Just remember that the north European part of the war was quite small and obviously won by the Americans. The resulting history is very corrupted. It is not my intention to upset anyone who served there or their families. You don’t have to work very hard to discover another history. Even researching war graves can tell another story to Hollywood.
Much of the early history is all but gone. The liberation of Abyssinia during the Italian war for example. The dismissal of the role India, without whom’s help the outcome would have been very different. In fact the whole British Empire coming together to save the world. I know this sits uncomfortably with some, but somehow this little country ran by idiots at all times managed to pull this off. In fact the war could have ended earlier, but that’s a controversial story.
I had a relative who was killed on D Day and I generally visit his units memorial on every trip to Normandy....He has no grave, only a record on the Memorial wall at Bayeux cemetery as his body was not recovered from his knocked out tank...
The war overall is indeed a 'bigger picture' and the sacrifices made to liberate Europe were not confined to Normandy by any means...
However, the commemorations in Normandy each year are focused on that small part of the campaign and that short period of time...
My point really is that what is being commemorated is the events of D Day, the liberation of the area and the sacrifice of life that was needed to achieve that...Bearing that in mind and particularly the last point, I personally find the rising level of commercialisation and the dilution of the commemorations with unrelated events both distasteful and disrespectful to those that paid with their lives and that as a consequence the essential message of commemoration is being lost....
I think for me I'm now more likely to visit Normandy at a completely different time of year to avoid the growing 'circus'....Ian
On my first few trips over there with the Matchless (2004-on), there were loads of veterans doing the tour who were always up for a chat. That totally made the Normandy experience for me and now that generation is fast fading away, I really have lost interest in going over yet again. Our generation of course had fathers who served in WW2 so we still have that direct link, but succeeding generations see the battle as just part of history and the Normandy coast as a WW2 theme park. Not really sad, just inevitable.
Ian, most years I try to visit Normandy/Arromanches for D Day and must admit was appalled at the sight of the new museum being constructed in the middle of the town square. It looks completely out of place and overpowers everything else around it. How the hell did they get that through planning, it must be a miracle or someone's been paid off. It's a real shame because Arromanches was always my favourite place to stay with it being steeped in history for people of all ages to appreciate. The 360 degrees cinema is a real plus including other themes they have installed on the cliff tops e.g. metal statues of the soldiers etc. All of which look fantastic, however, it seems they have gone way too far with the monstrosity of a museum. Did they not think about the aesthetics and history of their beautiful little town? Maybe when they have completed the museum it might look different (hopefully)? In view of the rest of the Normandy sites, I have mixed feelings about how commercial a lot of them have become but looking at a wider picture, I can also appreciate the 'development' of such sites to make them more appealing to a wider public, which can also have it's benefits e.g. educating school children while letting them visualise how the sites must have looked back in WW2. The other thing is there is an even wider audience interested or becoming interested in such sites, which much add benefits of keeping the history and stories alive, however, this should not be at the cost of the real history and stories of the men who fought and gave the ultimate sacrifice. It's a delicate balancing act.......
