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The usual media beatup?
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/britain_royals_history_wwii
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/britain_royals_history_wwii
Queen snubbed by France for D-day/WW2 anniversary ceremonies
- Thread starter CougarKing
- Start date
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:rofl: Man, the French just can't help coming up with more ways to make friends :
- Reaction score
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And, how many Canadian WWII and/or D-Day Vets is VAC sponsoring for this event? How many parliamentarians/VAC staff are attending?
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The families of Lancaster ND994 have been treated with warm courtesy and hospitality every time we have visited Loches-sur-Ource, Aube, France.
ND994 are the only non-French graves in the commune.
http://servir-et-defendre.com/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2421
ND994 are the only non-French graves in the commune.
http://servir-et-defendre.com/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2421
daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
- Reaction score
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Maybe the British and Canadians can bring her over the channel the same way we went to France in 1944? After all, we weren't invited then either but it didn't stop us from going... ;D
Yrys
Army.ca Veteran
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Left Out of D-Day Events, Queen Elizabeth Is Fuming, NY Times
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth is not amused.
Indeed, she is decidedly displeased, angry even, that she was not invited to join President Obama
and France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, next week at commemorations of the 65th anniversary of
the D-Day landings in Normandy, according to reports published in Britain’s mass-circulation tabloid
newspapers on Wednesday. Pointedly, Buckingham Palace did not deny the reports.
The queen, who is 83, is the only living head of state who served in uniform during World War II. As
Elizabeth Windsor, service number 230873, she volunteered as a subaltern in the Women’s Auxiliary
Territorial Service, training as a driver and a mechanic. Eventually, she drove military trucks in
support roles in England.
While serving, she met the supreme Allied commander for the D-Day landings, Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower, and developed a fondness for him, according to several biographies. This prompted
Queen Elizabeth, who was crowned in June 1953, to say in later years that he was the American
president with whom she felt most at ease.
But on June 6, when Mr. Obama and Mr. Sarkozy attend commemorations at the iconic locations
associated with the American D-Day assault — Utah Beach, the town of Ste.-Mère-Église, where
the first United States paratroopers landed, and the American war cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer
— the highest-ranking British representative will be Prime Minister Gordon Brown. His main role
will be at ceremonies at the town of Arromanches, near the beaches where British troops landed.
How the queen came to be excluded has become entangled in a thicket of diplomatic missteps, or
misunderstandings, depending on whether the account is given in London or Paris. The French have
said officially that they regard the commemorations in the American sector of the landings as
“primarily a Franco-American ceremony,” and that it was up to the British to decide who should
represent Britain — in other words, that Mr. Brown was at fault for not seeking an invitation for
the queen.
The French have also said the Brown government was slow to accept that the ceremonies merited
more than a modest British involvement, since British policy had been to give full-scale government
backing only to commemorations at decade-long intervals.
The last of those was the 60th anniversary in 2004, when the queen joined President George W. Bush
in the Normandy observances. British veterans’ groups demanded more backing for this year’s
ceremonies on the grounds that only a handful of soldiers who fought in Normandy were likely to be
alive at the 70th anniversary in 2014.
In Britain, commentators have suggested that Mr. Sarkozy did not want to share the telegenic moment
when he hosts Mr. Obama. This was all the more so, the British commentators have said, because the
queen’s presence might risk turning the occasion into a celebration of the Anglo-American alliance,
whose troops carried out the landings, losing about 37,000 men in the battle for Normandy.
When accounts of the dispute made the headlines of the British tabloids on Wednesday, the diplomatic
gloves came off, at least a bit. “Palace fury at D-Day snub to the queen,” roared The Daily Mail, the
first time in days that its front-page splash has been on something besides the furor over
parliamentarians’ expenses. A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment beyond a terse
statement that “no invitation has been issued as yet to any member of the royal family.”
