D-Day, June 6, 1944

Airborne troops at D-Day

Paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st divisions landed in Normandy in the dark prior to the amphibious assault. There were 13,100 soldiers who jumped that night. The commanders expected casualty rates as high as 80 percent among the paratroopers.

Gliders at Normandy

The first two flights of gliders, totaling 104 aircraft. Landed in support of the paratroopers about two hours behind them. The gliders brought much needed heavy weapons to the paratroopers. These included antitank guns and howitzers.

USS Nevada

BB-36, made a run from her birth in Battleship Row during the Pearl Harbor attack, but was sunk. It was salvaged and served in the Pacific and Atlantic during the remainder of the the war. The Nevada provided fire-support for the D-Day invasion.

D-Day Invasion

Invasion led Dwight D. Eisenhower, started in Normandy, on June 6th 1944, was a success, turning point of World War 2. This marked the beginning of Germany facing a true two-front war as the western Allies (United States, Great Britain, France, Canada, Poland) started pushing into Northern Europe from the west as the Soviet forces were driving into Eastern Europe.

Operation Overlord

the code name for the Allied invasion of Europe at Normandy on June 6, 1944; also known as D-Day

Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword

5 beach heads taken by the allies to form one long front. Omaha was the most difficult to attain but also the most crucial given its location. Utah and Omaha were attacked by American troops, Gold and Sword by British, and Juno by Canadians. Polish and French troops also participated.

Higgins Boat

A landing craft used in World War II to take soldiers and supplies to beaches.

Rupert or Oscar

Depending on which country, the United States or Great Britain, was deploying them, the fake paratroopers dropped to confuse the German troops were called Oscar or Rupert. Oscar by the U. S. and Rupert by the British.

D-Day by the numbers

June 6, 1944 D-Day NORMANDY INVASION involved: 1 million allies and 700,000 Germans; 8.000 artillery pieces; 2,546 ALLIED bombers and 1,731 fighters opposed 820 German Bombers and fighters; 24 warships and 35 merchant ships were sunk; 127 allied planes were shot down; 3,500 gliders were in the air behind towing planes; 100 glider pilots died; D-Day casualties were: 2.700 British; 946 Canadians; 6,603 Americas: Between 4,000 and 9.000 Germans; Plus 12,000 airmen were killed and 200 war planes lost in April and May in preparations for D-Day. By the time the Battle of Normandy ended 425,000 Allies and Germans were killed or wounded. Today in 77 Normandy cemeteries remain 77.866 Germans; 9,386 Americans; 17,769 British; 5,002 Canadians and 650 Poles.

Different landing craft used D-Day

LST were used to deliver tanks, trucks, and other heavy equipment. LSM were used for materiel or personnel. LCI brought infantry. LCVP, Higgins boats, could deliver a platoon sized group of soldiers.

LST

Landing Ship Tank. Many of them were used during the D-Day invasion to deliver heavy equipment to the beaches.

Barrage balloons

Large balloons attached to the ground or a ship by cables to protect areas from low level air attack.

Pointe du Hoc

Rangers had to climb 100 foot cliff while being attacked by Germans to destroy Howitzer cannon battery.

German defenses on Normandy beaches

The Germans had expended tremendous resources constructing the so-called Atlantic Wall. The defenses included concealed and hardened artillery emplacements, metal and concrete obstacles just below and above the tide line to prevent landing ships from approaching the beaches. Both the water and land were protected by mines. Mile upon mile of barbed wire was strewn along the beaches and the nearby land. Reinforced concrete pillboxes held machine guns as well as artillery. And occupying these fortifications were thousands of battle hardened German soldiers. The entire operation was overseen by Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, one of Germany's best military minds. He earned the name the Desert Fox during the battle with the British in North Africa.

U.S.S. Tide

The U.S.S. Tide was a minesweeper that worked to remove mines from the waters around Utah. The Tide continued to work the waters around the invasion beaches to assist fire support ships. She struck a mine on June 7, 1944, and sank within minutes of the survivors being rescued. The ship's commanding officer, Lt. Commander Allard B. Heyward was killed by the explosion.

Allied diversions created to confuse the Germans

The location of the proposed amphibious invasion of France was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the war. The Allies actually created a phony "army" well north in England. They even made a show of announcing that General George Patton was commanding the force and was in charge of the training exercises. Such diversions as this may have been responsible for Hitler's firm belief that the invasion would take place near Calais. Hitler refused to release the Panzer Divisions near Calais to counterattack at Normandy on D-Day because he was convinced the action at Normandy was a diversion. That delay was a major factor in the success of the Normandy invasion.

The Filthy 13

The name given to the First Demolition Section of the Regimental Headquarters Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. They fought throughout the European Campaign starting with the predawn jump into Normandy prior to the D-Day invasion. They were ordered to capture or destroy a series bridges over the Douve River. More than half of the group were killed, wounded, or captured immediately upon reaching the ground. The remaining members completed the mission. The section with some new members were involved in major battles for the remainder of the war. They were known for their lack of respect for typical military organization. They were only interested in the things that contributed directly to their mission. They stayed in trouble with their commanders much of the time.

B-26 Marauder

The twin engine Marauders flew a number of support missions during the invasion of Normandy.

Hobart's Funnies

They included bridge-laying tanks, mortar launching tanks, flame throwing tanks, track laying tanks, and mine destroying tanks, as well as the DD Tank. The DD Tanks were known as swimming tanks because they had propellers and flotation devices attached. They were the Allies secret weapon (tanks that came out of the water) and more than 900 were used in the invasion.