D-Day
On this date, June 6, 1944, beginning with bombing shortly after midnight, and then at one thirty in the morning, about 160,000 American, United Kingdom, and Canadian troops hit the beaches at Normandy, composed of five American Divisions, five UK divisions, and one Canadian division, plus various other support troops. And it wasn’t just men, but tanks and trucks and so much more. A huge operation? No, it was gigantic, the result of long term planning that began a year earlier in 1943, and postposed several times by weather.
The Germans knew the allied forces were coming. They just didn’t know when or where. The allies had gone to extreme measures to keep the enemy guessing in the dark.
In southern England, General George Patton created a false army, complete with mock aircraft and tanks and flurries of faux messages meant to be intercepted. You may also have heard of corpses being dressed in allied uniforms, provided with false orders and ‘secret’ documents, then allowed to wash up on beaches where the Germans would find them. The subterfuge worked its magic, but the Germans were not just sitting and waiting. Guessing, yes, but preparing.
They thought the invasion would come at Calais, France only twenty-seven miles from the English port of Dover. But, still, they provided significant forces and preparations all along the coast, including Normandy. And if the Germans were fooled about the where, they were not so foolish as to think there were not other possibilities besides Calais. They spent months preparing over 2400 miles of defenses. To give you a comparison, our border with Mexico is 1,933 miles.
During the D-Day landings, the allies suffered at least 10,000 casualties, with over 4,000 dead. Our dead lay scattered on the beaches. And the Germans also paid a steep price, with casualty estimates ranging from 4,000 to 9,000.
Nor was victory on the beaches a certainty. Over 6,900 vessels delivered and protected allied troops in the landing, with over 4,000 being landing ships and landing craft. Even so, the landing stood a good chance of being turned back, defeated. After all, the Normandy area was notorious for vicious, unpredictable tides and weather. And the weather did its worst, causing troops to land far from planned locations. Of 29 amphibious tanks, only two made it to shore.
But to my mind, statistics are only numbers on paper, disregarding the real terror and frightfulness of war.
Here are some quotes from those on the beach.
“They’re murdering us here. Lets get inland and get murdered.
--- Colonel Charles D. Canham, 116th Infantry Regiment Commander on Omaha beach
“You get your ass on the beach. I’ll be there waiting for you and I’ll tell you what to do. There ain’t anything in this plan that is going to go right.”
---Colonel Paul R. Goode, in a pre-attack briefing to the 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division.
“I took chances on D-Day that I would never have taken later in the war.”
---First Sergeant C. Carwood Lipton, 506th Parachute Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
And from one of our United Kingdom brothers in arms: David Teacher, 71 Royal Air Force Beach Unit.
“Jerry (Germans) started to shell the beach at about 9am. Suddenly, all hell broke loose.
The beach was under fire from shells, mortars, and machine guns; we dived for cover.
The sea was covered with blood and vomit and flies began to arrive by the thousands, which created another nightmare.
We continued all night and into the following day without a break. Slowly, slowly we overcame all the nightmares…there was no lack of humor.
A soldier coming ashore asked, “Is this a private beach? I was promised a private beach. If not, I’m not staying.” And we heard, “My mother told me not to travel by air. She thought it was much safer by sea.”
An Army officer coming ashore and instead of getting his men off the beach quickly, he stopped to consult his map.
“Sir, you’ve got to get off the beach now!”
“And WHO are you?” he asked.
“Sorry, no time for introductions!”
Perhaps you don’t realize that less than 4% of World War II veterans are still alive. The history of our wars and the sacrifices suffered by our men and women, on the battlefield and at home is slowly drifting into the dusty past and soon will be only slightly remembered by the younger generation and coming generations.
It is so important to keep history alive, not as a series of facts to be learned in school, but to remember the importance of days and nights and sacrifices, not just on D-Day, but on other days and other wars.
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