The Idler Thursday, June 6, 2019

Turning

point of

World War II

SEVENTY-FIVE years ago today, thousands of British, Canadian and American troops crossed the English Channel to storm the beaches of Normandy in the biggest amphibious invasion ever.

It was to liberate France and in time the rest of Nazi-occupied Europe (the western parts anyway). D-Day will be commemorated today in Britain, France and elsewhere. Few of those who participated are still alive, but the stories of those who are alive are vivid.

Like Ron Smith (now 94), whose landing craft tank approached Sword beach at 7.35am.

"We were told we were going to France, 'and you won't need a passport'. I don't reckon a winkle survived on that beach. It was just one heap of explosives – it was amazing." (Quoted in The Guardian, London)

Like Marie Scott (now 92), who was a radio operator stationed underground at Fort Southwick, in Portsmouth. She was in touch with operators on the battle front.

"I could hear very loud, sustained gunfire. It was really so bad that you thought: 'Oh my God. There's a battle going on.' You knew. You thought: 'God, men are dying.' The reality suddenly hit you. For a rather naive 17-year-old, I think it was terrifying. But it was a job. You got on with it." (Quoted in The Guardian, London)

Fraught times indeed. As the soundtrack of the movie had it: "The longest day, the longest day …"

 

Castanets

I WAS once chatting to master cartoonist Jock Leyden in his office. It was in the 1980s. He was having a bit of a clear-out of old stuff, including a cartoon that looked so clean and fresh it could have been drawn that morning.

It was actually drawn in the run-up to D-Day (which everyone had guessed would happen, though nobody knew when). It was of Hitler standing on high ground on the Normandy coast, looking out through binoculars at the English Channel.

His knees were knocking like castanets. (Jock had a great gift for getting movement into his cartoons).

"Jock, that's absolutely marvellous!"

"It never made it into the paper."

"What? I don't believe it!"

Jock always drew two cartoons a day, giving the editor a choice. Such a waste. When I describe him as a master cartoonist, I mean it. Two of his originals hang in Buckingham Palace, one in Blenheim Palace.

When World War II came along, he became a war cartoonist. Some of his stuff on London in the Blitz was not just arresting, it was emotional. The war also explains how another of his originals ended up in the Pentagon.

A wonderfully gifted fellow was our Jock, who came into the office every day until the age of 87 and died aged 92

 

 

Interlude

I HAD an uncle who was with the Royal Marines and was badly wounded on D-Day.

He had a spell in hospital in England then returned after the war and went back to Maritzburg College to write matric. Oh boy, what an interlude.

 

Tailpiece

A NAVAL psychiatrist is assessing a potential recruit.

"What would you do if you looked out of the window and saw a battleship coming down the street?"

"I'd grab a torpedo and sink it."

"Oh, really? And where would you get the torpedo?"

"The same place you got your battleship."

Last word

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. - Dwight D Eisenhower