Thursday, June 6, 2013

Operation Overlord


"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you...

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."


General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Supreme Allied Commander
June 2, 1944

(full speech can be found here)



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On this day in 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the go-ahead for the largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, the Allied invasion of northern France. By daybreak, 18,000 British and American parachutists were already on the ground. At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches. At Omaha, the U.S. First Division battled high seas, mist, mines, burning vehicles—and German coastal batteries, including an elite infantry division, which spewed heavy fire. Many wounded Americans ultimately drowned in the high tide. British divisions, which landed at Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches, and Canadian troops also met with heavy German fire, but by the end of the day they were able to push inland. Despite the German resistance, Allied casualties overall were relatively light. The United States and Britain each lost about 1,000 men, and Canada 355. Before the day was over, 155,000 Allied troops would be in Normandy.  Though it did not go off exactly as planned, as later claimed by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery--for example, the Allies were able to land only fractions of the supplies and vehicles they had intended in France--D-Day was a decided success. By the end of June, the Allies had 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles in Normandy and were poised to continue their march across Europe.



(from History.com)


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My grandfather was assigned to a hospital unit near Sherborne, England, during World War II.  We were able to visit the site of his unit when we traveled to England last year.  Not much is left--mostly just the concrete pads that the Quonset huts stood on.  It was never meant to be a permanent installation.  But even though there was very little left, I'm glad we went to see it.  Papa has talked with me numerous times about his experiences in England--some funny, some sad, some touching, all fascinating.  At the age of 91, he often can't remember the score of yesterday's Cubs game, but he can tell you the name of his co-driver that time when they had to drive the colonel to London to visit his girlfriend.


Papa with his jeep in England--probably in late 1943 or early 1944


He told me that the night before D-Day, you just about couldn't throw a rock up into the air without hitting a plane.  Papa spent most of his time immediately after D-Day ferrying wounded soldiers from the port at Southampton up to the hospital.  These would have been the men injured in the fighting on the beaches and inland as the Allied forces drove the Germans back.  Interestingly, one of my coworkers in Virginia, who is about my dad's age, told me that his dad and one of his uncles both participated in the D-Day assault--and both survived.  His uncle jumped into Normandy with the Rangers the night before the landings, and his dad landed on Utah Beach with the 4th Infantry Division on June 6th.  His uncle was wounded, and was sent back to England for treatment.  When I told my coworker about Papa's assignment, he said that he's almost 100% sure that his uncle went through the hospital at Sherborne.  It's entirely possible that Papa drove him there!



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