D-Day

Much is being made of the anniversary of the Normandy Landings in the press which is good and helps to keep the memory of this event alive. However, as usual, the Italian campaigns have not had a mention. It may have only been a secondary theatre to the Allied command, but a huge number of men fought and died there and they should have an equal place in our memories. When the survivors of the war in the Mediterranean, who keep the memory alive through groups such as as the First Army, Italy Star and Eighth Army Associations, finally pass on, who will carry the torch then? Branches of these associations close almost weekly because there are so few left to keep them going!

It should also remembered because not only British and Americans fought side by side but Jews, Moslem's, Hindu's and such diverse counties as Brazil, South Africa, Italy, Poland did also. With history taking an even more back seat in the National Curriculum particularly WW2, if for no other reason than events in Italy show the fact that these nations and religion's can work together, WW2 and the Italian campaign should be taught in schools and not forgotten.

Source of the expression D-Day Dodgers

I have been trying to find the origins of the D-Day Dodgers name. As yet I have not found anything conclusive all appears to be rumors and stories. This is what we have so far!
May or may not have been as a result of a letter signed D-Day Dodger.
He may have come from the Hampshire Regiment (56 Div?).
Lady Astor may have replied in a speech possibly to Parliament?
She may have replied in a letter.
It may have been someone else.
Lady Astor may have published a denial in the 8th Army News
I have spent a day going through Lady Astors personal papers and there was not one mention of the Dodgers.
We do know that the song was the end result.

If anybody has copies of the 8th Army News with the denial or can add more options etc. I would be pleased to hear from them.

Training for the war in Tunisia and Italy

When reading through training manuals for the army, it struck me that they are written around Northern Europe with its fields and woods. There is no mention of how to fight in the terrain encountered in either the desert, Tunisia or Italy.

We are therefore sending out a survey to veterans to find out what training they did and how tactics differed in these campaigns. So far they have been sent to members of the 1st Army and 8th Army Associations.

If anybody knows of a veteran that would like to take part, please drop me an e-mail and I will send the questionnaire to them.

We will publish our results on the website in due course.

And another thing...veterans stories

With D-Day Dodgers, we have recorded over 70 hours of interviews with World War Two veterans, (some are on the web site) not just infantry either, there is medics, gun fitters, engineers, signals, naval etc. etc. All have really interesting stories to tell. Some had not spoke to anyone about their experiences since the end of the war others had taken the time to write it all down. We have only just scratched the surface of those veterans that are still alive but we must not forget that the numbers are dwindling fast. I am a member of the First Army Association and in every issue of their news letter, it lists those who have passed on and sadly it takes up more space in each issue. Other Associations such as the Italy Star Association are being forced to close district offices because they no longer have members.

Today, historians spend many hours trying to work out how soldiers lived or how they did their 'job' or what equipment they carried etc. in times past. Think how different the history books would be if we knew for certain what a Roman military engineer or legionary did, what he carried etc. And those long standing debates into shield design and tunic colours would not be necessary - and lets face it - we still do not know for certain. TIME IS RUNNING OUT for us to ensure similar knowledge about the men and women who fought in World War Two is not lost for ever as well!

A few of our observations so far:-

Many veterans have written their memoirs but the majority remain either in private collections or with their families.
Nearly every Regiment had their own way of doing things and rules on clothing etc.
Most oral histories concentrate on the big picture and ignore the detail.


Soon, the soldier's association's of WW2 will be gone.Who will fly the flag for them and for the small part of history in which they took part. Especially, when it is already all but forgotten in the eyes of the public.

Because so few families are interested in what their relatives part in WW2 was, unpublished memoirs will be filed in the bin (see my earlier post). Somehow these need to be collated and saved.

Talk to a veteran today - ask the right questions and make the story publicly available even if anonymously.