten how short the time from the Boer War to WW2 was, only 37 years. Without looking at that history you can get a false idea of the political split in SA at the time. What am I going on about ... without a knowledge of history you can't understand today.

 

[Gromit]

I've been talking to Dave via PM's about SA and WW2 his comments have got me searching further. I now know a few things new and very interesting. I had forgotten how short the time from the Boer War to WW2 was, only 37 years. Without looking at that history you can get a false idea of the political split in SA at the time. What am I going on about ... without a knowledge of history you can't understand today.

SA has a very interesting history re WWII. I think we were still a Union at the time and were still part of the Commonwealth. We had a pro-Nazi faction operationg here during WWII called the "Ossewa Brandwag" or translated, the Ox Wagon Fire Watch. They were pro-Nazi and did their damdest to betray the allied troops moving from SA up North!

 

[otherwise]

Yeah, I found an interesting forum. I'm selling my Triumph and getting Ox Wagon.

 

[CarlS]

I was surprised when my son came home with a history assignment on the desert strategies of WWII - although they are not covering WWI or II in great detail, they are at least touching on some of the bigger battles. They started with the poem Dulce et decorum est which I did at school and didn't think they covered this today - then they moved on through I and brushed over II. Besides, his Gran will not let him forget that she was in the RAF and did her bit in "The War". I think there is just too much world history for schools to cover today especially with the internet and everything being so instant - the art of books and written record is dying I'm afraid. I think that unless a young person today is going to specialise further studies in world war history, I don't think current generations will ever really know what went before them. Advents such as the atomic bombs are definitely taught but in the physics class, not history.

I think the difference is a private school vs a government school. At least in the US, history is taught quite differently in private schools than the PC propaganda that passes for history in the government schools.

From my experience, I don't think my son's generation have any idea the brutality of either of the WW's vs the almost sterile warfare today with guided missiles etc. To have soldiers engaging in hand to hand combat as our parents did is a thing of the past I think. And I don't think this generation has the vaguest concept of what true heros the WW soldiers and pilots really were and how truly brave they were. If it wasn't for the History channel, I think much of this would be lost on this generation altogether - and that's if you can get them to watch the History channel.

Make no mistake, war is still horribly brutal. The media focuses on the high tech stuff, the drones, the laser guided weapon systems, etc; but soldiers on the ground are still required and it is still brutal. The high tech weaponry reduces the risks and makes it possible to incapacitate the enemy from a distance; but the real estate must be occupied and held. There may not be as much hand to hand combat; but it still happens, especially in urban fighting and clearing buildings. Close contact with the enemy is still very much a part of battle.

 

[DaveM]

SA has a very interesting history re WWII. I think we were still a Union at the time and were still part of the Commonwealth. We had a pro-Nazi faction operationg here during WWII called the "Ossewa Brandwag" or translated, the Ox Wagon Fire Watch. They were pro-Nazi and did their damdest to betray the allied troops moving from SA up North!

Yes that was correct we were split in opinions back then

we were split three ways back then having our Prime Minister on September 1, 1939 was Barry Herzog wished to keep South Africa "neutral", but on September 4, the United Party caucus refused to accept Hertzog's stance of neutrality in World War II and deposed him in favor of Jan Smuts. Them we had John Vorster and other members of Ossewabrandwag strongly objected to South Africa's participation in World War II and actively carried out sabotage against Jan Smuts' government. Smuts took severe action against the pro-Nazi South African Ossewabrandwag movement and jailed its leaders — including Vorster — for the duration of the war.

 

[DaveM]

Yeah, I found an interesting forum. I'm selling my Triumph and getting Ox Wagon.

:y24: :y24: :y24:

 

[CarlS]

I've been talking to Dave via PM's about SA and WW2 his comments have got me searching further. I now know a few things new and very interesting. I had forgotten how short the time from the Boer War to WW2 was, only 37 years. Without looking at that history you can get a false idea of the political split in SA at the time. What am I going on about ... without a knowledge of history you can't understand today.

Exactly, and that is totally lost on Americans as a whole.

Yeah, I found an interesting forum. I'm selling my Triumph and getting Ox Wagon.

:y24: :y24:

SA has a very interesting history re WWII. I think we were still a Union at the time and were still part of the Commonwealth. We had a pro-Nazi faction operationg here during WWII called the "Ossewa Brandwag" or translated, the Ox Wagon Fire Watch. They were pro-Nazi and did their damdest to betray the allied troops moving from SA up North!

Not unlike France and Vichy government.

 

[Gromit]

My mother got shot at by the Ossewabrandwag while she was riding her Bonneville past the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria. Those days, there were a few concentration camps around where the Voortrekker Monument stands today. She was carrying air land and sea troop movements to headquarters when they took a potshot at her!