D-Day facts for kids
Quick facts for kids D-Day |
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| Part of Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy and the Western Front of World War II | |||||||||
 Men of the 16th Infantry Regiment, US 1st Infantry Division wading ashore on Omaha Beach on the morning of 6 June 1944 |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
Allies
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 Germany |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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| Units involved | |||||||||
Omaha Beach:
Utah Beach:
Gold Beach
Juno Beach
Sword Beach
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South of Caen
Omaha
Utah Beach
Gold, Juno, and Sword
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 156,000 soldiers 195,700 naval personnel |
50,350+ 170 coastal artillery guns. Includes guns from 100mm to 210mm, as well as 320mm rocket launchers. |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 10,000+ casualties; 4,414 confirmed dead 185 M4 Sherman tanks |
1,000 casualties | ||||||||
D-Day, also known as the Normandy landings was the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II.
Codenamed Operation Neptune it was the largest seaborne invasion in history.
The D-Day landings were the largest seaborne invasion in history, with nearly 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers participating. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on D-Day.
The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later western Europe) and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.
Contents
Planning
Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings.
Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion.
Weather forecast
The weather on D-Day was far from ideal, and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable.
The primary ground-force participants in the landings that began Operation Neptune were nine divisions drawn from the American, British and Canadian armies. During subsequent weeks more units were landed as reinforcements.
The Invasion Fleet was drawn from eight different navies, comprising 6,939 vessels (1,213 warships, 4,126 transport vessels (Landing ships and landing craft) and 1,600 support vessels which included a number of merchant vessels).
Bombardment
The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight.
Just prior to the invasion, General Eisenhower transmitted a now-historic message to all members of the Allied Expeditionary Force. It read, in part, "You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months." In his pocket was an unused statement to be read in case the invasion failed.
The landings
Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06:30.
The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha.
The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous.
Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs.
At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialised tanks.
The Allies failed to achieve any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until 12 June; however, the operation gained a foothold that the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months.
Weapons
The Allied forces utilized a variety of weapons and tanks during the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. Here are some of the key ones:
Infantry Weapons
- M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle
- M1 Carbine
- Thompson submachine gun
- Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)
- Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk I bolt-action rifle (British)
- Sten submachine gun (British)
- Pistols like the M1911A1, Webley revolver, etc.
Artillery and Anti-Tank Weapons
- 57mm anti-tank gun
- 2-inch mortar
- PIAT (Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank) anti-tank weapon (British)
- M9 Bazooka rocket launcher
Machine Guns
- M1919 Browning machine gun
- Browning M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun
- Bren light machine gun (British)
Tanks
- M4 Sherman medium tank
- Churchill infantry tank (British)
- M10 Tank Destroyer
Specialized tanks like the DD (Duplex Drive) amphibious Sherman, Churchill AVREs with petard mortars, Crab flail tanks, Armoured Ramp Carriers (ARKs), etc.
The Allies also employed various specialized armored vehicles like the M3 Half-track, Universal Carriers, Kangaroo Armored Personnel Carriers, and amphibious vehicles like the LVT "Buffalo" for transporting troops and supplies.
Casualties
German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were documented for at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. Museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now host many visitors each year.
War memorials and tourism
The beaches at Normandy are still referred to on maps and signposts by their invasion codenames. There are several vast cemeteries in the area.
The American cemetery, in Colleville-sur-Mer, contains row upon row of identical white crosses and Stars of David, immaculately kept, commemorating the American dead.
Commonwealth graves, in many locations, use white headstones engraved with the person's religious symbol and their unit insignia. The largest cemetery in Normandy is the La Cambe German war cemetery, which features granite stones almost flush with the ground and groups of low-set crosses. There is also a Polish cemetery.
Streets near the beaches are still named after the units that fought there, and occasional markers commemorate notable incidents.
Every year on June 6, American cartoonist and World War II veteran Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) reserved his Peanuts comic strip to memorialise his comrades who fell at Normandy.
Interesting facts about D-Day
- The D in D-Day just stands for 'Day'. The term D-Day was used for the day of any important invasion or military operation.
- D-Day was just the beginning of a campaign that lasted around 12 weeks.
- The Normandy landings on June 6th 1944 were the largest seaborne invasion in history.
- Thousands of paratroopers landed first but only 15% of them landed in the right place.
- Adolf Hitler was asleep when the Allied forces landed.
- There were 5 beaches where they landed. They were codenamed Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah.
- Before D-Day the BBC ran a fake competition for people to send them French beach holiday photographs and postcards. They sent them to the War Office so they could plan where to land on D-Day.
In popular culture
Books
- The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan (1959 book)
- D-Day: The Battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor (2009 book)
- Neptune: The D-Day Landings and the Allied Invasion of Europe by Craig Symonds (2014 book)
Film and television
- The Longest Day (1962 film)
- The Big Red One (1980 film)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998 film)
- Band of Brothers (2001 miniseries)
Related pages
Images for kids
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Meeting of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), 1 February 1944. Front row: Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder; General Dwight D. Eisenhower; General Bernard Montgomery. Back row: Lieutenant General Omar Bradley; Admiral Bertram Ramsay; Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory; Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith.
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Surface weather analysis map showing weather fronts on 5 June
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Map of the Atlantic Wall, shown in yellow Axis and occupied countries Allies and occupied countries Neutral countries
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Czech hedgehogs deployed on the Atlantic Wall near Calais
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D-day assault routes into Normandy
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Royal Marine Commandos attached to 3rd Infantry Division move inland from Sword Beach, 6 June 1944
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Members of the French Resistance and the US 82nd Airborne division discuss the situation during the Battle of Normandy in 1944.
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D-Day planning map, used at Southwick House near Portsmouth
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Large landing craft convoy crosses the English Channel on 6 June 1944
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Map of the invasion area showing channels cleared of mines, location of vessels engaged in bombardment, and targets on shore
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Gliders are delivered to the Cotentin Peninsula by Douglas C-47 Skytrains. 6 June 1944
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An abandoned Waco CG-4 glider is examined by German troops
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US Rangers scaling the wall at Pointe du Hoc
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U.S. assault troops in an LCVP landing craft approach Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944.
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British troops take cover after landing on Sword Beach.
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Situation map for 24:00, 6 June 1944
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The Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery
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The La Cambe German war cemetery, near Bayeux
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The Bayeux Commonwealth war cemetery
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The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, overlooking Omaha Beach
