How D-Day was reported by Post

“Goes the day well?” 

This has been the unspoken thought of every man and woman in these great islands as they have watched the slow unfolding of the Great Assault.

The days and years of waiting, of effort and endurance needed great patience to sustain, and in the last few months extra reserves of patience had to be called upon.

If in the final days there was some tension it was well concealed and the great news, when it came, caused therefore only a momentary quickening of the pulse and an uplifting of spirit akin to that experienced on the 3 September 1939, again at Dunkirk and again during the Battle of Britain.

Confidence in the outcome of this great venture has been confirmed by the initial successes and the accumulating evidence that first-class staff work, well laid plans and extensive preparation, with minute attention to detail, have presided over every aspect of it.

The struggle is fairly joined and the outcome rests now upon the rightness of the Good Cause, the skill of our commanders and the gallantry of our men. Having learned over the past four-and-a-half years not to be too downcast by defeats, we shall not be too elated when the battle goes well, nor too disturbed if the enemy gains some passing advantage. 

The end is sure, the process inexorable.

Lest We Forget

There is one danger. It is that as the liberating forces forces [sic] move on we in these islands may forget the heart gripping moments through which we have passed, when it seemed that the whole world would fall under the dark and hopeless tyranny of Germany, mentally and spiritually debauched by Nazi philosophy and practices.

It will be easy in the hour of victory and natural for us to be magnanimous and to forget the dreadful price that has had to be paid to roll back for the second time this century the dark tides of barbarism.

It will be easy in the hour of victory and natural for us to be magnanimous and to forget the dreadful price that has had to be paid to roll back for the second time this century the dark tides of barbarism.

There will  be eagerness to efface all traces of the devastation that the second German war has brought to Europe and to our land. It is probable that defeat, and its inevitable consequences for German people, will, without drastic measure on the part of the victors, sufficiently avenge the wrongs perpetrated against humanity and satisfy the sound instinct of justice that reigns in the human breast.

Even so, we must beware lest we easily forget the deadly perils through which we have passed. Let no one think that the events of the next few months will spell the end of the German dream. All the resolution and determination of the free peoples will be necessary if our dead are not to have died in vain.

Then, too, we must never forget, even through Europe and its liberation holds our attention, that other enemy who profited so greatly in the Pacific from our months of extremity in the west. The account with Japan is a long account – almost as long as that with Germany. The day of reckoning will come.

New Resolves

During these days, weeks, and months of decision in Europe, the summons to every individual is the same as it was in 1940. We each have our work to do, tired though some of us may be; the streets will have to be guarded, the bereaved comforted and the anxious sustained.

We are nobly led: His Majesty the King sets us a high example of faith; the Prime Minister as Captain General directs, inspires and strengthens on every hand; men of proved resolution and courage, tested and tried in the fires of adversity, lead our Forces. The armies of freedom are sallying from their citadels to liberate the captives.

Such a great moment in history is a time for new resolves to live worthily of the sacrifice that so many of the finest of our men and women are making.

As reported by Insurance Post & Insurance Monitor on Saturday 17th June 1944