D-Day in Europe

photo: The first view that many soldiers had of France was from the deck of a landing craft like this one. In many cases, incoming fire from German machine guns also made it the last view they had.


Today is the sixty-fifth anniversary of the allied landings in Normandy, France; the largest one-day invasion in history. The invasion force consisted primarily of American, British, and Canadian troops, but also included soldiers from most commonwealth countries and european soldiers who had escaped from their own occupied countries to fight on the side of the allies (sorry if I left anybody out).

A successful allied invasion of Europe was essential to support the previous invasion in the Mediterranian sea by allied forces landing in Italy. Without it, the war with Nazi Germany could have dragged on for years, and the way that the world looks today would have been vastly different. The Americans who took part in World war Two, young service people from every state in America, people who worked in factories building tanks, aircraft, and ships, have been appropriately named "The greatest generation." Without them, and their counterparts in allied countries, it's conceivable that the entire world may be living today under the rule of German fascism.

The landings by sea were conducted across five Normandy beaches; Two for the American forces, codenamed "Utah" and "Omaha", and two for the British forces: "Gold" and "Sword", and one beach, "Juno" for the Canadians. In addition, American and Commonwealth airborne troops landed by parachute and glider.

The logistics and preparations involved in mounting such an operation took years. I remember my mother, who was driver in the British Army at the time, telling me how she and the other female drivers in her unit spent months in the lead up to the invasion hauling naval shells from the factory to the south coast of England.

The surviving veterans are now all in their eighties, or older. They are dying at a rate of about 300,000 each year.

So if you know one, today may be a good time to ask them if they would like to talk a little bit about their experiences sixty-five years ago. Many of them don't want to remember, but at the very least, you might take the time to say thanks. The world war two generation made history and shaped the future.



The U.S. cemetery in Cambridge, England, contains the remains of 3,812 of American war dead from World War II.