D Day – The Invasion of Normandy

American Troops Hit Normandy Beach on D Day (Wikipedia)

June 6 marks the 79th anniversary of D-Day – the Allied invasion of Europe in World War II at the beaches of Normandy, France. It is not just hyperbole to say that the Normandy landings, which occurred at dawn, were the “beginning of the end” for Nazism. Just Two months later, Paris would be liberated. And eleven months after the landings Nazi Germany would surrender to the Allies.

Many things went wrong. Paratroopers were dropped in the wrong areas and got separated from their units. Many soldiers were killed before they even got out of their landing crafts, in which they were sitting ducks for German fire. The advance after the initial invasion was slowed down and it took the allies longer than expected to break out of the initial landing areas.

But things progressed from there, with Paris being liberated much earlier than expected. And with the Normandy landings, came the liberation of areas where many Jews still lived and so were saved from extermination in the Holocaust.

There never was such an extensive military operation in the history of the world, nor has there been one since. According to the Eisenhower Library, the invasion force included 7,000 ships and landing craft manned by over 195,000 naval personnel from eight allied countries. Almost 133,000 troops from the United States, the British Commonwealth, and their allies, landed on D-Day. Casualties from these countries during the landing numbered 10,300. By June 30, over 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed on the Normandy shores.

The mere coordination of the invasion was remarkable. And unlike the Russians who fought most of the war within their own country, the Allies needed to devote half of their resources to the War with Japan in the Pacific. And the Americans had to send everything they had halfway around the world to Europe.

Also, the British and American forces were required to conduct five different major amphibious campaigns during the war. In addition to Normandy, they invaded North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and southern France. And their airborne forces carried out multiple assaults as well.

Ceremonies are being held in France to mark the anniversary. One will take place at the American Military Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. The cemetery overlooks Omaha Beach and is where 9,386 American soldiers are buried.

World War II veteran Marie Scott served as a communications operator back in Portsmouth, England, located on the country’s south coast opposite the Normandy landing sites, during the invasion.

She told AP, “I was in the war. I could hear gunfire, machine guns, bombing aircraft, men screaming, shouting, men giving orders.”

“After a few moments of horror,” she added, “I realized what was happening … and I thought, well, you know, there’s no time for horror. You’ve got a job to do. So get on with it. Which is what I did.”

Many called June 6th “the longest day.” There was even a movie by that name from 1962 which starred some of the biggest names in Hollywood at the time like John Wayne, Richard Burton, Sean Connery and many more.

There was also the magnificent Steven Spielberg movie from 1998 “Saving Private Ryan” which depicted, in stunning detail, what it was like for the American soldiers who stormed their section of the Normandy beaches that was dubbed “Omaha Beach.” The Americans there suffered through the hardest and deadliest fighting against the toughest German defense at any of the four different Normandy landing sites. There the Allies were forced to attack – head on – a German bunker situated atop a hill at almost a 90 degree angle from the beach.

The landings at the beaches were supported by thousands of paratroopers who dropped into occupied France the night before behind enemy lines, at great risk to their lives. The 2001 HBO series “Band of Brothers” perfectly depicted what it was like for the American GIs who served as paratroopers. From their initial training in Georgia, through to their landings in France and the combat they engaged in thereafter.

These films did a great job of accurately depicting the real events of the Normandy invasion. But the following books are the best sources of information on the battle: D-Day: The Battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor, The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan and The First Wave, by Alex Kershaw.

The world can never pay its debt to those who fell on D Day – and throughout the war – in order to bring down the most evil regime that ever existed. And Jews owe the fallen a special gratitude. So, on the anniversary of D Day, please remember them.