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North Devon Remembers
Those who died in the Service of their Country
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Brief outline of D-Day, 6th June 1944.
Having seen the tide of the war turn in North Africa in 1942, and the subsequent
successful invasions of Sicily and mainland Italy in 1943, there was increasing pressure
placed on the allies to open up a new Western front by launching an invasion in Western
Europe. This pressure was compounded by the fighting on the Eastern front, which
had seen the Russians suffering huge casualties while slowly fighting their way forward
against the faltering German Army, the Wehrmacht.
As a result, in July 1943, the
first plans were put in place for an allied assault on mainland Europe – the target,
Normandy.
On the 6th June, 1944, the largest amphibious assault in history, operation “Overlord” was launched, by the allies, under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander, General Eisenhower, on the Normandy coast – its ultimate goal, the establishment of a foothold in Nazi-occupied France. The British landed on beaches code named Gold & Sword, the Canadians & British on Juno, and the American forces on Omaha and Utah.
On D-Day, the Allies landed around 156,000 troops in Normandy. The American forces numbered 73,000: 23,250 on Utah Beach, 34,250 on Omaha Beach, and 15,500 airborne troops. In the British and Canadian sector, 83,115 troops were landed (61,715 of them British): 24,970 on Gold Beach, 21,400 on Juno Beach, 28,845 on Sword Beach, and 7900 airborne troops.
Total Allied casualties on D-Day are estimated at 10,000, including 2500 dead. British casualties on D-Day were approximately 2700; the Canadians 946, and the USA 6603 (the largest number occurring on Omaha beach, which had proven to be a more difficult challenge than had been expected)
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