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The D-Day Landings – Passage 1 In September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany after Germany invaded Poland. The war, which lasted until 1945, is known as the Second World War. During the war, Germany occupied many countries, including France. He most important battle of the war in Europe was Operation Overlord, the military operation in 1944 to invade France. Operation Overlord started when boats full of soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy in France, known as the D-Day landings. More than 5,000 ships crossed the English Channel, carrying 130,000 troops to the French coast. Troops from the United States, Britain and Canada took part in the D-Day landings. The operation was extremely dangerous and many soldiers were killed before they even got off the boats. American soldiers attempted to land at the most dangerous place, known as Omaha Beach. The situation at Omaha Beach was so bad that the US army commanders thought about abandoning the invasion. Eventually, the soldiers made a breakthrough and the D-Day landings were successful. It was the beginning of the end of the Second World War. Operation Overlord started as a story of danger and confusion and ended as a story of bravery and acts of heroism. The D-Day Landings – Passage 2 The soldiers of Able Company crossed the English Channel in seven boats early on the morning of 6 June 1944. when they were about 5 kilometres from the beach, the Germans started firing artillery shells at them but the boats were too far away. The Germans continued firing and Boat 5 was hit one kilometer from the beach. Six men drowned before help arrived. Twenty men fell into the water and were picked up by other boats. As a result, they missed the fighting on the beach. Six men drowned before help arrived. Twenty men fell into the water and were picked up by other boats. As a result, they missed the fighting on the beach. They were lucky. If they had reached the beach, they would probably have been killed. When Boat 3 was a few metres form the beach, the soldiers jumped out, but the water was so deep that some of them disappeared under the water. Many of the men were either killed or wounded by machine gun fire. The soldiers on Boat 1 and Boat 4 jumped into the water, but it was too deep and most of them drowned. Half an hour after the first attack, two thirds of the company (a company is a group of about 100 soldiers) were dead. The survivors lay on the beach, exhausted and shocked. After an hour and forty-five minutes, six of the survivors tried to climb up the cliff to get off the beach. Four were too exhausted to reach the top. The other two, Private Jake Shefer and Private Thomas Lovejoy, joined a group from another company and fought with them. Two men. Two rifles. This was Able Company’s contribution to D-Day. The D-Day Landings – Passage 3 On 6 June 2004, survivors of the D-Day landings from many different countries returned to France to remember their lost comrades. Many of them went to the cemetery and memorial which overlooks Omaha Beach. The cemetery and memorial are situated on a cliff overlooking the beach and the English Channel, from where the boats attempted their landing. The cemetery contains the graves of 9,386 Americans who died during the landings. The memorial also contains the names of more than 1,500 men who were never found. On the memorial, there is part of a poem called “For the Fallen”, which was written by an English poet, Lawrence Binyon: They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them. The poem was first published in The Times newspaper on 14 September 1914 and can be seen on war memorials in many parts of the world. D日登陆———文章1 1939年9月,英国在德国入侵波兰后向德国宣战。这场持续到1945年的战争就是第二次世界大战。二战中,德国侵占了包括法国在内的许多国家。1944年进军法国的“霸王行动是第二次世界大战中欧洲战场最重要的军事战役。 “霸王行动开始于D日登陆,当日,满载盟军士兵的战船在法国诺曼底海滩登陆。5000多艘战船装载着13万人的军队穿越英吉利海峡抵达法国海岸。 美国、英国和加拿大的军队参加了D日登陆。这次登陆行动异常危险,很多士兵还没来得及下船就牺牲了。美军士兵试图在最危险的奥马哈海滩登陆。奥马哈海滩的形势非常严峻,以至于美军司令官都考虑放弃进攻了。但是,登陆战士最后取得了突破,D日登陆得以告捷。这是二战结束的前奏。 “霸王行动暠以惊险和混乱开始,以英勇和无畏结束。 D日登陆———文章2 1944年6月6日清晨,A连的战士们乘坐七艘战船横渡英吉利海峡。当船只离海滩5000米时,他们遭到了德军炮火的轰击,但由于距离太远而没有被击中。在离海滩1000米时,第五艘船被击中。六人在救援到来之前被淹死。另外20名战士落水后被其他船只上的人救起。结果,他们没赶上海滩上的激战。他们很幸运。要是他们抵达了海滩就很有可能没命了。 当第三艘船离海滩数米远时,战士们跳入海中,但由于海水太深,有的人沉入了海底。许多人被机关枪的火力射死或射伤。 第一和第四艘船上的战士也跳入海里,由于海水太深,大多数人都淹死了。第一次进攻开始之后半小时,该连队三分之二的将士都阵亡了(一个连大约有100名士兵)。死里逃生的战士躺在海滩上,疲惫不堪,心有余悸。 1小时45分钟后,六位幸存的战士试图爬上悬崖,离开海滩。其中四名战士由于筋疲力尽未能攀上顶端。另两位战士二等兵杰克o谢弗和二等兵托马斯o洛夫乔伊加入了另一连队,与他们并肩作战。两名战士。两支来复枪。这就是A连对D日登陆所做出的贡献。 D日登陆———文章3 2004年6月6日,来自不同国家的D日登陆幸存者们回到法国,纪念他们阵亡的战友。他们当中有许多人去了俯瞰奥马哈海滩的公墓和纪念碑。 墓地和纪念碑坐落在一处悬崖之上,从那里可以俯瞰海滩和英吉利海峡,当时一艘艘船只就试图从那里登陆。公墓包括9386位美军阵亡战士的坟墓。纪念碑上还刻有1500多名失踪战士的名字。 纪念碑上刻着英国诗人劳伦斯o比尼恩所作诗歌《致倒下的战士》中的一节:他们永远不会变老,当我们活着的人们都已老朽。 年华不能使他们厌倦,岁月也不会让他们愧疚。日落日出我们缅怀他们直到永久。 这首诗最初刊载于1914年9月14日的《时代》报纸上,在世界许多地方的战争纪念碑上都能见到。 |