The tabloids quoted anonymous palace officials as saying the Brown government dropped the ball,
possibly because of reported strains between Mr. Brown and the queen. Among other issues, the queen
is said to have cooled on Mr. Brown because of his habit of appearing late for their weekly audiences.
The Daily Mail quoted one “senior palace official” as saying that the palace had made clear to the
government that the queen would have liked to have gone to Normandy.
“We have gone through all the normal channels and had conversation after conversation, but received
no feedback,” the official said. “It is very frustrating.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction:
An article on Thursday about Queen Elizabeth’s reported displeasure over not being invited to next week’s
65th anniversary celebrations of the D-Day Allied invasion referred incorrectly to the role of French
troops in the landings. While their numbers were relatively few, they did participate; it was not an event
in which they “played no part.” (A 177-man unit of French marines led by Commandant Philippe Kieffer,
informally known as the Kieffer Commando, landed on Sword Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944,
and 35 French paratroopers were airdropped in Brittany the same day, with hundreds more airdropped
in following days.)
Queen 'welcome at D-Day service', BBC News
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth is not amused.
Indeed, she is decidedly displeased, angry even, that she was not invited to join President Obama
and France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, next week at commemorations of the 65th anniversary of
the D-Day landings in Normandy, according to reports published in Britain’s mass-circulation tabloid
newspapers on Wednesday. Pointedly, Buckingham Palace did not deny the reports.
The queen, who is 83, is the only living head of state who served in uniform during World War II. As
Elizabeth Windsor, service number 230873, she volunteered as a subaltern in the Women’s Auxiliary
Territorial Service, training as a driver and a mechanic. Eventually, she drove military trucks in
support roles in England.
While serving, she met the supreme Allied commander for the D-Day landings, Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower, and developed a fondness for him, according to several biographies. This prompted
Queen Elizabeth, who was crowned in June 1953, to say in later years that he was the American
president with whom she felt most at ease.
But on June 6, when Mr. Obama and Mr. Sarkozy attend commemorations at the iconic locations
associated with the American D-Day assault — Utah Beach, the town of Ste.-Mère-Église, where
the first United States paratroopers landed, and the American war cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer
— the highest-ranking British representative will be Prime Minister Gordon Brown. His main role
will be at ceremonies at the town of Arromanches, near the beaches where British troops landed.
How the queen came to be excluded has become entangled in a thicket of diplomatic missteps, or
misunderstandings, depending on whether the account is given in London or Paris. The French have
said officially that they regard the commemorations in the American sector of the landings as
“primarily a Franco-American ceremony,” and that it was up to the British to decide who should
represent Britain — in other words, that Mr. Brown was at fault for not seeking an invitation for
the queen.
The French have also said the Brown government was slow to accept that the ceremonies merited
more than a modest British involvement, since British policy had been to give full-scale government
backing only to commemorations at decade-long intervals.
The last of those was the 60th anniversary in 2004, when the queen joined President George W. Bush
in the Normandy observances. British veterans’ groups demanded more backing for this year’s
ceremonies on the grounds that only a handful of soldiers who fought in Normandy were likely to be
alive at the 70th anniversary in 2014.
In Britain, commentators have suggested that Mr. Sarkozy did not want to share the telegenic moment
when he hosts Mr. Obama. This was all the more so, the British commentators have said, because the
queen’s presence might risk turning the occasion into a celebration of the Anglo-American alliance,
whose troops carried out the landings, losing about 37,000 men in the battle for Normandy.
When accounts of the dispute made the headlines of the British tabloids on Wednesday, the diplomatic
gloves came off, at least a bit. “Palace fury at D-Day snub to the queen,” roared The Daily Mail, the
first time in days that its front-page splash has been on something besides the furor over
parliamentarians’ expenses. A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment beyond a terse
statement that “no invitation has been issued as yet to any member of the royal family.”
