CNN
—
June 6, 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the first day of the Normandy landings that laid the foundation for the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
The invasion – dubbed Operation Overlord – saw tens of thousands of troops from countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada land on five stretches of the Normandy, France coastline – named Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Gold, Juno and Sword.
Planning for D-Day began more than a year in advance, and the Allies conducted extensive military deception to confuse the Germans as to when and where the invasion would take place.
The operation was originally scheduled to begin on June 5, 1944, when a full moon and low tides were expected to coincide with good weather, but storms forced a 24-hour delay. Allied divisions began landing on the five beaches at 6:30 a.m. on June 6.
What does D-Day mean?
The term “D-Day” was a military code for the start of a major operation, with the first “D” being an abbreviation for “Day”. This means that D-Day actually means “Day-Day”.
According to the Royal British Legion, the phrase “D-Day” was used quite often before the Allied invasion in June 1944. After that, however, the two became synonymous, and now it is generally understood that D-Day refers to the beginning of the war. Operation Overlord.
D-Day saw unprecedented cooperation between international armed forces, with more than 2 million troops in the UK preparing for the invasion, according to the Imperial War Museums (IWM).
Most of these troops were American, British and Canadian, reports the IWM, but troops also came from Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, from Norway, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Poland to participate in the operation. Operation Overlord.
The invasion of Allied troops was coordinated by air, land and sea, in what can be described as amphibious landings.
These were preceded by an extensive bombing campaign aimed at damaging German defenses, as well as the use of deception tactics.
Operation Bodyguard was an umbrella term for the strategy of deception that led to the Allied invasion of Europe in June 1944. Operation Fortitude was a tactic under this umbrella specifically related to the invasion of Normandy and was intended to make Nazi Germany believe that the initial Normandy attacks were just a diversion and the real invasion would take place elsewhere.
According to the IWM, Fortitude North was intended to make the Germans believe that the Allies would attack Norway, and Fortitude South was designed to convince the Germans that the Allies were going to invade Pas de Calais, a French department in the northeast of Norway. Normandy which is closer. UK.
American troops were assigned to Utah Beach, at the foot of the Cotentin Peninsula, and Omaha Beach, at the northern end of the Normandy coast. The British then landed at Gold Beach, followed by the Canadians at Juno and finally the British at Sword, the easternmost point of the invasion.
By midnight, the troops had secured their beachheads and moved further inland from Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
However, not all landings were successful; American forces suffered significant losses at Omaha Beach, where strong currents forced many landing craft away from their planned positions, delaying and hampering the invasion strategy.
Heavy fire from German positions on the steep cliffs, which had not been effectively destroyed by Allied bombing before the invasion, also caused casualties.
According to the IWM, Germany’s response to Operation Overlord was “slow and confused.”
On June 6, weather conditions were still poor, many senior commanders were not at their posts, and Operation Fortitude convinced Adolf Hitler that the invasion of Normandy was only a feint before a larger attack in Pas de Calais.
The German Air Force was in action elsewhere, thwarting American bombing raids on Germany. Its warships were docked in ports or already destroyed by the Allies. This left only the German army to defend against Operation Overlord, according to the IWM.
Additionally, the success of Operation Fortitude meant that many army units were kept away from the Norman battlefield until July, as an attack in Pas de Calais was still expected.
German troops responsible for coastal defenses “did everything that could be expected of them”, says the IWM, before finally being “silenced” and allied units advanced inland.
On D-Day alone, approximately 4,440 Allied troops were confirmed dead, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), and more than 5,800 troops were injured or missing.
Because Omaha Beach was the bloodiest landing beach, the U.S. Army lost the most men during the amphibious landings. Some 2,500 U.S. troops died during the beach assault and D-Day airborne operations, according to the CWGC.
The precise number of German casualties that day is unknown, but is estimated at between 4,000 and 9,000.
Of the tens of thousands of troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, 44 were soldiers, sailors and airmen from Bedford, Virginia, United States.
Within minutes of reaching Omaha Beach, 16 of these men were killed and four were wounded. Another Bedford soldier was killed elsewhere on Omaha Beach, and three others were presumed killed in action, bringing the D-Day casualties at Bedford to 20 men.
According to the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, Bedford suffered the highest known per capita loss in the United States.
Although they had secured a stronghold on the French coast on D-Day, Allied forces were in danger of being driven back to sea by German bombardment.
They needed to build up their numbers and equipment in Normandy more quickly than the Germans, allowing for a continued invasion of continental Europe.
The Allies used their air power to slow the German advance toward Normandy by blowing up the region’s bridges, railroads, and roads. This allowed the Allies to take full control of Normandy 77 days later and move towards Paris, which they liberated in August 1944.
The US Department of Defense calls D-Day “a successful beginning of the end of Hitler’s tyrannical regime.” The IWM calls it “the most significant victory of the Western Allies during the Second World War.”
By being able to send forces to Normandy, the Allies were able to begin their advance towards northwest Europe. Although World War II lasted almost a year in Europe, the success of Operation Overlord led to the liberation of France and allowed the Allies to fight the Germans in Nazi-occupied Europe.
According to the US National World War II Museum, a good way to appreciate the significance of D-Day is to imagine what would have happened if the operation had failed. According to the museum, another landing would not have been possible for at least a year.
By this time, Hitler could have strengthened the coastal defenses of Nazi-occupied Europe, developed aircraft and weapons, bombed the United Kingdom even more heavily and continued his murderous campaign, the museum claims.
Fighting by the Allies on the Western Front and by Russian soldiers on the Eastern Front ultimately led to the defeat of the German Nazi forces.
On May 7, 1945, the German Third Reich signed its unconditional surrender in Reims, France. Victory in Europe (VE) Day is celebrated the following day because that is when the armistice came into effect.