A Previous 6th June

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The Great Crusade

Today marks 68 years since the D-day landings on the beaches of Normandy.

It's difficult to imagine that, approaching the 5 beaches by sea, were 156,000 men and around 20,000 vehicles. On D-day allied aircraft flew 14.674 sorties and 127 were lost.

Casualties on the British beaches were roughly 1,000 on Gold Beach and the same number on Sword Beach.  The remainder of the British losses were amongst the airborne troops: some 600 were killed or wounded and 600 more were missing.  One hundred glider pilots also became casualties.

Over 425,000 allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing during the Battle of Normandy.

Eisenhower, when rallying his troops referred to the Battle as 'The Great Crusade'. The EU sprung out of a determination to end the frequent and bloody wars between neighbours.

The sacrifice so many made in order to keep us safe should never be forgotten.  Today's political warmongers, such as Blair, Brown and Cameron, do a great disservice to those who perished in both world wars because most of us know their regurgitation of 'it's for the safety of the country' is a lie.

But it was the truth 68 years ago today. Every single member of the allied forces gave their all in order to allow us to live in peace today.

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