Operation Overlord

Write to live, live to write.

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Sunday, September 27, 2009

Yesterday was the official end of Market Garden.
It had been planned to last for about three days. It ended up with 9 days spent and still the XXX Corps didn't reach Arnhem or even the rest of the 1st Airborne Division. At Arnhem, John Frost had surrendered on the 21st, I think. They were just supposed to hold out for 2 days against weak, undertrained or overexhausted German Battalions. Against two well-armed Panzer Divisions, they held out for 4.
A note on casualties: Amongst the Arnhem Force (Urquhart's 1st Brit Airborne, 2st Polish Parachute brigade, and the glider pilots) which numbered 10005 at first, 7758 were casualties. RAF pilot and crew losses: 294. XXX Corps: 1480. Brit 8th and 12th Corps: 3874.
Americans: Gavin's 82nd Airborne: 1432. Taylor's 101st Airborne: 2118. Air crew: 424.
Germans: Unknown, but estimated casualties in Arnhem and Oosterbeek are about 3300.
At Nijmegen, Eindhoven and the rest, casualties estimated at 7500-10000.

Total: (taking 7500 as 'the rest') 28180.
All this for a (roughly) 30 mile road leading to nowhere.

~Today in History~
1940: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy.

~Quote of the Day~
out of ammo, God save the King
The last radio message from Arnhem, only heard by German radio interceptors, before John Frost surrendered at the bridge.

~Useless Fact of the Day~
Student Robert Ricketts, 19, had his head bloodied when a train struck him. He told police he was trying to see how close to the moving train he could place his head without getting hit.

>>Forgotten by04:23

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Sunday, September 20, 2009

Part two of Operation Market Garden.
Today is the 20th of September, which means that 65 years ago the American Paratroopers were launching an assault on Nijmegen bridge.
So what? You say. Paratroopers assaulting things is normal behaviour.
Yes, but this time they did it in boats.
The assault was nicknamed "The second Omaha Landing" and that isn't a nickname you'd want an assault to have. Everyone knows that Omaha beach was pretty much a killing field for the Americans. I mean the Americans got axed. This time they got axed again. General James 'Jumpin' Jim' Gavin devised the most audacious and unheard of plan in the war thus far - get one battalion of paratroopers - the 3rd of the 82nd Airborne Division - to sail across the Rhine and attack Nijmegen from the other side while their side attacked simultaneously. The plan was stupid and a lot of men would get killed. But it would work, apparently.
The boats took ages to come and then Maj. Julian Cook, commander of the 3rd battalion, was told that his boys would have to cross the river in broad daylight. Yes, crazy people.
But in the end, through sheer grit and determination, even though Cook had half of his battalion down in the initial river crossing even before they attacked the bridge itself, it worked. Nijmegen bridge was taken before the day was out.
Cool, huh? Time for a little self advertisement. My story "The Greatest Division in the World" is based on this assault. Go read it if you've got time. I'm sure you don't have time now that the EOYs are coming, though.

~Quote of the Day~
No, they're getting on-the-job training.
-Col. Tucker, commander of the 504th Regiment (From which the 3rd Battalion was from) when asked if his men had done this river assault crossing before. Most of them had never been in a small boat.

~Useless fact of the Day~
During Bill Clinton's eight year presidency, he only sent two emails. One was to John Glenn when he was aboard the space shuttle, and the other was a test of the email system.

>>Forgotten by01:07

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Friday, September 18, 2009

I'm sorry I wasn't online yesterday to celebrate (or not) the 65th anniversary of Operation Market Garden.
But I'm online today!
Operation Market Garden began on the 17th of September 1944, a brainchild of our friend Bernard Montgomery. Now, Monty and George Patton (not Clooney, Mr President, but PATTON) were having a fight. A rather immature fight. They each wanted to get to Germany first and snatch the glory. Patton was in a much better position to get there first, but Monty, being British, stubbornly refused to give up and persuaded Ike to give him the green light on his pet project.
The Operation called for three Airborne Divisions plus ground troops. The three chosen Airborne Divisions: the 1st British Airborne, the 82nd American Airborne and the 101st American Airborne. The Ground troops were the XXX Corps.
And that's all time I have for today. I've got to go now, but I'll be back with more facts to bore you tomorrow.

