operation neptune

Links to the news items, articles, latest released book and the history podcast recommendation of the week below:

Mythical hellhound and sea-centaurs painted on 2,200-year-old tomb discovered in Italy

Hidden colors and intricate patterns discovered on the 2,500-year-old Parthenon Marbles from ancient Greece

Neanderthal cuisine: Excavations reveal Neanderthals were as intelligent as Homo sapiens

Elderly French couple sue art dealer who bought African face mask from them for £129 and sold it for £3.6m

Top secret D-Day invasion maps that were drawn up to confuse Hitler's troops defending France are uncovered in suitcase belonging to a veteran who stormed Normandy

Bedford: Games technology and art bring town's history to life

The Rise and Fall of Mein Kampf

13 of the oldest archaeological sites in the Americas

Where is Stonehenge, who built the prehistoric monument, and how?

America's ancient sky watchers

The mysterious monoliths of Meghalaya

Links to order 'Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire' below:

Amazon India:
Hardcover
Kindle

Amazon USA:
Hardcover
Kindle

History podcast recommendation of the week:
The History of Rome

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On June 6th, 1944, all the planning of Operation Overlord would be put to the test when over 120,000+ Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. Their goal was to establish a foothold in occupied France that would allow them to begin pushing the Nazi's back. Standing in their way was Hitler's Atlantic Wall. What took place that day can only be described as the most pivotal point in WW2 as thousands of paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines and infantry stormed the beaches beginning what would be the end for the Third Reich. Tune in to hear about that nightmare of that day and the heroism that followed. 

In 1944 the Axis powers of WW2 occupied nearly all of mainland Europe. With no army to fight on the ground in Europe, the Allies need a plan to take the fight to the Nazis. An operation the scale of which had never been seen and has yet to be seen since. To invade Europe would take more than soldiers putting their boots on French soil, you need tanks, vehicles, ammunition, food, medical supplies, clothes and everything else it takes to wage a war. Not to mention doing all of this and keeping it a secret. Overlord is arguably the single. most important military operation in history. Years of planning went into ensuring every detail was covered and every option explored. It turned the tide of WW2 in Europe and began the countdown to the end of the Third Reich. 

In this episode Anne Marie talks  to La Percée du Bocage museum president, Billy Leblond and Men in the Shed Blogger, Colin Foster about Operation Bluecoat and the story behind Men in the Shed.

Men in the Shed tells the story of 18 Allied POWs who literally left their mark on the wall of a wooden shed owned by a French baker in Normandy. The shed (commandeered by the German military) became a temporary jail  for Allied POW's during the fighting following the D Day landings in 1944.

"Operation Bluecoat was a British offensive in the Battle of Normandy, from 30 July until 7 August 1944, during the Second World War. The geographical objectives of the attack, undertaken by the VIII Corps and XXX Corps of the British Second Army (Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey), were to secure the road junction of Vire and the high ground of Mont Pinçon.

"The attack was made at short notice to exploit the success of Operation Cobra by the First US Army after it broke out on the western flank of the Normandy beachhead and to exploit the withdrawal of the 2nd Panzer Division from the Caumont area, to take part in Unternehmen Lüttich (Operation Liège) a German counter-offensive against the Americans."     — Wikipedia

Colin Foster has been interested in the Second World War from an early age. According to Colin, " being born in 1959 meant that he grew up in an age where good quality war movies were regularly made!"

He is a regular visitor to Normandy since 2002 when he started researching the Normandy campaign as the result of his friend stubmling upon the names, ranks, serial numbers and dates of capture of 18 Allied soldiers, written on one of the inside walls of his shed. The old wooden shed, which once served as a grainstore, sits behind what used to be the village bakery in the small Normandy village of St Vigor des Mézerets.  purchased the bakery (by now converted to a house) in 2000. His research to date is recorded on his website Men in the Shed.

Billy Leblond has a passion for the History of his paternal grandfather and father with whom he has visited many historical places.
His interset for WWII came in college and developed in Lycée.
His internships focused on  WW2 museums of Normandy and included Dead Man Corner,  Caen Memorial and Grand Bunker Ouistreham.

For the past 5 years Billy has  been  involved  in the  La Percée du Bocage Museum, of which he now serves as president of the museum's board, following Mark Kentell last year. Jean Ménard, the founder of the museum, helped and guided him throughout the years he has been involved. According to Billy Jean Ménard has been instrumental in helping him to understand "the perception of the human aspect of the battles and of the history of veteran to whom we owe so much."


Jean Ménard : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE_fgzNCpZ0
Museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ION

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It was bloody; it was awful; it was an operation of stupendous courage and shocking sacrifice.

75 years ago in Normandy, Operation Neptune—better known as “D-Day”—commenced. The Allied troops stormed the French beaches in order to overcome Nazi tyranny. The fighting was ferocious, with 4,000 confirmed dead on the Allied side on that one day alone.

The tone of the conflict had been set long before by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In an age of capitulation, Churchill dared to defy Nazi tyranny. He rallied England to defend the homeland and later rejoiced when America joined the campaign in 1941.

Churchill is famous for his leadership in World War II, and justly so. But Churchill is only the best known of the heroes of this era. Countless forgotten soldiers fought, bled, and died for the cause of freedom.

On the anniversary of D-Day, we remember their heroism—and hear them call us to the same.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was bloody; it was awful; it was an operation of stupendous courage and shocking sacrifice.

75 years ago in Normandy, Operation Neptune—better known as “D-Day”—commenced. The Allied troops stormed the French beaches in order to overcome Nazi tyranny. The fighting was ferocious, with 4,000 confirmed dead on the Allied side on that one day alone.

The tone of the conflict had been set long before by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In an age of capitulation, Churchill dared to defy Nazi tyranny. He rallied England to defend the homeland and later rejoiced when America joined the campaign in 1941.

Churchill is famous for his leadership in World War II, and justly so. But Churchill is only the best known of the heroes of this era. Countless forgotten soldiers fought, bled, and died for the cause of freedom.

On the anniversary of D-Day, we remember their heroism—and hear them call us to the same.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.