D + 65: 65th Anniversary of D-Day
On June 6, 1944, the D-Day invasion of Europe took place during World War II as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. Click on the Image below to see the New York Times article.
As dawn broke on June 6th, 1944, the invasion force of 9 battleships, 23 cruisers, 104 destroyers, and 71 large landing craft of various descriptions as well as troop transports, mine sweepers, and merchantmen—in all, nearly 5,000 ships of every type, waited off the coast of Normandy, France. This was by far the largest armada ever assembled. Minefields along the shoreline were detonated by the bombardment that started in the early morning hours. Enemy defensive positions were destroyed. The bombing was compared to that of “the rhythmic beating of a gigantic drum.” More than 100,000 men rushed ashore to begin one of the epic assaults of military history. President Roosevelt called it a “mighty endeavor to preserve … our civilization and to set free a suffering humanity.”
This attack, to put an end to the Nazi regime, had been in the planning stages for more that four years, ever since British forces had been forced to withdraw from France in 1940 in the face of the German onslaught.
12 were honored with the Nation’s highest award, the Medal of Honor. Nine were awarded posthumosly.
The Story in Pictures of the Battle can be seen here.
Visit: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
The D-Day operation of June 6, 1944 brought together the land, air and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest invasion force in human history. The operation, given the codename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France. The beaches were given the codenames UTAH, OMAHA, GOLD, JUNO and SWORD. The invasion force included 7,000 ships and landing craft manned by over 195,000 naval personnel from eight allied countries. Almost 133,000 troops from England, Canada and the United States landed on D-Day. Casualties from the three countries during the landing numbered 10,300. By June 30th, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed on the Normandy shores. Fighting by the brave soldiers, sailors and airmen of the allied forces western front and Russian forces on the eastern front led to the defeat of German Nazi forces. On May 7, 1945, German General Alfred Jodl signed an unconditional surrender at Reims, France.
The following list includes the Army Divisional Units that were part of the assault landing for the Normandy invasion, 6 and 7 June 1944. The complete list of units is here.
1st Infantry Division
29th Infantry Division
4th Infantry Division
82d Airborne Division
90th Infantry Division
101st Airborne Division
The ultimate mission of the Commanding General, ETOUSA, is the total defeat of Germany. The object of Operation OVERLORD is to mount and carry out an operation with forces and equipment established in the United Kingdom and with target date as designated, to secure a lodgement area on the Continent from which further offensive operations can be developed. This will be part of a concerted assault upon German occupied Europe from the United Kingdom, the Mediterranean and Russia.
More links on D-Day:
— The Battle of Normandy
— The D-Day Museum, Portsmoth, England
— The US Center for Military History
— D-Day Fact Sheet
–a href=”http://www.army.mil/d-day/”>D-Day
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