US Troops approaching Omaha Beach, Normandy on D-Day
|
D-Day Facts: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
about D-Day.
What date was D-Day?
The date of D-Day and the WW2 Allied
landings in Normandy was on 6 June 1944.
Where were the D-Day landings?
The location of the D-Day landings was the
coastline of Normandy in northern France
What were the D-Day Beaches?
The D-Day Beaches were the fives sections
of the Normandy coast chosen for the
landings. Their codenames were Omaha Beach,
Utah Beach, Sword Beach, Juno Beach, and
Gold Beach
What were the D-Day casualties?
There were 10,000 Allied casualties
killed, wounded or missing on D-Day.
Casualties at each beach were as follows:
Utah 589, Omaha 3,686, Gold 1,023, Juno
1,242, Sword 1,304. The total German
casualties on D-Day are unknown, but are
estimated as being between 4,000-9,000 men.
Who participated in D-Day
invasion?
The majority of troops who landed on the D-Day beaches were from the
United States, Britain, and Canada however, troops from many other
countries including Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France,
Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Poland also
participated.
How many Allied troops were involved
in D-Day?
It is estimated that 156,000 troops landed in Normandy on D-Day. The
American forces numbered 73,000 including 34,250 on Omaha Beach,
23,250 on Utah Beach and 15,500 airborne troops. The British and
Canadian troops totaled 83,115 (61,715 of them British) including
28,845 on Sword Beach, 24,970 on Gold Beach, 21,400 on Juno Beach
and 7900 airborne troops.
Why was it called D-Day and what
does it stand for?
The term 'D-Day' is one of the most famous
used in WW2, but what does it mean and what did it stand for.
'D-Day' is a piece of military vocabulary used, when secrecy was
essential, to designate the day and hour on which a military
operation or exercise was planned to commence when the exact had not
yet been determined. An example of this was used during WW1 when
Field Order No. 8 from the First Army of the American Expeditionary
Forces (AEF) dated September 7, 1918 read, "...the First Army will
attack at H-Hour on D-Day with the object of forcing the evacuation
of the St. Mihiel salient." The term ' D-Day' is now used almost
exclusively in reference to June 6, 1944 which marked the beginning
of the Allied invasion of France
Use of the D-Day Military Term
The choice of the letter D has no significance other
than that of an unknown date of military significance - it did not
stand for doomsday, designated, decision, disembarkation, or death
day! Its use was to provide a point of reference from which
all other dates could be reckoned. For example, D-Day [minus] 1
would be the day before an operation commenced. D-Day [plus] 1 would
be the second day of the operation. This allowed for a military plan
to be worked out in advance, even though the actual date of D-Day
might remain undecided.
What was Operation Overlord?
Plans for the Allied invasion of France,
D-Day, were made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston
Churchill at a conference in Tehran. The codename for the invasion
was 'Operation Overlord'. FDR appointed a command team led by US
General Dwight D. Eisenhower in December 1943 to plan the air, naval
and land operations. Operation Overlord was top secret and included
the development of Deception campaigns to draw German attention and
strength away from Normandy to other parts of France. Hitler had
fortified the coast of occupied France and the Allies only advantage
was the element of surprise - the Germans did not know where or when
the Allies would land. The German High Command were skeptical of an
attack on the Normandy coast due to lack of harboring.
What was Operation
Fortitude?
The planners of Operation Overlord and D-Day needed to
convince the Germans that Pas-de-Calais, the area of France closest
to Britain, was the target for the Allied invasion of occupied
France. Operation Fortitude was the code name given to the Allied
military deception plan to fool the Germans into believing that the
invasion of Europe on D-Day would occur at Pas-de-Calais, rather
than in Normandy. The Operation Fortitude deception campaign
included placing decoys such as inflated rubber tanks, dummy
aircrafts, dummy landing craft, dummy parachutists and empty tents
along the British coast opposite Calais. The decoys all looked
genuine to the German spy planes who flew over the area and helped
to mislead the enemy on the Allies true intention for D-Day.
D-Day Facts
for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting information, history and
facts on D-Day for kids.
D-Day
Facts for kids
D-Day Facts
- 1: The Germans, under the command of
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, had built defenses right
along the north coast of France and beyond, referred to
as the Atlantic Wall. The Atlantic Wall consisted of
barbed wire, thousands of pillboxes, gun placements and
bunkers. Over six million mines had been buried along
the beaches of the 'Atlantic Wall'.
