I just returned from a successful week in Normandy!
I normally would avoid the 6 June media scrum, but was invited to present my books at the second annual book fair ('Salon du Livre') at Tilly-sur-Seulles. The fair was a great success, both for the organiser Stéphane Jacquet, and for the exhibitors. My good friend Kevin Baverstock captured the event with a spectacular image which you can view at: http://www.kbaverstock.co.uk/salondulivre
Why avoid 6 June? Well, I find it rather annoying that the media turn out in force on 6 June then all go home the next day. For (most of) the soldiers who landed in 1944, 6 June was not the end, but the beginning of a long and bitter campaign. It was to drag on for seven weeks, during which time loss rates equalled the First World War. And only in hindsight do we see that it was 'only' seven weeks. There were serious fears that the campaign might turn into prolonged trench warfare.
I even heard recently a veteran who landed with the 'follow up' formations some time after 6 June expaining that he was at 'the D Day landings'. He was not trying to mislead; the media have simply reduced the whole campaign to the single, sexy brand name.
Maybe my books on the Normandy campaign would sell better if we plastered 'D Day' over the covers. Hmm... maybe not.
The Google Street View Car has nothing on Mr. Baverstock's camera, apparently. Simply amazing. I wondered what the load time was for until I started moving the mouse...
ReplyDeleteQuite agree about about the D-Day soundbite syndrome.
ReplyDeleteI and some friends put on a game in 1994 at Bovington. Not having beach terrain we put on a game portraying part of Operatin Epsom, with 1/300th Churchill tanks and British infantry facing small groups of German PzGr etc. It looked quite nice and was a pretty accurate simulation as wargames go.
Few visitors made it as far as our table and one of the few who did was an elderly lady who asked "Where is the beach?"
A lot of people think this kind of ignorance or partial knowledge is not important. But I disagree. If films and other media like the infamous (in my view) SPR present a view of history that is distorted, such distortions will be perpetuated and become accepted. We can't compete with Hollywood, CNN and all the media, but we have to challenge their sloppy broadbrush approach whenever and wherever we can.