The tabloids quoted anonymous palace officials as saying the Brown government dropped the ball,
possibly because of reported strains between Mr. Brown and the queen. Among other issues, the queen
is said to have cooled on Mr. Brown because of his habit of appearing late for their weekly audiences.
The Daily Mail quoted one “senior palace official” as saying that the palace had made clear to the
government that the queen would have liked to have gone to Normandy.
“We have gone through all the normal channels and had conversation after conversation, but received
no feedback,” the official said. “It is very frustrating.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction:
An article on Thursday about Queen Elizabeth’s reported displeasure over not being invited to next week’s
65th anniversary celebrations of the D-Day Allied invasion referred incorrectly to the role of French
troops in the landings. While their numbers were relatively few, they did participate; it was not an event
in which they “played no part.” (A 177-man unit of French marines led by Commandant Philippe Kieffer,
informally known as the Kieffer Commando, landed on Sword Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944,
and 35 French paratroopers were airdropped in Brittany the same day, with hundreds more airdropped
in following days.)
Queen 'welcome at D-Day service', BBC News
- Reaction score
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- 360
How ironic: the White House is now the one trying to secure a D-Day anniversary ceremony invite for Her Majesty.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090601/usa/us_france_military_dday_anniversary_queen
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090601/usa/us_france_military_dday_anniversary_queen
Yrys
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 11
- Points
- 430
Same subject as last post :
White House Seeks a Proper Invitation for the Queen
The Obama administration is working with their French counterparts to make sure that Britain’s
Queen Elizabeth — reportedly miffed, according to the British Press, at not being invited to the
D-Day anniversary festivities in Normandy this weekend — gets a formal invitation.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said on Monday that President Obama thinks the
queen should be present at the event on Saturday. “We are working with those involved to see if
we can make that happen,” Mr. Gibbs said. Mr. Gibbs’s comments came after Buckingham Palace
pointedly noted last week that the queen didn’t get an invite, an omission which has had the British
press fuming. Mr. Obama is attending the event (French President Nicolas Sarkozy invited him two
months ago) as is British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Mr. Sarkozy has said that the queen is
welcome to come to the ceremony, but Obama administration officials say that they would like to
see her receive a formal invitation.
Driving home that point, Mr. Gibbs joked at the end of his daily briefing with reporters Monday:
“Will you — will you — will you please pass that directly to the queen for me?”
White House Seeks a Proper Invitation for the Queen
The Obama administration is working with their French counterparts to make sure that Britain’s
Queen Elizabeth — reportedly miffed, according to the British Press, at not being invited to the
D-Day anniversary festivities in Normandy this weekend — gets a formal invitation.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said on Monday that President Obama thinks the
queen should be present at the event on Saturday. “We are working with those involved to see if
we can make that happen,” Mr. Gibbs said. Mr. Gibbs’s comments came after Buckingham Palace
pointedly noted last week that the queen didn’t get an invite, an omission which has had the British
press fuming. Mr. Obama is attending the event (French President Nicolas Sarkozy invited him two
months ago) as is British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Mr. Sarkozy has said that the queen is
welcome to come to the ceremony, but Obama administration officials say that they would like to
see her receive a formal invitation.
Driving home that point, Mr. Gibbs joked at the end of his daily briefing with reporters Monday:
“Will you — will you — will you please pass that directly to the queen for me?”
Yrys
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 11
- Points
- 430
Charles invited to D-Day events
Prince Charles is to attend D-Day commemorations in Normandy at the weekend, Clarence House has
confirmed. The prince was invited by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The White House had stepped into the row about why the Queen was not attending, after Buckingham
Palace insisted she had not been invited. It is understood the prince will attend at least one main event
alongside US President Barack Obama, Mr Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. They will
gather at the Normandy American Cemetery, by Omaha Beach - code name for one of the main landing
points of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France during WWII.
Some British veterans, who took part in the 1944 Normandy landings that helped to defeat Hitler's
Germany, will also play a part in a number of events planned for 6 June.
