D-Day

1. see D-Day Landing.

2. the day on which an important operation is to begin or a change to take effect.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

D-Day, 6 June 1944, was decisive in the war on Germany. D-Day, though cloudy and windy, justified Eisenhower's decision to accept a comparatively hopeful weather forecast. Montgomery, in command of ground forces, dispatched five infantry divisions, to five separate Normandy beaches, plus three airborne divisions, landing over 150, 000 men on the first day. On one American beach, Omaha, against a good German division, casualties were high. The British and American air forces virtually stopped German movement of troops by day and made impossible a co-ordinated German counter-attack.