Today's the anniversary of D-Day, the date on which Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy. It was a horrifying, awe-inspiring day:
Twitter is, generally speaking, an awful place that deadens the soul and rots the brain. But it does have its bright spots, including the Real Time World War II account, which is "Livetweeting the 2nd World War, as it happens on this date & time in 1944, & for 2 years to come." Needless to say, its effort on D-Day has been pretty impressive:
Robert Edlin is one of US Rangers struggling to fight up Omaha beach; "I thought, well, I've got my Purple Heart": https://t.co/g6OqL6VSlJ
— WW2 Tweets from 1944 (@RealTimeWWII) June 6, 2016
British & Canadian troops facing withering fire on Gold & Juno beaches; German defences missed by naval bombardment. pic.twitter.com/jF03AcAJlG
— WW2 Tweets from 1944 (@RealTimeWWII) June 6, 2016
German fire on Omaha beach wrecking many landing craft, leaving US attackers drowning far from shore. pic.twitter.com/L2ky6DboQc
— WW2 Tweets from 1944 (@RealTimeWWII) June 6, 2016
My God. I can't even imagine the balls on those guys. One thing I learned is that the famous speech from Patton was adapted from remarks given by the general on the days before the invasion:
"We're going to murder those lousy Hun cocksuckers by the bushel-fucking-basket". Read full text of Patton's speech: https://t.co/EfugzTjHAQ
— WW2 Tweets from 1944 (@RealTimeWWII) June 5, 2016
So good. So good:
Also interesting is the German side of things:
Hitler finally awake in Berghof; he's refusing to order counterattack, thinks Normandy landings are diversion from planned attack at Calais.
— WW2 Tweets from 1944 (@RealTimeWWII) June 6, 2016
Erwin Rommel, commander of Axis forces in France, in Germany for his wife's birthday; frantically driving back now. pic.twitter.com/daWRfj2rYj
— WW2 Tweets from 1944 (@RealTimeWWII) June 6, 2016
22nd Panzer regiment ordered to push invaders into sea, told "The fate of Germany depends on success of your attack" pic.twitter.com/n52qJKvnaX
— WW2 Tweets from 1944 (@RealTimeWWII) June 6, 2016
They weren't wrong!
Anyway, like I said, this is a pretty cool way to use an objectively terrible communication medium. Check it out!