Guest list
It is understood the Prince of Wales spoke to the Queen about the issue, and they decided it was
appropriate he should attend. The office invitation was received on Tuesday via the French ambassador
in London. It is not yet known whether Charles will be accompanied in France by the Duchess of Cornwall.
Amid controversy over the handling of the guest list, the British and French governments had been
discussing the possibility that a Royal Family member would attend the commemorations. The French
government wanted to counter the perceptions that President Sarkozy intended the focus to be on him
and President Obama, and that Downing Street had not pushed for the Queen to be invited, said the
BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins. He said Mr Obama was only invited to the commemorations
because plans for him to visit the beaches as part of his European tour in April were squeezed out of an
overcrowded programme.
Meanwhile prime minister Gordon Brown was invited to represent the UK at the event. The changing plans
caused "big problems", said our correspondent, with Downing Street having to defend the prime minister's
role. His spokesman said: "We have been consulting the Palace at every stage and they have been content
with arrangements."
Clarence House said discussions had been going on between the French and the British before the US became
involved. They said the fact that the White House had stepped in to the row shortly before Prince Charles
received his invitation, was "coincidence", said the BBC's June Kelly.
Hundreds of British veterans will hold their main memorial event at the Arromanches landing beaches, where
thousands of troops came ashore on 6 June 1944, and during the following days. There will also be a Royal
British Legion Service of Remembrance at Bayeux Cathedral.
The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales all attended commemoration events in France for
the 60th anniversary of the invasion, which was a strategic turning point in the war.
Prince Charles is to attend D-Day commemorations in Normandy at the weekend, Clarence House has
confirmed. The prince was invited by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The White House had stepped into the row about why the Queen was not attending, after Buckingham
Palace insisted she had not been invited. It is understood the prince will attend at least one main event
alongside US President Barack Obama, Mr Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. They will
gather at the Normandy American Cemetery, by Omaha Beach - code name for one of the main landing
points of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France during WWII.
Some British veterans, who took part in the 1944 Normandy landings that helped to defeat Hitler's
Germany, will also play a part in a number of events planned for 6 June.
Guest list
It is understood the Prince of Wales spoke to the Queen about the issue, and they decided it was
appropriate he should attend. The office invitation was received on Tuesday via the French ambassador
in London. It is not yet known whether Charles will be accompanied in France by the Duchess of Cornwall.
Amid controversy over the handling of the guest list, the British and French governments had been
discussing the possibility that a Royal Family member would attend the commemorations. The French
government wanted to counter the perceptions that President Sarkozy intended the focus to be on him
and President Obama, and that Downing Street had not pushed for the Queen to be invited, said the
BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins. He said Mr Obama was only invited to the commemorations
because plans for him to visit the beaches as part of his European tour in April were squeezed out of an
overcrowded programme.
Meanwhile prime minister Gordon Brown was invited to represent the UK at the event. The changing plans
caused "big problems", said our correspondent, with Downing Street having to defend the prime minister's
role. His spokesman said: "We have been consulting the Palace at every stage and they have been content
with arrangements."
Clarence House said discussions had been going on between the French and the British before the US became
involved. They said the fact that the White House had stepped in to the row shortly before Prince Charles
received his invitation, was "coincidence", said the BBC's June Kelly.
Hundreds of British veterans will hold their main memorial event at the Arromanches landing beaches, where
thousands of troops came ashore on 6 June 1944, and during the following days. There will also be a Royal
British Legion Service of Remembrance at Bayeux Cathedral.
The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales all attended commemoration events in France for
the 60th anniversary of the invasion, which was a strategic turning point in the war.
Yrys
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 11
- Points
- 430
Royal D-Day row reveals split over WWII roles, MSNBC
Britain, France and the U.S. have always seen the war rather differently
LONDON - Who won the war?