D-Day Facts
- 2: Operation Overlord needed complex and
comprehensive planning. The location of the Allied
invasion required firm, flat beaches in close proximity
to the warplanes based in England together with easy
access to roads to move the invasion force further
inland after the initial landings. Five beaches in
Normandy met the criteria and the destination of the
D-Day landings was selected.
D-Day Facts
- 3: Over 1.5 million American troops
together with US airplanes, arms and equipment were sent
to England in preparation for the invasion of Normandy
and D-Day.
D-Day Facts
- 4:
The 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast chosen
for the invasion was divided into five sectors codenamed
Utah Beach, Sword Beach, Juno Beach, Gold Beach and
Omaha Beach.
D-Day Facts
- 5: New technology was developed during
WW2 to help troops and vehicles land by sea and used on
D-Day. The British invented the 'Mulberry harbor'
enabling the Allies to land troops, vehicles and
equipment on French soil without having to capture a
port first. New tanks, called "Funnies" were designed to
assist in the invasion of occupied France.
D-Day Facts
- 6: The 'mulberries' were concrete
pre-fabricated makeshift harbors with mile long piers
and landing ramps that were towed across the English
Channel in pieces and put into place on the Normandy
beaches.
D-Day
Facts - 7: The D-D (Duplex Drive) tank, the 'swimming'
Sherman, had a propeller enabling it to travel on the sea as well as
land. The 'Bobbin' carpet layer tank was an AVRE adapted to lay
reinforced matting on soft beach surfaces allowing armored vehicles
to drive across difficult terrain and without sinking on the beach.
D-Day
Facts - 8: The front of the Crab tank was fitted with
revolving steel chains to detonate the German mines and clear the
barbed wire. The terrifying 'Crocodile' tanks had napalm flame
throwers that could shoot fire at the enemy. The 'Kangaroo' APC tank
was used for the rapid transport of infantry increasing the mobility
and providing some protection for the troops.
D-Day
Facts - 9: The planners of Operation Overlord
and D-Day needed to time the Normandy invasion to
coincide with a moonlit night, a low tide and good
weather. The Allied ships had to arrive at low tide in
order to see beach obstacles and the gunners on the
ships attacking the coastline also required a low tide
Moonlight was needed so that the paratroopers dropped
behind enemy lines could see where to land.
D-Day Facts
- 10: There were only a few days in June
when the required conditions for the Normandy invasion
and D-Day would apply: from June 5 - June 7. On
June 5 the weather was bad with strong winds, high waves
and low clouds making the invasion impossible.
Continued...
D-Day
Facts for kids
Facts
about the D-Day Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with interesting information, history and facts
on D-Day for kids.
D-Day
Facts for kids
D-Day Facts
- 11: Weather forecasts for June 6
indicated a brief improvement and, although conditions
were far from perfect, General Eisenhower made the
decision to launch the D-Day invasion
D-Day Facts
- 12: On June 6, 1944 nearly 7000 ships
carried an estimated 156,000 Allied soldiers to the
Normandy beaches on D-Day, the majority of them were
American, British and Canadian.
D-Day Facts
- 13: The D-Day invasion began whilst it
was still dark to hide the ships crossing the English
Channel towards Normandy.
D-Day Facts
- 14: 11,590 Allied aircraft supported the D-Day
landings flying 14,674 sorties of which 127 planes were lost. The
Allied airmen targeted German bunkers, radar sites and bridges.
D-Day Facts
- 15: Huge naval forces consisting of 6,939 vessels
with 195,700 Navy personnel participated in the D-Day assault
including 52,889 US ships, 112,824 British ships, and 4,988 vessels
from other Allied countries bombarded Normandy with thousands of
shells..
D-Day
Facts -
16: The three miles wide Utah Beach was
westernmost of the five landing beaches and vital for
the early capture of the vital port of Cherbourg. The
D-Day landing was made by the US 4th Infantry Division
and an airborne drop by the US 82nd and 101st Airborne
Divisions. 20,000 men were landed Utah Beach with 1,700
military vehicles. Casualties were less than 300 men.
D-Day
Facts - 17: The 5 mile stretch of Sword Beach was the
furthest east of the five beaches targeted for D-Day, located about
9 miles to the north-east of the vital city of Caen. The D-Day
landing was made by units of the British 3rd Division together with
French and British commandos. 29,000 men landed with 630 casualties.
