June 5, 1944
Operation Overlord is about to begin
It’s early morning in Britain and France on June 5. In 1944, the invasion of Normandy, D-Day, had been postponed from June 5 to June 6. The invasion, which involved thousands of ships, tens of thousands of planes, over a hundred thousand soldiers, and was the single largest and most difficult military operation ever attempted in history, was on hold due to bad weather.
The paratroopers of the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and the British 6th Airborne Division were prepping for their night jump into Normandy ahead of the seaborne landings on the 5 beaches: Utah and Omaha (US), Gold and Sword (British) and Juno (Canadian)
The troops that were going ashore from landing craft were getting last great meals (which they mostly threw up in the rough seas of the English Channel) and making sure their gear was ready.
The 6 divisions to make the initial seaborne landings:
US: 1st Infantry (Big Red One), 4th Infantry (Ivy Division), 29th Infantry (Blue and Gray)
British: 3rd Infantry (Fighting 3rd), 50th Infantry (Northumbrian)
Canadian: 3rd Canadian (The Water Rats)
There were a number of other combat units, naval units, Air Force units that participated, obviously. But these 9 divisions, roughly 150,000 men, made the initial assault on the German fortified Atlantic Wall. In less than 24 hours, the first of them were landing in the darkness of a June morning after jumping from planes under heavy fire by German anti-aircraft weapons.
General Eisenhower talking to troops of the 101st Airborne on June 5, 1944
More to come tomorrow