On leaving the plane I can only say I felt very lonely, except that the sky was full of bullets coming upwards. Fortunately, it wasn't long before my feet hit the ground with a thud. Almost as soon as my feet touched the ground, I was to find that I had landed directly in front of the muzzle of a German Machine Gun and I received a burst of fire straight at me. I can remember being hit and spinning round with a sudden yell of shock and finishing up flat on my back...I lay there rather dazed for a while, expecting to be hit again at any moment . (John Hunter, Parachute Regiment, Northants). Seventy years ago, on 6 June 1944, a great Allied Armada landed on the coast of Normandy. The invasion force launched on D-Day was a size never seen before and never likely to be seen again. 150,000 soldiers, more than 6,000 ships and 11,000 combat aircraft took part in the assault. The success of that attack led 11 months later to the final liberation of Europe from a ruthless dictatorship that had threatened to permanently enslave it. Such an undertaking on such a scale could not have been achieved without tremendous cooperation between Land, Sea and Air Forces. In We Remember D-Day we hear from the men and women who were involved in the assault; those who risked their lives for a better future. Their stories tell of human bravery and endeavour, pain and heartache, and, most importantly, freedom and hope.
- To coincide with the 70th anniversary Praise for Other Titles by this Author: - In this book of first-hand accounts from the 1940-1941 Blitz, the human expereince of life on the home front is brought into focus. From ARP wardens to bakers, each recollection is written as though it were a letter to a friend. A riveting read. -- Daily Express
Of all the books I have read this year, these are the most moving and memorable; more people stories than war stories, in countless voices and moods, of a richness and strength which makes fiction seem meagre. -- Daily Mail
Author
About Frank Shaw, Joan Shaw
Frank and Joan Shaw live in Hinckley in Leicestershire. They have four children and nine grandchildren. They were born and raised in Deal, Kent and this is where they spent the war. The idea of the We Remember series came when their granddaughter asked them about the Second World War for a school project. Frank and Joan decided more memories needed to be committed to paper, and they wrote to 700 local newspapers throughout the country asking just that. They were flooded with letters, which they then self-published as five hardback books, raising over GBP100,000 for the Royal British Legion. Ebury Press are excited to be republishing them over 20 years later, with all royalties also going to the Legion.
