Hi, I just began to follow this forum recently, so here is my contribution, I hope it’s not to late !
A quick search gave me 2 Swiss results (from the french speaking part). One is the official radio broadcast from the “ATS” (telegraph agency of Switzerland), and the other is a newspaper, but both have similar contents, clearly it was some sort of controlled information from one source.
Hi This is the story of one of the Regina Rifles Rifleman Bird as is told by his son Nelson Bird.
Nelson Bird is a well know TV personality for CTV (Canadian TV) His dad landed on Juno was wounded twice and has some harrowing story.
I am still in contact with him after I met him in 2005 and gave him a book. He in turn sent me a DVD of the coming home ceremony to bring home the spirits of the fallen. So if there are any questions I can relay these to him. (he knows a lot)
Son of Indigenous soldier shares emotional D-Day story: ‘There were no racial barriers’ | CTV News
https://archive.org/details/NormandyInvasion-June1944blueNetwork/hicks_normandy_1944_01.mp3#
https://archive.org/details/NormandyInvasion-June1944blueNetwork/hicks_normandy_1944_02.mp3#
https://archive.org/details/NormandyInvasion-June1944blueNetwork/hicks_normandy_1944_03.mp3#
A bit more on the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, Very Low Altitude (Colored) at Omaha Beach (See Nov 14 for more):
National WWII Museum Acquires Item Related to the First African American Unit in Normandy
“The 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, Very Low Altitude (Colored) was a remarkable unit. The Museum is pleased to have recently acquired a winch of the type they trained with. The item is a M1 Very Low Altitude (VLA) Barrage Balloon Winch. Barrage balloons are stationary balloons that are tethered to the ground by a cable. The cable creates a hazard for aircraft and forces them to fly above the balloons. The exact height the balloon flies at is changed frequently. The VLA balloon had an upper limit of approximately 2,000 feet flying on a 1/8 inch cable. During planning, it was agreed that the VLA M1 Winch, weighing approximately 1,000 pounds, was too heavy to bring ashore in an assault landing, so a modified device was made from a Signal Corp winder for field telephone wire. These modified winches weighed about 50 pounds. They can be seen in photographs of the 320th at Normandy. They rely on human power to lower the balloons. Further research is needed, but Museum curators expect that the M1 winches were brought ashore at some point after the initial landing, as the 320th served for almost 150 days at Normandy.”
Museum Acquires Item Related to the First African American Unit in Normandy | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans
OK not a real “source” but this guy contrasts Saving private Ryan with what they 2nd Ranger Battaillon was up againsts for real on a place which not many people visit as it is away from the village. Excellent viewpoints and keep posts coming!
Best regards
Chewie
Oh, by the way, I am not sure that there can be a neutral take on segregation in the United States, speaking as someone who attended segregated schools in Darlington, S. C. until I was in the 3rd grade and integration was enforced by the Feds. That was 1970. Rather like having a neutral take on slavery and Jim Crow, neutrality is often a cover/veneer for unspoken/unconscious bias.
Good point. I often think that when some historians claim a stance on neutrality, they just use it as an excuse to push in a sole perspective (hence my comments on the posts I linked “being potentially disagreeable”). Combine that with misrepresenting the facts which, considering TimeGhost only used one major source for their video (a Marxist one at that) and they misquoted the hell out of Secretary Stimson, my disappointment over that video still stands. Thank you for your kind words.
I’ve met a lot of folks who lived through segregation as well. My grandfather, in fact, was a fervent opponent of it (his reasoning for not voting for Stevenson in 1952 was partly the fact that his running mate was pro-segregation).
I just wish that more historians had just discussed perspectives (whatever their bias) instead of just abusing the topic on one sole perspective, like what some historians did and still do which includes that video. Having an implicit bias is fine, just don’t claim it’s the only perspective, especially on a topic like this.
The best words to describe this period in our history are, in my opinion: “Even accounting for prejudice, it’s a long story.”
The day after: Brooklyn Eagle (June 7, 1944)
Hello,
My wife’s grandfather was on the USS Barnett during WWII. This is a link to a book that he had as well as a timeline of events written by him. His information is as follows:
Lt. Robert Wallace Nissen
Communications officer USS Barnett
Involved in Guadalcanal, Sicily, DDay
Link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iDRlV859q_ZSkzfKnBwi2rHCc7Bl8BH-/view?usp=drivesdk
I`m Ricardo from Mexico. I found some information about how Mexico was involved on D-Day and perceived by society. On one side, there is a story about a Mexican pilot that fought with a Canadian squadron on D-Day. On the other, I found an article published by the newspaper “El Tiempo” that makes a resume of D-Day events a couple of weeks later.
As a side note, I would like to say that I search for newspapers with news and no articles, but I had some problems: first, these materials are restringed for the public (no idea why); second, the newspaper libraries that had these material weren`t open.
Links:
More Links:
A very heartfelt welcome to the forum Ricardo and thanks very much for your input. Let me/us know should you have any questions!
This academic book is about Aboriginal forces in Canada in World War 2. Page 147 is especially about D-Day were also Indigenous people (First Nations) landed on Juno Beach
There were also Canadian code talkers which used Cree!
Update: I Apped with Nelson Bird yesterday and he confirmed the D-Day recollection on page 146 is indeed from Charles Warren Bird (Charlie Bird) who disembarked in Juno Beach on 6th June 1944. There was another Charlie Bird in the Regina rifles. I met his son Nelson Bird on 6th November 2005 on Juno Beach where he was filming for the “Coming home ceremony”. Nelson works for the Canadian TV and was the lead presenter of the “Indeginous Circle”
A Commemorative History of Aboriginal People in the Canadian Military (forces.gc.ca)
This is the site of the writer Lackenbauer!
Lackenbauer.ca | BOOKS
Here is some more data on Canadian First Nation veterans and their unique set op difficulties dealing with Racism and other nasty stuff:
Indigenous Peoples and the Second World War | The Canadian Encyclopedia
Here is a podcast about First Nations on D-Day (cramming it in here because I can do only 3 replies )
D-Day • Record of Service - Podcast Addict
This is part of the Canadian Memory project, they have more podcast. Including about Code Breakers and Code Talkers (not just Navaho but also e.g. Cree).
Not probably. It was that news agency.
I sent them a message but got a confusing response. Sorry this response is so late.
Thanks for the clarification.
Maybe there is room in the 24 hours for a follow up on the 8th June. Barnes Wallis also invented the Tall Boy 5400KG earthquake bomb This was dropped on the 8th of June with the specific purpose of stopping train traffic to Normandy. For this the Lancasters had to be heavily modified and defensive armament had to be removed. Barnes Wallis the guy from the Wellington, bouncing dambuster bomb and many other inventions)
This vid is about the Grand Slam but also includes the Tall boys bombardment on the 8th June and the massive effort to get to to that point. Interdiction of logistics was vital to the D-Day success!
Is there somewhere we can submit a document in PDF? Having trouble uploading mine here!