Club Speaker John Mackail
Mon, Jun 6th 2016 at 7:15 pm - 9:35 pm
Club Speaker John Mackail - Anniversary of D day - "The enormity of that One Day"
| The Rotary Club of Birstall Luddites
Club Speaker John Mackail Mon 13th June. Anniversary of D day - "The enormity of that One Day” |
|
| John gave a talk about WW2, Churchill, Dunkirk and the invasion of allied forces into France.
John picked 3 subjects to highlight - Bocages Pluto and Mulberry. Bocage refers to farmland separated by thick coastal hedgerows. These hedgerows are denser, thicker, and higher in Normandy than elsewhere along the French coast. and John talked of the big problem we had getting through these hedges. Operation Pluto (Pipe-Lines Under The Ocean) was a Second World War operation by British engineers, oil companies and armed forces to construct undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France in support of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 Mulberry harbours were temporary portable harbours developed by the British during World War II to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches John talked of the 2 million Canadians and Americans and where we hid them prior to the invasion. John talked of the deception of the invasion beaches at Cherbourg, Pas de Calais and Normandy. Also French resistance, landing craft, the role of the BBC, Montgomery and the flattening of Caen. John mentioned Ivanhoe. This was the last ship to leave Dunkirk, HMS Ivanhoe just made it back to England in a very bad state Phew well done John. President Margaret thanked John for his talk. LINKS Operation Pluto |
| Bocage hedges |
| Invasion of France 1944 |
| HMS Ivanhoe - one of last ships to leave Dunkirk |
|
|
Contact John MacKail about this page:
back to page above this...
Club Admin
back Club Admin.