D-Day

Anzac Day actually has nothing to do with D-Day. - Anzac Day honours the heroes and the dead of the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915 in Turkey.

There were 5 American divisions. There were 8 British and Canadian divisions.

Six Infantry and three airborne divisions took part in D-Day.

The beach code names were Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno. All were within 15 miles on northern Normandy.

D-Day was almost postponed due to a string of really bad weather. This caused moonless nights which made it difficult for paratroops, and high seas risked the swamping of small boats.

US soldiers had been encamped in Britain for at least a year. This time was spent in mock landings and other preparations for the invasion.

Diday means ''the day the allied troops landed in Normandy ,France on June 6,1 1944

He would have most likely been in the landings at Sword or Gold beach, but impossible to tell, unless you know his regiment.

The invasion of Normandy, starting with D-Day was the largest naval and air invasion ever. In four months they landed more troops, vehicles and cargo than at any other time in history.

D-Day was exactly 24 hours from midnight on the 5th to midnight on the 6th. Subsequent days were D+1, D+2 and so on.

All the countries that were against Germany were already in the fighting. Many smaller countries had contingent of troops landing on D-Day.

Exact numbers are hard to find, because of precise times men died, men missing in action,many wounded, and other such things, but approximately 5,000 Allied soldiers and sailors died on the 6th June, D-Day.

Normandy experienced D-Day

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Hundreds of boats were destroyed in the invasion. The Higgins boats, each carrying a platoon from ships to the beaches were small an built of wood, German machine guns destroyed many of them.

The first person to die was Lt.Denham Brotheridge of the 2nd Oxfordshire Light Infantry. After landing in a glider at 00.16 on the 6th near Caen, Lt Brotheridge led a charge across 'Pegasus Bridge' and was shot by a Spandau machine gun on the bridge. He killed the German gun crew as he died himself.

The German armies were pushed back into Germany as more and more Allied troops landed.

What happened at Juno was important as it was a major part of the entire Allied landing. Canadian troops of the 7th and 8th Canadian Brigades and British 48 Marine Commando hit the beach at 0749 and expanded inward to control more territory than any other beach by the day's end.

On the Allied side most of the soldiers were British, with many Americans and about 10,000 Canadians. There were smaller groups of soldiers from France, Belgium, Poland, Holland and Norway. The aircraft supporting were British, American, Canadian and Australian.

The German armies in France.

The German machine guns that covered the beaches, particularly at Omaha.

The advantages were huge, finally Allied troops were in France in large numbers to fight. The disadvantage was that so many men died to make this happen.

The Canadian 3rd Infantry Division and the Canadian 2nd Armoured Brigade landed on Juno Beach and gained more territory than any other beach on the first day.

The landing craft used in D-Day were LCVP's and LCT's