When and why did D-day start?

Answer 1

Firstly, D-day is a general term used by the military along with H-hour. Military planners have to plan a long way ahead, and more often than not the starting time and even the starting date won't be known until almost the last minute. So, the planners assume that the start date will be D-day, and the start time will be H-hour. All orders to units taking part specify an action at H-hour, H+3, H+4 etc. Even H-12 at times. These orders are further specified as D+3, D+4, D+6 etc. When the start time is fixed by the Commander, all units are told when will be D-Day. Soldiers everywhere are well aware that in general D-Day is the starting day for some operation or other. In the summer of 1944, a large force of Americans, British and Canadians (accompanied by smaller numbers of Free French, Poles and others) launched an operation against Normandy, on the North-West coast of France. The purpose was to establish and hold a bridgehead so that very large numbers of troops with armour, artillery,engineers, transport and supplies could be landed. The final objective was to destroy Hitler's Germany. The original planned date was June 5th 1944, but due to very bad weather it was put off until the 6th. H-hour was 0600, but in fact the first actions began well before midnight when a glider-borne group of British commandos seized a vital bridge. Later in the night large forces of the 82nd airborne and the 101st airborne parachuted in to take and hold vital road junctions and stop the Nazis from counter-attacking in force while the allied forces were still on the beaches. This operation was the largest amphibious assault anywhere, anywhen; it attracted huge attention then and still does today, and of course it succeeded. With intense media coverage, the public all over the world repeatedly heard stories of D-Day. The actual code name of the invasion was Operation Overlord, but the people in all the allied countries know what they are going to call June 6th 1944 - it was, and is - D-Day.