Today marks the 70th anniversary of Operation Overlord, D-Day, where hundreds of thousands of young men (British, American, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian) invaded German occupied Western Europe.
Weather conditions were not favourable on June 5th 1944, so the invasion was postponed until June 6th. Shortly after mid-night gliders and paratroopers landed near target codename Pegasus bridge on the coast of Normandy. Out in the Channel a giant armada of battle ships had arrived, as dawn broke the naval bombardment started. More than 5,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft were deployed.
To the western end of the invasion area, codename Utah beach, 23,000 US troops landed at 0630 in the morning. Codename Omaha beach, 34,000 US troops landed, this beach saw the highest number of casualties. Most of the first wave of men to land on Omaha did not make it off the beach.
25,000 British troops landed on codename Gold beach, and 21,000 men landed on codename Juno beach. Juno had the second highest number of casualties after Omaha. Just north of Pegasus bridge 28,000 British troops landed on codename Sword beach. More than 132,000 men landed on these beaches, a further 23,000 men came in via glider or parachute. For every 6 men that landed on the shore, only 1 would make it to the top of the beach.
The scale and ambition of the largest seaborne invasion in history is might to behold. The planning of the operation was 2 years in the making. A small team of men swam from half a mile out to sea to take core samples of each beach on New Years Eve 1943. This was vital information, the wrong type of sand, mud or clay meant a world of difference to heavy landing craft, tanks, jeeps and mine sweepers.
Robert Capa's famous photo of D-Day
Higher up the channel, off the South East coast a squadron of planes, including the infamous Dambusters, dropped 'window' - small piece of aluminium foil across the land and sea. This was to confuse German radar and make them think that the invasion was taking place further up the coast of France.
This 70th year marks the last year that the D-Day Veterans Association will visit the beaches and cemeteries. Many of the remaining veterans are now well into their 90's. However I'm sure that many veterans will continue to visit each year, even as their numbers diminish.
The 'Ode of Remembrance' was taken from Laurence Binyon's poem 'For The Fallen'. It was published in The Times in September 1914 at the start of World War I:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
I cannot imagine how terrible it must have been for these men to be involved in this campaign, some who were as young as 17. We should all pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live in a free society. It is important that we teach history such as this to our children so that they can learn from it, and never forget the sacrifices that so many people throughout history have made for us. Eve may only be six months old, but she has sat here and watched commemorative documentaries on tv throughout the week with me. Whilst she plays she can hear the hymns of remembrance.
We honour the memory of all those who died during Operation Overlord. German losses during D-Day were approximately 1,000 men. Today we show our respect and remember all those who fought for our freedom and civil liberties, whatever their nationality.
We honour the memory of all those who died during Operation Overlord. German losses during D-Day were approximately 1,000 men. Today we show our respect and remember all those who fought for our freedom and civil liberties, whatever their nationality.
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