A diplomatic tiff over Queen Elizabeth II's omission from the guest list for this week's D-Day
commemorations has reopened a divide over who should share credit for the World War II
defeat of Nazi Germany.
Britons are grumbling that the nation does not get its due — either from its wartime ally,
the United States, or from the French whom it helped to liberate.Fatality estimates for the
Allied forces vary, but range from 2,500 to more than 5,000 dead on D-Day.
Agnes Poirier, a London-based French political commentator, said the attempt to recast D-Day
commemorations as a Franco-American affair "is not only the rewriting of history, it's lunacy."
"Many French people are really embarrassed about this," she said.
'And are they grateful?'
Britain, France and the United States have always seen the war rather differently. In The Guardian
newspaper, humorist Simon Hoggart summed up the British view — with tongue only slightly in
cheek — as "the Americans took their own good time to join us (fighting Hitler), but when they did,
between us we rescued the useless French. And are they grateful? Don't be silly."
Some blame Hollywood for distorting popular perceptions of the war. While 1962 D-Day epic "The
Longest Day" had a multinational cast, there are few Brits in Steven Spielberg's 1998 film "Saving
Private Ryan" or the 2001 TV series "Band of Brothers," both of which dramatized the Normandy
campaign from an American point of view.
'Misunderstandings'
As far back as 1945, the Errol Flynn film "Operation Burma" — which recast the liberation of Burma
as an American, rather than British, feat — sparked angry demonstrations in Britain. The movie was
pulled from screens after only a few days.
Caddick-Adams said the Americans have always been better at martial myth-making than the British.
"During the Normandy campaign, there were about 10 American photographers for every British one,"
he said. "So most of the footage of the campaign features American soldiers, rarely British."
Historian Antony Beevor, author of "D-Day: The Battle for Normandy," said the conflicting views began
while the war was still raging. "There have been misunderstandings," he said. "One was that (British
commander) Field Marshal (Bernard) Montgomery's attempts to take so much of the credit exasperated
the Americans. As a result the Americans tended to downplay the British contribution."
Global balance of power
The differing views also reflected a shifting global balance of power. The war all but bankrupted Britain,
hastening the breakup of its empire and its decline as a world force. "The British were very sensitive at
the time," Beevor said. "They knew their power was diminishing very rapidly, while American power was
increasing rapidly." As for who won the war, many historians think it was neither Britain nor the U.S.,
but the Soviet Union, who played the decisive role.
"The British and the Americans only killed one in five Germans that were killed on the battlefield," said
Andrew Roberts, author of the World War II history "The Storm of War." "Four out of every five German
deaths took place on the eastern front. Us arguing among ourselves over the glories of D-Day is squabbling over the scraps."
Britain, France and the U.S. have always seen the war rather differently
LONDON - Who won the war?
A diplomatic tiff over Queen Elizabeth II's omission from the guest list for this week's D-Day
commemorations has reopened a divide over who should share credit for the World War II
defeat of Nazi Germany.
Britons are grumbling that the nation does not get its due — either from its wartime ally,
the United States, or from the French whom it helped to liberate.Fatality estimates for the
Allied forces vary, but range from 2,500 to more than 5,000 dead on D-Day.
Agnes Poirier, a London-based French political commentator, said the attempt to recast D-Day
commemorations as a Franco-American affair "is not only the rewriting of history, it's lunacy."
"Many French people are really embarrassed about this," she said.
'And are they grateful?'
Britain, France and the United States have always seen the war rather differently. In The Guardian
newspaper, humorist Simon Hoggart summed up the British view — with tongue only slightly in
cheek — as "the Americans took their own good time to join us (fighting Hitler), but when they did,
between us we rescued the useless French. And are they grateful? Don't be silly."
Some blame Hollywood for distorting popular perceptions of the war. While 1962 D-Day epic "The
Longest Day" had a multinational cast, there are few Brits in Steven Spielberg's 1998 film "Saving
Private Ryan" or the 2001 TV series "Band of Brothers," both of which dramatized the Normandy
campaign from an American point of view.
