D-Day, 6 June 1944!

General Eisenhower with the 101st Airborne.

Landing craft at Omaha beach, D-Day

D-Day was the beginning of the end of Nazi tyranny in Europe, as thousands of allied soldiers, sailors and airmen attacked head on the Normandy beaches of "Fortress Europe".

The infamous "Operation Overlord" was the riskiest, most well co-ordinated and costly operations in the history of modern warfare; D-Day however was ultimately the greatest allied success in Europe, which was the main catalyst toward ultimate victory over Nazi Germany and fascism.

The beaches code-named Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah and Omaha, became the point of assault for the thousands of American, British, Canadian and many other nationalities that made up the allied forces. Thousands of men died before setting foot on French soil, especially on "bloody Omaha".

"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man.

Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory! I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck!

And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander.

Hallelujah, Euro Elections Over!

Is it over yet?

Vótáil Nicholson 1

My Choosiest Choice of all

Jim Allister is a strong minded, articulate and able politician, a good MEP for Northern Ireland. On domestic (Northern Irish) issues he stuck in a "NO"-unionist time warp, which may be a principled stand on his part, but for the stability and security of Northern Ireland his principles lead to a dead end. If it was his European record alone he'd get my number 1.

Jim Nicholson seems unable to articulate his Ulster Unionist/Conservative agenda, perhaps because of certain media distractions; Lady Hermon, party defections, David Cameron and unionist in-fighting. However he does have a good record as an MEP, his party has put more emphasis on European issues and an alliance with the Tories opens up the possibility of putting Northern Ireland at the centre of mainstream UK politics. It’s the wider European and UK issues, not Jim Nicholson’s charismatic personality that gets the UCUNF my first preference.

Diane Dodd’s is clearly out of her depth, without the aid of her handlers Nigel and Peter, Diane clearly cannot cope especially when surrounded by opponents or sat next to Jim Allister. Her attack dog style of debating and her fantasist anti-Sinn Fein rhetoric are off putting, she's third on my list behind Jim Allister as usual. Peter & Iris certainly don't help the DUP cause (whatever that is). Diane Dodd’s gets my number 3 simply because she's a "unionist".

Sinn Fein won't get any votes from me, much to their disappointment I’m sure, but they're a not trying to build an "Ireland of equals" not with their sectarian reactionary anti-Britishness, or while Bairbre de Brún stands up in the European Parliament to rail against "Unionist death squads". Not to mention the shinners have the worst attendance records in Brussels compared to their opponents. Also de Brun seems to lose all knowledge of English when asking even basic questions, nothing wrong with Gaelic, but using it as a cultural weapon is clearly objectionable.

RUC-GC 1922-2001

On 1 June 1922 the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was officially established as the police force of Northern Ireland. The RUC came out of the long history of the Royal Irish Constabulary which was disbanded following partition.

Throughout their history and the troubles in Northern Ireland, RUC personnel paid the ultimate sacrifice, yet despite the terrorist threat and anti-RUC propaganda, members still put their lives and bodies in harm’s way to defend the community as a whole.

"A total of 300 RUC officers have been murdered during the Troubles.The IRA has killed 277, the INLA and IPLO 12 and loyalist terrorists eight. Three were murdered by unknown groups. In addition, four officers were killed by the security forces by mistake and over 9,000 injured during the course of their duties.

Terrorist groups have bombed, shot and beaten RUC officers to death, sometimes killing relatives and other civilians in the process. Levels of stress-related illness have been higher than in any other police force: almost 70 officers have committed suicide, many of them with RUC-issued weapons."

Widows Association

RUC GC Foundation

RUC Benevolent Fund

Why Disband The RUC