Today 6th Formers have been remembering what happened on the Normandy Beaches 80 years ago today and what it means today to them and their peers.
On 6 June 1944 – ‘D-Day’ – Allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. Codenamed Operation ‘Overlord’, the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy marked the start of a long and costly campaign to liberate north-west Europe from Nazi occupation. Read more about this on the Imperial War Museum website.
All of our A-Level History students learn about this significant part of history, but research shows (and students here agreed), that so many young people today are not connected to the news like the older population are (perhaps with the exception of University Students). Mrs Hunt learned today that some students had not even realised that today was a significant anniversary, that June the 6th was such a significant day in history.
One student said “If I hadn’t seen the display screens today, I wouldn’t have known it was the 80th anniversary of D-Day. It’s got groups of us talking about its relevance to us.” Once groups started talking about it we discovered great grandparents had fought, great aunties and uncles were involved, sometimes on the front line, sometimes in munitions factories or on the land.
One of our Year 12s stongly feels “they made big sacrifices for us and it’s important commemorations continue so that we don’t repeat history. I’d like to think we’d do the same if we had to”. That’s a poignant thought, because if young people today weren’t reminded of what happened 80 years ago, how would future generations ensure history doesn’t repeat itself. “Even today” commented another, “if people can’t relate the Holocaust for instance to what’s happening in Gaza today, what hope do we have? Our lives are so cosy, that it’s hard to grasp what war is like”.
Encourage your children to watch the news tonight or one of the great movies such as Saving Private Ryan or the Band of Brothers series, OR click on the link to learn Why D-Day was so important to the Allied victory.
Thank you