'Misunderstandings'
As far back as 1945, the Errol Flynn film "Operation Burma" — which recast the liberation of Burma
as an American, rather than British, feat — sparked angry demonstrations in Britain. The movie was
pulled from screens after only a few days.
Caddick-Adams said the Americans have always been better at martial myth-making than the British.
"During the Normandy campaign, there were about 10 American photographers for every British one,"
he said. "So most of the footage of the campaign features American soldiers, rarely British."
Historian Antony Beevor, author of "D-Day: The Battle for Normandy," said the conflicting views began
while the war was still raging. "There have been misunderstandings," he said. "One was that (British
commander) Field Marshal (Bernard) Montgomery's attempts to take so much of the credit exasperated
the Americans. As a result the Americans tended to downplay the British contribution."
Global balance of power
The differing views also reflected a shifting global balance of power. The war all but bankrupted Britain,
hastening the breakup of its empire and its decline as a world force. "The British were very sensitive at
the time," Beevor said. "They knew their power was diminishing very rapidly, while American power was
increasing rapidly." As for who won the war, many historians think it was neither Britain nor the U.S.,
but the Soviet Union, who played the decisive role.
"The British and the Americans only killed one in five Germans that were killed on the battlefield," said
Andrew Roberts, author of the World War II history "The Storm of War." "Four out of every five German
deaths took place on the eastern front. Us arguing among ourselves over the glories of D-Day is squabbling over the scraps."
- Reaction score
- 3,106
- Points
- 1,160
I guess I'm missing the point. If body counts are a gauge of winning the war, how many Japanese did the Soviets kill? Not the same theatre, but definitely the same war, it all goes to the total score.
Yrys
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 11
- Points
- 430
Old Sweat said:
Who told them recently : "We were there too, you know !" ?
Giving the controversy over the non-onvitation of the Queen,
and the size of their memory, some things have surely slips
theirs minds...
But since Mr. Sarkozy seems to liked GG Jean, I'm sure a phone
call could serve as a tap on the shoulder...
(One of theirs website newspapers seem to talk about everything except D-Day...
http://www.lemonde.fr )
- Reaction score
- 1,477
- Points
- 1,260
Yrys said:
Max Hastings, author of "Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy" pointed out that "the bombers enabled the western Allies to delay agressively, while Russia fought out the huge battles that broke the Wehrmacht, that caused Hitler by June 1944 to deploy 156 divisions in the East against 50 in France and the Low Countries."
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
Do all you historians not remember that Le Grand Charles (de Gaulle) the Cross of Lorraine walked across the English Channel, without wetting his shoes,and walked ashore in Normandy on 6June44, slaying distraught Germans and destroying their beach fortifications with only the fierceness of his gaze!
A little sarcasm, but I think it makes my point.
Cheers,
tango22a
P.S,: Sorry for a bit of a run-on sentence...I think faster than I type.
A little sarcasm, but I think it makes my point.
Cheers,
tango22a
P.S,: Sorry for a bit of a run-on sentence...I think faster than I type.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
The part I always liked (j/k) about de Gaulle was the fact that after les Allies had pulled his nuts away from the Allemands blow-torch he had the balls to come to Canada and say "vive Quebec Libre!" And there's always the screwing he put to NATO/OTAN.
Cheers,
tango22a
Cheers,
tango22a
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 10
I see the cheese-eating surrender monkeys have found yet another way to win friends and influence people. God Save the Queen.
- Reaction score
- 1,477
- Points
- 1,260
The AmericansDaughter said:
I get a laugh from "The Simpsons". But, I don't rely on them for my history lessons. Their same FOX network brought us "Red Eye". Which was described by the Canadian government as "despicable" and "disgusting" for their insulting comments about Canada's military sacrifice.
Those are the same two words I would apply to that quote.
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