Invasion of Normandy …. 70 years ago today!!

~~June 6, 2014~~ 

The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion and establishment of Western Allied forces in Normandy, during Operation Overlord in 1944 during World War II, the largest amphibious invasion to ever take place.

D-Day, the date of the initial assaults, was Tuesday 6 June 1944 and Allied land forces that saw combat in Normandy on that day came from Canada, the Free French Forces, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the weeks following the invasion, Polish forces also participated, as well as contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and the Netherlands. Most of the above countries also provided air and naval support, as did the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the Royal Norwegian Navy.

The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks and naval bombardments. In the early morning, amphibious landings on five beaches codenamed Juno, Gold,Omaha, Utah, and Sword began and during the evening the remaining elements of the parachute divisions landed. Land forces used on D-Day deployed from bases along the south coast of England, the most important of these being Portsmouth.

Invasion of Normandy
Part of Operation Overlord (World War II)
Into the Jaws of Death by Robert F. Sargent. Assault craft land one of the first waves at Omaha Beach. The U.S. Coast Guardcaption identifies the unit as Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.
Date 6 June 1944 – mid-July 1944 Location Normandy, France Coordinates: 49°20′N 0°34′W Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Allies United Kingdom  United States  Canada  Free French Forces  Poland  Australia[nb 1]  Free Belgian Forces  New Zealand  Netherlands  Norway[1]  Free Czechoslovak Forces  Greece	Axis Germany
Commanders and leaders
Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander)  Arthur Tedder(Deputy Supreme Allied Commander)  Bernard Montgomery (21st Army Group, Ground Forces Commander in Chief)  Trafford Leigh-Mallory (Air Commander in Chief)  Bertram Ramsay(Naval Commander in Chief)  Omar Bradley (U.S. 1st Army)  Miles Dempsey(British 2nd Army)  Canada Major-General R.F.L Keller.(Commander, 3rd Canadian Division (Juno Beach), Canadian Army)  Canada Lt. General H.D.G. Crerar(Commander, First Canadian Army)	Gerd von Rundstedt(Oberbefehlshaber West)  Erwin Rommel(Heeresgruppe B)  Friedrich Dollmann(7 Armeeoberkommando)  Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg (Panzer Group West)
Strength
1,332,000 (by 24 July)	380,000 (by 23 July)
Casualties and losses
24 July: ~120,000 casualties	24 July: 113,059 casualties

~~Planning of the invasion~~

U.S. soldiers march through Weymouth, Dorset en route to board landing ships for the invasion of France.

Allied forces rehearsed their roles for D-Day months before the invasion. On 28 April 1944, in south Devon on the English coast, 638 U.S. soldiers and sailors were killed when German torpedo boats surprised one of these landing exercises, Exercise Tiger.

In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allied forces conducted a deception operation, Operation Fortitude, aimed at misleading the Germans with respect to the date and place of the invasion.

There were several leaks prior to or on D-Day. Through the Cicero affair, the Germans obtained documents containing references to Overlord, but these documents lacked all detail. Double Cross agents, such as the Spaniard Joan Pujol (code named Garbo), played an important role in convincing the German High Command that Normandy was at best a diversionary attack. U.S. Major General Henry Miller, chief supply officer of the US 9th Air Force, during a party at Claridge’s Hotel in London complained to guests of the supply problems he was having but that after the invasion, which he told them would be before 15 June, supply would be easier. After being told, Eisenhower reduced Miller to lieutenant colonel [Associated Press, June 10, 1944] and sent him back to the U.S. where he retired. Another such leak was General Charles de Gaulle‘s radio message after D-Day. He, unlike all the other leaders, stated that this invasion was the real invasion. This had the potential to ruin the Allied deceptions Fortitude North and Fortitude South. For example, Gen. Eisenhower referred to the landings as the initial invasion.

~~FULL READ/SOURCE~~

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Normandy

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/citizensoldier/conflicts/WWIIeto/normandy.cfm

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-Normandy/

~~THANK YOU TO A MONTPELIER VIEW BLOG~~

Post: http://mrmadison.net/2014/06/06/70-years-ago-it-was-d-day/

~~Celebrating Service: 70th Anniversary of Normandy~~

~~Published on May 23, 2014~~

USAA is proud to recognize the 70th Anniversary of Normandy and salute all of the brave men and women who so gallantly served our country.

We ALL are connected through HUMANITY!! 

We ALL are ONE!!