We know that we're coming up on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion that the world has ever seen as 156,000 troops landed in Normandy. At this point the German's were convinced that the main axis of attack was coming to Calasis thanks to the efforts of Operation Fottitude which included a fake tank army under Patton and deceptive Radio signals.
The Allied invasion fleet was comprised of 6943 ships from 8 navies. This floatilla was comprised of 1213 warships, 4126 landing craft and various supply ships and tenders. The Invasion force was supported by 2200 American, British and Canadian Bombers.
June 04, 1944
The first wave of the invasion began to load onto their ships and assault vessels. However the weather was a major concern. Originally the assault date was to be June 5th. But it was decided that the best conditions would be to have clear skies and a full moon for high visibility for aircraft and troops, They also wanted a high tide for the invasion forces. However poor weather conditions caused a postponement until June 6th. If they couldn't have gone on June 6th then the next D-Day window would be on June 18th.
Late in the evening of June 4th, Eisenhower postponed the invasion by 24 hours due to unsuitable landing conditions and moved the invasion to June 6th.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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Late in the evening of June 4th, Eisenhower postponed the invasion by 24 hours due to unsuitable landing conditions and moved the invasion to June 6th.
Seeing the Canadian contribution to WW1 and WW2, especially compared to how small the nation was at the time, both makes me incredibly proud as a Canadian, and also sad to see how far we've fallen.
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Was a day of waiting. Eisenhower was still obsessed with the weather, Under the original plan the landings should have been happening already, but due to terrible weather and tides the invasion was pushed to the 6th.
The Meteorology department was meeting hourly at this point,
Erwin Rommel deciding that the invasion wasn't going to happen returned to German to celebrate his wife's birthday
In England Junior Officers received and opened their sealed orders and began their briefings.
Troop Convoys were leaving the Southern Ports of England. And the Airborne elements of the invasion were making final preperations
Eisenhower wrote and sealed his infamous D-Day has failed letter
Quote:
“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops,” it began.
“My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air, and the navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone,”
At 7PM Task force command sent a message to US ships departing
Quote:
“put the Navy ball over for a touchdown.”
At 10:30 the Boatswain aboard the USS Quincy piped in "All men man your battlestations
Across all troops Chaplains were offering final prayers and comfort.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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CBC interviewed the guy who did this one, it sounds very cool. Interactive map (still in the works) that will help trace the progress of each Canadian unit involved in the landings.
Everyone should read Fields of Fire by Terry Copp. Canadians had such a tremendously outsized role in the Normandy Campaign, and paid such a high price for it.
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Solid show on History this week called 14 stories from DDay. I think it airs again tonight. The story of the Father in the French resistance was amazing.
What a historic day that far too many of us take for granted.
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Everyone should learn about the excellent soldiers who fought as part of 3rd Canadian Infantry Divison, and later the untested, but hard-fighting 2nd Canadian Infantry Division.
Absolutely hard to believe that such a small country that was relatively novice with respect to warfighting actually fought to breach the Atlantic Wall, and took such central parts in important battles that lead to the closing of the Falaise Pocket - one of the greatest defeats in the history of the German Army.
We were there, fighting the old warriors of Europe with determination, grit, and innovation.
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Be mindful of your pocket change in the coming weeks/months. The Canadian Mint put a special edition D-Day toonie into circulation. The is a plain and coloured version. Great job by the mint, no surprise there.
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Solid show on History this week called 14 stories from DDay. I think it airs again tonight. The story of the Father in the French resistance was amazing.
What a historic day that far too many of us take for granted.
Ok I debated about how to do this, do I do a timeline? Or do I link to a time line. I think I want to combine both. So I'm linking to this really good time line of June 6,1944. But I'm going to post some things that I think are significant highlights
02.40 Field Marshal von Rundstedt commands the German army in France. He is hearing reports from Normandy of fighting but still believes an invasion is aimed at Pas-de-Calais. The 21st Panzer Division could be mobilised but Hitler is aleep at Berchtesgaden and cannot be woken to give the order.
04.40 Von Rundstedt orders the 12th SS Panzer Division and Panzer-Lehr to move immediately to Calvados. Gen Jodl, at OKW, the Armed Forces High Command, cancels the order at 06.30 and decides to wait for Hitler to wake up.
05.30 Shortly after sunrise, Allied naval forces begin bombardment of the beaches; seven battleships, 23 cruisers and 103 destroyers pound the shoreline. HMS Belfast is among those bombarding Juno beach. USS Tuscaloosa bombards the 30 batteries around Utah beach.
06.00 The BBC broadcasts a message from Gen Eisenhower to the people of Normandy: The lives of many of you depend on the speed with which you obey. Leave your towns at once – stay off the roads – go on foot and take nothing with you that is difficult to carry. Do not gather in groups which may be mistaken for enemy troops.
07.40 After hours without a decision, and with Hitler still sleeping, Gen Edgar Feuchtinger unilaterally orders his 21st Panzer Division to move on the eastern beaches.