D-Day
Facts - 18: Juno Beach was the second beach from
the east among the five landing areas of the Normandy
Invasion of WW2 and assaulted by units of the Canadian
3rd Infantry Division. The Canadians suffered 1,200
casualties out of 21,400 troops who landed at Juno
Beach.
D-Day
Facts -
19: The 5 mile wide Gold Beach was the
centre beach of the 5 landing areas of the Normandy
Invasion of WW2 and taken by units of the British 50th
Infantry Division on D-Day. The British suffered 400
casualties out of 25,000 troops who landed at Gold
Beach.
D-Day
Facts - 20: The 6 mile wide Omaha Beach, between Utah and
Gold, was the largest of all the beaches and assaulted by the
U.S. 29th and 1st infantry divisions led by Omar Bradley. The
Americans suffered 2,400 casualties out of 34,000 troops who landed
at Omaha Beach on D-Day.
D-Day
Facts - 21: The Normandy landings at Omaha Beach
on D-Day resulted in the greatest number of casualties
during the D-Day offensive. Many the soldiers were
drowned during the approach from ships offshore before
they even reached Omaha Beach.
D-Day
Facts -
22: The Omaha Beach troops were without
armored support as most of the DD (Duplex Drive)
'swimming' tanks had foundered in the heavy swell of the
sea.
D-Day
Facts - 23: The Omaha troops were surrounded by great cliffs
and faced heavy enemy fire from a German fortress on top of the
cliffs at Pointe de Hoc and from German trenches and guns built into
the bluffs.
D-Day
Facts - 24: Many of the Omaha troops were mown
down as soon as the doors of the landing crafts opened.
Those who survived had to cross 300 yards littered with
man-made booby traps. The landing crafts were forced
together and the large groups of Americans storming
Omaha Beach made easy targets. Despite the carnage the
Americans took Omaha Beach on D-Day and began to fight
their way inland.
D-Day
Facts -
25: The Allied troops took all five of
the beaches during D-Day. The Allied invasion of
Normandy had been successful.
D-Day
Facts -
26: For the D-Day invasion all Allied
aircraft had black and white stripes painted on the
underside of their wings for easy identification.
Likewise, all military vehicles had a white star in a
white circle painted on them, regardless of nationality.
D-Day
Facts - 27: The French Resistance begin to
sabotage the German response to the Normandy invasion on
D-Day, by blowing up telephone exchanges and railway
lines.
D-Day
Facts - 28: All D-Day troops were given 'clickers' as a means of
identification in the dark, regardless of language. A click
indicated a 'friendly' response - no such response indicated the
enemy.
D-Day
Facts -
29: By 11 June, 1944 (D-Day + 5), 326,547
troops, 54,186 vehicles and 104,428 tons of supplies had
been landed on the Normandy beaches.
D-Day
Facts - 30: The "Battle of Normandy" lasted from
June 6, 1944 – September 1, 1944 and including Operation
Overlord (June 6, 1944 – August 25, 1944) and Operation
Cobra, the breakout from Normandy. Over 425,000 Allied
and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing
in the "Battle of Normandy".
D-Day
Facts - 31: The 1962 movie 'The Longest Day', starring John
Wayne, Robert Ryan and Richard Burton, is based on the 1959 book by
Cornelius Ryan, tells the story of the WW2 Normandy landings on June
6, 1944 - D-Day.
D-Day
Facts - 32: Other notable WW2 movies about the Normandy
Invasion and D-Day include Saving Private Ryan (1998 movie), The
Americanization of Emily (1964 movie), Overlord (1975 movie), The
Big Red One (1980 movie), Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004 movie) and
Red Ball Express (1952 movie)
D-Day
Facts for kids
Facts
about
D-Day for kids
For visitors interested in the important US battles
in WW2 refer to the following articles:
D-Day Facts for kids - President Franklin Roosevelt Video
The article on the
D-Day Facts provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
Franklin Roosevelt video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 32nd American President whose presidency spanned from March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945.
D-Day Facts
●
Interesting Facts about D-Day for kids and schools
●
D-Day Facts for kids
●
D-Day Facts with important dates and key
events
●
Franklin Roosevelt
Presidency from March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945
●
Fast, fun, D-Day Facts for kids
●
Foreign & Domestic
policies of President Franklin Roosevelt
● Franklin Roosevelt Presidency and
D-Day Facts for schools,
homework, kids and children |