D-Day…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
67 years ago today, the combined forces started the assault on the Normandy Beaches in what became known world wide as D-Day…


The participants on the allies side are listed in the following Order of Battle, along with their dates of action:


   US First Army

  1. 1. XII Corps
  2. 2. XV Corps

US Third Army

  1. 1. V Corps
  2. 2. VII Corps
  3. 3. VIII Corps
  4. 4. XIX Corps

Armored Divisions

  1. 1. 2nd Armored Division (2 July)
  2. 2. 3rd Armored Division (9 July)
  3. 3. 4th Armored Division (28th July)
  4. 4. 5th Armored Division (2 August)
  5. 5. 6th Armored Division (28th July)
  6. 6. 7th Armored Division (14 August)
  7. 7. 2nd French Armored Division (1 August)

Airborne Divisions

  1. 1. 82nd Airborne Division (6 June)
  2. 2. 101st Airborne Division (6 June)

Infantry Divisions

  1. 1. 1st Infantry Div (6 June)
  2. 2. 2nd Infantry Div (8 June)
  3. 3. 4th Infantry Div (6 June)
  4. 4. 5th Infantry Div (16 July)
  5. 5. 8th Infantry Div (8 July)
  6. 6. 9th Infantry Div (14 June)
  7. 7. 28th Infantry Div (27 July)
  8. 8. 29th Infantry Div(7 June)
  9. 9. 30th Infantry Div (15 June)
  10. 10. 35th Infantry Div (11 July)
  11. 11. 79th Infantry Div (19 June)
  12. 12. 80th Infantry Div 8 Aug)
  13. 13. 83rd Infantry Div (27 June)
  14. 14. 90th Infantry Div (10 June)
Allied Expeditionary Air Forces consisted of the: US Airforce
  1. 1. US Ninth Tatical Airforce
  2. 2. US Eighth Airforce

Royal Air Force

  1. 1. Second Tatical Force
 The British 21st Army Group consisted of: The British Second Army

Armored Divisons

  1. 1. Guards Armored Div (28 June)
  2. 2. 7th Guards Armored Div (8 June)
  3. 3. 11th Armored Div (13 June)
  4. 4. 79th Armored Div (Specialized Armor 6 June)

Airborne Divisions

  1. 1. 6th Airborne Div (6 June)

Infantry Divisions

  1. 1. 3rd Infantry Div (6 June)
  2. 2. 15th Infantry Div (Scottish 14 June)
  3. 3. 43rd Infantry Div (Wessex 24 June)
  4. 4. 49th Infantry Div (West Riding 6 June)
  5. 5. 50th Infantry Div (Northumbrian 6 June)
  6. 6. 51st Infantry Div (Highland 6 June)
  7. 7. 53rd Infantry Div (Welsh 27 June)
  8. 8. 59th Infantry Div (Staffordshire 27 June)

Canadian and Polish Forces attached to the British Army:

  1. 1. 4th Canadian Armored Div
  2. 2. 1st Polish Armored Div
  3. 3. 2nd Canadian Div
  4. 4. 3rd Canadian Infantry Div

This was kicked off by the following speech given by General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!
I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!
Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
And THIS was the result…

June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high -more than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded —


They truly were the greatest generation…

Comments

D-Day… — 17 Comments

  1. The thought of D-Day makes my hair stand up on end a little. The Free World fought to remain free against what looked like overwhelming odds — at first.

    Great sacrifice, courage and fortitude held sway.

    Thanks for posting this.

  2. The thing that makes my hair stand on end is how far we’ve come forward since then…and yet how far we’ve slid in the wrong direction at the same time.

    *Yes, they were and still remain, the greatest generation.

  6. Truly awesome sight.

    So many feats of courage over the course of that war, it’s sad we don’t remember more than D Day and Pearl Harbor.

  7. How different our lives would be if not for the courage of those soldiers. Had they not succeeded, you and I might not be able to write about anything Jim! What a great gift they gave us… freedom, liberty, such heavy words when one thinks of how things could have been if it weren’t for them. Thanks for the post.

  9. Sorry about the deleted – thought I could edit it.

    Anyway, although the entire 29th Inf Div did not land until the 7 June, shouldn’t they be counted as entering the invasion on 6 June?

    Great post BTW, Thanks!

  11. Had an Uncle there that day…never could get him to talk about much of his service time & he always flatly refused to discuss D Day. All he ever would say was, “It tore at every man’s soul that day”.

    I miss Uncle Grady, he was one of the greatest to me.

  12. LL- If you ever get the chance, go to Normandy…

    Scott- Good point.

    DB- 🙂

    WSF- True!

    Fuzzy/Heath- Agreed!

    FF- That they did!

    Mark- You’re right, but I pulled this from a history site, so they must have gotten it wrong.

    Paw- Agreed!

    Snigs- We’re losing them all, way too fast, and many have never talked to ANYONE!

  13. Saw an e-mail recently where Chuck Yeager was commenting on discovering Shifty Powers at an airport, and how humble both were.
    Shifty’s passed since then.

  14. Brave, honorable, courageous men who did what had to be done.
    My Dad was in the Pacific, but two of his brothers were in the ETO. None of them wanted to talk about it much, and I never understood why until some of my buddies came back from Nam and explained it to me.
    God bless them all, for the world we live in would be a far different place if they hadn’t done what needed to be done…..

  15. This was the same generation that lived through the great depression, fought and won WW II in 4 years (took 8 years in Iraq – 10 years and counting in Afghanistan) came home and built the greatest growth period (economic and lifestyle) the World has ever seen.
    They understood that those who were hungry and poor were not only their moral responsibility; but made the country unstable.
    They paid taxes at twice the rate we now pay, understanding that to build the greatest country in the World cost money.
    They understood that communal taxation and communal participation was the only way to create a great society.
    They backed FDR’s Social Security and other social programs knowing those programs served millions of Americans well, and would end decades of hunger and premature death among Americans.
    They supported (and paid for) the extension of those kind of programs in the 1960’s.
    They did not go looking for war. They did not push Democracy on the World (they were isolationists) they would not lose a war, or prosecute war in a timid manner.
    This is what they wanted. This is what they voted for. This is why they paid high taxes.
    They were right. They suffered physically, financially, and personally to acheive their goals.
    Today’s generation wants to disgard the America they fought and died for. The government programs they paid their hard earned cash to pay for, to make life better for all in America.
    We should not only honor them, we should learn from their example. We should be willing to match their sacrifice both militairly, and especially today, financially.
    All I hear today is, we can’t do this, we can’t do that. The Hell we can’t! We are to selfish and lazy, nor do we understand the real meaning of hard the sacrifice is. I for one am willing to pay more taxes, to ensure the kind of America they fought for and left to us. Who are we (current generation – mainly talking about baby boomers) to be the first generation, to leave America worse off, than it was left to us?

  16. I got to visit the beaches twice, the graves once, and I have always laughed at Hollywood trying to portray the ships, landing craft, balloons and MORE ships waiting their turn, and the Noise? Hollywood has no chance of realistically recreating that picture of D-Day that you posted.

    Always good to be reminded.

  17. Ed- I’m surprised, since Yeager does NOT have a small ego… 🙂

    drjim- Concur!

    JBM- EXCELLENT comment, thank you!

    Earl- True, and did your hair stand on end? I know mine did…