D-Day: Operation Overlord

“You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.” ~ General Eisenhower’s historic message, in part, which was broadcast to all members of the Allied Expeditionary Force just prior to the invasion.

Allied convoys of ships on the open sea – June 1944. (Regional Council of Basse-Normandie-U.S. National Archives)

‘Operation Overlord’ was the code name for the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, June 6, 1944, beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time. D-Day was the term used for the day of actual landing, which was dependent on final approval. The assault was conducted in two phases: an airborne assault landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France commencing at 6:30 AM.. The invasion required the transport of soldiers and material from the United Kingdom by troop-laden aircraft and ships, the assault landings, air support, naval interdiction of the English Channel and naval fire-support. The landings took place along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. ‘Operation Overload’ was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with over 160,000 troops landing on June 6, 1944. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved. Fighting was fierce and allied casualties were high, with an estimated 10,000 allied troops killed, wounded, missing, or captured on the first day of the landings. But by the end of the day, beach heads were established and allied troops were slowly fighting their way inland off the beaches. It was the beginning of the end of WWII and the Third Reich.

Aerial view of part of the Allied force off the coast of France, on D-Day, 1944. (U.S. Air Force)

American soldiers wade from Coast Guard landing barge toward the beach at Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. (U.S. National Archives)

Personnel of Royal Canadian Navy Beach Commando ‘W’ landing on Mike Beach, Juno sector of the Normandy beachhead. 6 June 1944.

Survivors of a sunken troop transport wade ashore on Omaha Beach

U.S. soldiers approach Omaha Beach, their weapons wrapped in plastic to keep them dry, June 1944. (Regional Council of Basse-Normandie-U.S. National Archives)

U.S. troops disembark from a landing vehicle on Utah Beach on the coast of Normandy, France in June of 1944. (Regional Council of Basse-Normandie-U.S. National Archives)