>>Forgotten by02:51

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Somehow my blog-habits have been deteriorating.
The last time I posted was the fourth of September, which is nearly 12 days ago. Correction: 12 days ago. And bloody hell, I missed the anniversary of 9/11 and the other anniversary of 9/11.
I don't suppose you have any idea what I'm talking about.
Right. On the 11th of September in 1944, the first U.S. troops crossed the Rhine and set foot into Germany. That's a good thing. Which is a vast difference from what happened 57 years later.
I'm sure you've all heard that story.
You know, about this 9/11 thing. Every time you mention that you get a "oh, Osama Bin Laden" did it or "The US government did it. It was a conspiracy". But aren't people focusing on the wrong thing? I mean, sure, we all want to know who did it. But I think it's more important to remember who died in the attacks. Like George Bush said, "The victims were in airplanes, or in their offices; secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers; moms and dads, friends and neighbours." They were just normal people. Not politicians or anybody that important. But the fact that they were normal, just like you and me, makes it all the worse.
Josef Stalin knew what he was talking about when he said "the death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic." J.F. Kennedy. A great man cut down too early. Everybody mourns him. At the same time the Vietnam War was just getting started and already a lot more people were getting killed than just one man. But no one remembers them. Anne Frank. Just because she wrote a bloody diary means everybody thinks about her when they think about the Holocaust. But how about the other 6 million people who died? We have to try our best to remember these people.
On that September 11, 2001 'a great people were moved to defend a great nation'. The New Yorkers justified that statement about 'a great people'. Firefighters, policemen rushed in to the building when others were rushing out, to save strangers. Bus drivers forgot about the fee and brought people wherever they needed to go. Inside the buildings themselves, workers helping people they don't know to get out, at the risk of their own lives. When the buildings collapsed there were ambulances driving into the smoke, not knowing what awaited them. But they did it. Because they knew that inside that smoke, people needed saving.
In a hitherto unknown place called Shanksville, Pennsylvania, United Airlines Flight 93 had crashed as well. Its target had been the White House, but thank God for those passengers on the plane because they revolted and brought the plane down. I'm sure the passengers knew that they would die earlier if they brought the plane down earlier, but heck, they must have said, we're going to buy it anyway. We should save the President and as many people as we can. And they did.
The name of the youngest person who died in the attacks is Christine Lee Hanson. She was 2 years old.
The oldest person to die was Robert Grant Norton. He was eighty five years old.
So why don't you pause in your busy life for a while and close your eyes. Think of all those people who died. The policemen. The firefighters. The workers. The people on the planes. Forget Osama. Forget Bush. These were the real heroes of Nine One One.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-name/ (list of names of people who died)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Dg2eEhB30 (video of 911)

>>Forgotten by03:24

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Friday, September 4, 2009

HAPPY (or sad) BELATED 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF BRITAIN AND FRANCE DECLARING WAR ON GERMANY!

Yesterday's assembly was plain crap.
It was given by these two Mediacorp Green Ambassadors who won this challenge.
Or rather, just one of them.
First off: her English is worse than some of the coffee-shop uncles I overhear. "Now girls, this may seem very serious but I assure you this is very, very serious" is just one of the things she said. I can't remember the rest.
Next: Her Ego is bigger than the Sears Tower+Empire State Building+Taipei 101+Freedom Tower, and we all know how big that would be. Throughout the entire talk, although they won it together, the talk was all about her. She was ordering her partner about like a lackey: "Go back! Forward! One more slide! Click!"
In the middle of the slides was a big picture of her and a little bit about herself. If that has something to do with Global Warming, then my English is lousy and my Chinese is great.
At the end was her email and - get this - a quote: by her.
I mean, QUOTING YOURSELF IS THE MOST EGOISTIC THING ANYBODY COULD DO. AND SHE'S NOT EVEN BLOODY FAMOUS.
God.
I got into VJC.
And then a few hours later that I got a letter from NJC saying, "Congratulations!"
Go figure.

~Today in History~
1944: The British 11th Armoured Division liberates the Belgian city of Antwerp.

~Quote of the Day~
Gaia was not built in a year, but it can be destroyed in a day.
-HER quote. HER very egoistic quote and it's not even bloody nice.

~REAL Quote of the Day~
I am sure that the mistakes of that time [the first world war] will not be repeated; we shall probably make another set of mistakes.
-My good friend Churchill in 1944 when asked not to repeat the mistakes of the first world war. Now that's what you call a quote.

~Useless fact of the Day~
A deliveryman from Ealing, England, crashed his van two hours after his bosses gave him a safe driving award. Talk about Irony.

>>Forgotten by03:08

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Tuesday, September 1, 2009

G'MORNING!
While the printer takes its time to load that stupid home econs document and while I frantically rush to prepare for damn ting xie tomorrow which I am going to fail, let me just say:
HAPPY (or sad) 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE INVASION OF POLAND BY GERMANY DAY!
See, it rhymes.
Big whoop.

~Today in History~
Something happened. I can't remember what. Oh, wait a minute: I JUST TOLD YOU.

~Quote of the Day~
There is never a good time for a vacation, so take one anyway.
-My good friend Churchill. How does a vacation, oh, I don't know, tomorrow sound?

>>Forgotten by03:15