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| Airborne Staff |
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Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2007 3:40 pm
Posts: 162
Location: Canada
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On this most important day I thought I'd put up the essential facts about this day in history as well as to say "Thank-you" to all the fallen soldiers and survivors for granting us our freedom through their courage and selflessness. May we never forget the sacrifice of those soldiers!
Quote: D-Day is the name given to the landing of 160,000 Allied troops in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. The success of the invasion of Normandy was really the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. The invasion, also called “Operation Overlord,” involved five separate landings by American, British, and Canadian troops and was commanded by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Stiff German resistance resulted in nearly 10,000 Allied casualties, but the Germans were ultimately unable to repel the Allied forces. Although German resistance continued even after all five beachheads were taken, they had too few troops in the area to be effective. By August 1944, all of Northern France was under Allied control as Eisenhower began to prepare for the invasion of Germany.
Essential Facts
1. Many scholars have tried to explain the term “D-Day,” suggesting it stood for “decision day” or “disembarkation day,” but most likely it comes from the army’s use of the term to mean an “undefined day,” or the first day of any operation.
2. D-Day was originally scheduled for June 5, but the weather did not cooperate. The operation was pushed back to June 6, 1944.
3. The D-Day invasion involved 5,000 ships carrying men and vehicles across the English Channel as well as 800 planes dropping over 13,000 men in parachutes. A further 300 planes dropped bombs on German troops defending the beaches. Over 100,000 Allied troops made it to shore that day.
4. The most difficult landing of D-Day was at Omaha beach. Navigation problems resulted in many men drowning before they reached land. Omaha Beach also had the largest amount of German troops, and the fighting was fierce. It is the Omaha Beach battle that is reenacted in the opening of the movie Saving Private Ryan.
5. The success of D-Day was a death knell for the Germans. Hitler was forced to fight a two-front war against the Russians on the East and the Americans, British, Canadians, and French on the West. Within a year, Hitler committed suicide, and the war was over.
Here is a visual (with description) of the D-Day landings taken from the BBC News site: Shortly after midnight, three airborne divisions - the US 82nd and 101st and the British 6th, numbering over 23,000 men - take off to secure the flanks of the beaches. En route are myriad naval vessels and landing craft. On their way to France they rendezvous in the Channel at 'Piccadilly Circus'. Thoughout the night positions on the invasion beaches are bombed, although many miss their target. From 06:30, the first five assault divisions are delivered to their beaches under cover of a fierce naval bombardment of the German shore defences. The British and Canadians land at beaches codenamed Gold, Juno and Sword, and the Americans at Omaha and Utah. A wide range of innovative methods are used to overcome the dense beach defences put in place by the Germans. Throughout the day, over 75,000 British and Canadian troops and 57,000 US troops are landed on the beaches, from nearly 7,000 ships and landing craft. By midnight the Allies have secured their beachheads and pushed further inland from Gold, Juno, Sword and Utah. Stiff resistance at Omaha slows up the advance though by midnight US forces have secured several key locations.
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