Okla-homey
6/6/2009, 08:36 AM
June 6, 1944 Operation OVERLORD
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2324/temp0uq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
65 years ago on this day in 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the go-ahead for largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation OVERLORD, aka: "D-Day," the Allied invasion of northern France.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/6906/88199eu0dk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
By daybreak, 18,000 British and American paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground. At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8618/70x233x30lf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
British soldier reads Ike's letter provided to all invading troops after they had embarked for Normandy
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6373/eisenhowerddayorder8nv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The letter he's reading
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.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3047/dday1thumb3qc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
British divisions, which landed at Gold, and Sword beaches, and Canadian troops, landing at Juno beach, also met with heavy German fire, but by the end of the day they were able to push inland.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/596/pp154155rev8qe.th.jpg (http://img147.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pp154155rev8qe.jpg)
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. However, the United States managed to get only half of the 14,000 vehicles and a quarter of the 14,500 tons of supplies they intended on shore.
Three factors were decisive in the success of the Allied invasion.
First, German counterattacks were firm but sparse, enabling the Allies to create a broad beachhead, or advanced position, from which they were able to build up enormous troop strength.
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/1833/dday01klein1bq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Second, Allied air cover, which destroyed bridges over the Seine, forced the Germans to suffer long detours, and naval gunfire proved decisive in protecting the invasion troops.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7953/p47dday1hv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3235/410260vf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
All Allied aircraft taking part were painted with black&white "invasion stripes" so troops on the ground would know at a glance they were "good guys"
And third, division and confusion within the German ranks as to where the invasion would start and how best to defend their position helped the Allies. (Hitler, convinced another invasion was coming the next day east of the Seine River, refused to allow reserves to be pulled from that area.)
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/4715/dsc000098bf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
WWII reenactor portraying one of the world's most dangerous men in 1944. A paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division
While the operation was a decided success, considering the number of troops put ashore and relatively light casualties, improvisation by courageous and quick-witted commanders also played an enormous role.
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/5681/eveningstandard7pi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The D-Day invasion has been the basis for several movies, from The Longest Day (1962), which boasted an all-star cast that included Richard Burton, Sean Connery, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and pop star Fabian, to Saving Private Ryan (1998), which includes some of the most grippingly realistic war scenes ever filmed, captured in the style of the famous Robert Capa still photos of the actual invasion.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/9631/euroafryt9.jpg
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2324/temp0uq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
65 years ago on this day in 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower gives the go-ahead for largest amphibious military operation in history: Operation OVERLORD, aka: "D-Day," the Allied invasion of northern France.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/6906/88199eu0dk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
By daybreak, 18,000 British and American paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground. At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore at Utah and Omaha beaches.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8618/70x233x30lf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
British soldier reads Ike's letter provided to all invading troops after they had embarked for Normandy
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6373/eisenhowerddayorder8nv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The letter he's reading
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.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3047/dday1thumb3qc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
British divisions, which landed at Gold, and Sword beaches, and Canadian troops, landing at Juno beach, also met with heavy German fire, but by the end of the day they were able to push inland.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/596/pp154155rev8qe.th.jpg (http://img147.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pp154155rev8qe.jpg)
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. However, the United States managed to get only half of the 14,000 vehicles and a quarter of the 14,500 tons of supplies they intended on shore.
Three factors were decisive in the success of the Allied invasion.
First, German counterattacks were firm but sparse, enabling the Allies to create a broad beachhead, or advanced position, from which they were able to build up enormous troop strength.
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/1833/dday01klein1bq.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Second, Allied air cover, which destroyed bridges over the Seine, forced the Germans to suffer long detours, and naval gunfire proved decisive in protecting the invasion troops.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/7953/p47dday1hv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3235/410260vf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
All Allied aircraft taking part were painted with black&white "invasion stripes" so troops on the ground would know at a glance they were "good guys"
And third, division and confusion within the German ranks as to where the invasion would start and how best to defend their position helped the Allies. (Hitler, convinced another invasion was coming the next day east of the Seine River, refused to allow reserves to be pulled from that area.)
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/4715/dsc000098bf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
WWII reenactor portraying one of the world's most dangerous men in 1944. A paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division
While the operation was a decided success, considering the number of troops put ashore and relatively light casualties, improvisation by courageous and quick-witted commanders also played an enormous role.
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/5681/eveningstandard7pi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The D-Day invasion has been the basis for several movies, from The Longest Day (1962), which boasted an all-star cast that included Richard Burton, Sean Connery, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and pop star Fabian, to Saving Private Ryan (1998), which includes some of the most grippingly realistic war scenes ever filmed, captured in the style of the famous Robert Capa still photos of the actual invasion.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/9631/euroafryt9.jpg