Victory at Normandy cost the lives of thousands

Dear Editor,

The truth is that in all of what we know to be, our civilization, we human beings have always yearned for peace and to make optimal use of the creator’s bounty, all the while having to deal with nature, but even more challenging the consistent missteps and arrogance of all mankind everywhere. I ask you, Editor, to allow some space, as I seek your forbearance to recall an incident on this day [June 6], eight years ago.

As a youngster in Primary School, not yet ten years old, I recall my parents talking about the exploits of the Allied Forces during the late period of that destructive World War II, which my Uncle Joe (Dr. J.E. Fraser) described more as a  European Civil War. The Germans, our great enemy, had already failed in what we know to be the Battle of Stalingrad where the Russians demonstrated unity and resilience and were able to ward off the assault by a powerful German force at Stalingrad. Later the assault was led by General. Dwight D. Eissenhower on the beaches of Normandy turned the tide in favour of the Allied Forces which included Great Britain.

It was in terms of warfare, a magnificent effort. Having said that this victory at Normandy cost the lives of thousands of young men fighting on both sides for what they believed was righteousness. Thousands of civilian lives were lost by both sides as  the British engaged the Germans in a large armoured battle in the flat lands south of Caen.

American and British soldiers and bombers cleared the way with an unrelenting four hour attack. There was so much smoke after the bombardment  that many of the Canadians rubbed their eyes and could not see beyond their gun barrels.  The Allies  had taken hundreds of German soldiers as prisoners. Many had been trapped behind the advancing Allied lines.

As youngsters we received all of this news through the kindness of a Portuguese gentleman who owned the only radio in the area. A large instrument, about three feet in length with glass tubes, the reception was at times barely audible on the  BBC. I recall earlier going around the corner and asking Mr. Davis, the owner of Davis Sash window factory, at the corner of Sussex and Russell Streets for strips of wood. At home, I used the family cutlass and carved out that wood in the shape of a gun and with childish bravado would sit on our front porch, ready to shoot any German or Japanese invader.

But Editor, I recall this experience to ask us all to ponder this paradox – why the human species who call for and seek peace must always use warfare and the sacrifice of innocence when men, women and children have the pathway to an elusive peace and love.

In Guyana, we must keep striving for peace and love without the price our ancestors and foreparents have paid.  Niccolo Machiavelli declared “whoever wants to live in peace must prepare for war.”  It is this apparent  paradox we must seek to overcome in Guyana.

Yours truly,

Hamilton Green

Elder