07.55 The first Canadian assault wave at Juno finds beach obstacles partly submerged by the tide. Engineers cannot clear paths to the beach; landing craft hit mines and almost a third are destroyed or damaged. Heavy casualties are sustained in the first hour on Juno. 21,400 men will be landed, with 1,200 casualties.
08.40 Hitler is still asleep at Berchtesgaden.
09.05Hitler is finally awake at the Berghof, Berchtesgaden. He regards the news from Normandy as excellent, still thinking - thanks to Operation Fortitude's chain of deceptions - that the morning's events are a cover for the real invasion at Pas-de-Calais.
Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of SHAEF, broadcasts to Europe and says "the hour of your liberation is approaching": People of Western Europe: a landing was made this morning on the coast of France by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This landing is part of the concerted United Nations plan for the liberation of Europe, made in conjunction with our great Russian allies. I have this message for all of you. Although the initial assault may not have been made in your own country, the hour of your liberation is approaching. All patriots, men and women, young and old, have a part to play in the achievement of final victory. To members of resistance movements, I say, 'Follow the instructions you have received.' To patriots who are not members of organized resistance groups, I say, 'Continue your passive resistance, but do not needlessly endanger your lives until I give you the signal to rise and strike the enemy. The day will come when I shall need your united strength.' Until that day, I call on you for the hard task of discipline and restraint.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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10.10 Where's Rommel? Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is absent from his HQ at La Roche-Guyon, north-west of Paris. He has returned home to Herrlingen in south-west Germany for his wife Lucie’s 50th birthday. He is shortly to realise this was a mistake.
10.33 Maj Gen Keller, leading the Canadians at Juno, messages SHAEF: "Beach-head gained. Well on our way to our immediate objectives"
12.00 John Snagge reads a special midday bulletin on the BBC's Home Service: D-Day has come. Early this morning the Allies began the assault on the north-western face of Hitler's European fortress. The first official news came just after half past nine when Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force... issued Communique No 1 [see 09.30] ... It was announced a little later that General Montgomery is in command of the Army Group carrying out the assault. This Army Group includes British, Canadian and United States forces. The Allied Commander-in-Chief General Eisenhower has issued an Order of the Day addressed to each individual of the Allied Expeditionary Force. In it he said: '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. 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 Blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.'... His Majesty the King will broadcast to his people at home and overseas at nine o'clock tonight.
12.55 Update from Juno beach: Canadian and British Commando forces have advanced through St Aubin and Courseulles, before pushing four miles inland, but they are meeting frequent pockets of resistance.
13.45 Progress at Omaha is thanks in no small part to the fighting spirit of the 29th Infantry Division, led by Maj Gen Norman "Dutch" Cota, one of the highest ranking officers on the beaches. He had taken a pessimistic view of the landings, realising the perils that awaited. But now his indomitable spirit shines through.
Meeting the commander of the 5th Ranger Battalion, Cota asks "What outfit is this?" A voice shouts "5th Rangers!" To which Cota answers: "Well, God damn it then, Rangers, lead the way!"
14.10 Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis of the Green Howards is having a remarkable day. After landing at Gold beach, he investigates two German pillboxes with his company commander. He takes all but five of the occupants of the first pillbox prisoner and then captures 26 prisoners from the second. Then he clears a neighbouring trench.
Later he leads an attack on an enemy position containing a field gun and Spandau machine guns; then after withdrawing returns to fetch two men left behind.
He will be the only winner of a Victoria Cross on D-Day.
15.40 General Gunther Blumentritt, Von Rundstedt's chief of staff, calls Lt General Speidel at Rommel’s HQ to announce that Hitler has finally agreed to send in the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, based south of Rouen, and the Panzer Lehr based near Chartres.
16.50Charles de Gaulle, in London, has recorded an address to the French people to be broadcast this evening. There have been tensions with Churchill and Eisenhower who kept the details of D Day from the Free French leader, but in the end his speech is not vetted.
18.10 Canadian 9th Brigade reaches Bény.
21.00 King George VI addresses Britain, the Empire and North America on the BBC: Once more, a supreme test has to be faced. This time, the challenge is not to fight to survive but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause. Once again, what is demanded from us all is something more than courage, more than endurance. We need a revival of spirit – a new, unconquerable resolve.
22.00 General Montgomery boards the destroyer HMS Faulknor at Portsmouth for the beaches, where he will take command of Allied troops.
23.59 By the end of D-Day, 159,000 Allied troops, marines, airmen and naval personnel ashore have successfully established four sizeable beachheads. The invasion front remains vulnerable to German counter-attack, and there will be terrible fighting ahead, but a crucial step has been taken towards liberating Europe.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Also wanted to add because this is a good day to think about it.
Successive Canadian Governments have utterly failed the Veterans in this country with an estimated 3 to 5000 homeless veterans across the country, and many more that are battling various mental and physical issues caused by their service to the nation.
I wanted to post some things here so if you want to help its completely welcome
D-Day timeline
The lives of many of you depend on the speed with which you obey. Leave your towns at once – stay off the roads – go on foot and take nothing with you that is difficult to carry. Do not gather in groups which may be mistaken for enemy troops.
