Attached Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b008p88c.shtml?order=aztitle%3Aalphabetical&filter=category%3A200055&scope=iplayercategories&start=1&version_pid=b008p858

I know how much some of you enjoy making military stuff, so I thought that you might be interested in this.

It's an episode of the BBC's Timewatch series, examining just what happened at the Omaha Beach landings on D-Day in WW2.

1 hour long, and very reasonable resolution (even at full screen). Plenty to see to give inspiration for images (not necessarily military), including archive footage of the build-up in the south coast of Britain.

Warning - only viewable in IE Explorer and Firefox (or derivatives - Seamonkey also works..)
Available for the next 5 days only...

Cheers,
Diolma

Edited to add...
Ooops! I didn't realise just how long that URL was. Sorry about the stretch...

It is a shame that it is only available for viewing to those living in the UK. :(

What happened at Omaha Beach was a cluster f**k,..........that's what happened. I had an uncle that died there.

My Grandad was taking the GI'S into shore dday+2. The place was still recieving shell fire and there was still a lot of bodies on the beach. They had to force these guys off at gunpoint .
It's somewhere I've always wanted to go, along with the trenches at the Somme.
What those boys did should never be forgotten, shame we still haven't learnt our lesson.
Just changing the subject, I purchased a series on DVD called Ross Kemp in Afganistan. This was shown on sky one recently and folows a platoon from the Royal anglian regiment in Helmand provence. Really opens your eyes to how war is fought today. I'd recommend anyone with an interest to have a look.

Well, one thing that's constantly overlooked is the simple fact trhe German's military were damned good. Their casualty ratios were nearly always in their favour (ie, they may have lost the War, but they kicked our asses never the less).

Without the great mass of planning, firepower and men thrown at them at D-Day, and the fact they'd totally lost air power...ugh would have been suicidal.

Sackrat,
talking of total screw ups, check up on "Dieppe", ugh :/

From what I can gather, my Great Uncle (really fun, nice old fella) was in a British anti-tank unit, I believe in Sherman Fireflies (Royal Artillery).
Man, that must have been bloody hairy :/
he never talked about it much, though we knew he was one of the guys who was at the liberation of Belsen.

And my uncle too.  The one I am named after.  He was a pathfinder there.  These were paratroopers who jumped in the night before and placed homing beacons for the rest of the invasion forces.  He was killed that night. My family never knew his story until several years ago when my mom was contacted by a documentary historian that was researching the pathfinders for "The History Channel".  He sent us photos and documents prior the airing of the program.

It was spell binding to get to see photos of him and his unit taken the day before the invasion.  Heretofore we had no photos of him. 

Thats a great story Skiwillgee.
One of my customers is this little old polish guy. Typical looking Grandpa type. One day I got talking to him about how he ended up in the UK. The story he told was astounding. He said that when he was about 14 the germans rounded him and a load of other men up in a truck. He said that he thought that was the end for him and the others. After a long journey they were all unloaded in France where they were used as slave labour on a farm. One day him and a few others managed to escape thanks to the french resistance. He ended up in the UK where he trained up with the Polish forces stationed there.
He then took part in D-DAY and further campaigns until he was wounded later that summer. He came back to England where he met a Nurse who was also polish, and ended up marrying her.
Even now it's hard for these guys to tell their stories. My Nan had brothers in the war, and would only share some snippets as the pain was still very much real. She lost a couple of them. I always remember when Saving Private Ryan came out, I asked if she wanted to go, as they had actually filmed most of it in her home town of Hatfield. But she said she couldn't face it knowing what her Brothers had been through.

The memories must still be pretty vivid for those of you in the UK and other European countries.  Your countries have the scars of the battlegrounds themselves.