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D-Day was only the first day of a far larger and far more brutal campaign in Normandy...
Posted on 6/7/26 at 3:03 pm
Posted on 6/7/26 at 3:03 pm
The tributes that come in every year on June 6 in regards to the Normandy landings are, of course, well-deserved. However, I feel like they mask a truth that people seem to have forgotten over the prevailing decades. D-Day was only the start of liberation. It would take almost three entire months for the Allies to reach Paris, and the number of men who became casualties of war to to get Paris are staggering.
It is estimated that the United States suffered around 6,000 casualties on June 6, 1944 (2,501 of which were KIA). For the Battle of Normandy as a whole, the United States suffered 135,000 total casualties (29,000 of which were KIA). Operation Overlord was far larger than just the beach landings. It was a brutal, Eastern Front-style campaign that saw total casualties for the Allies and Germans soar to over 500,000 killed, wounded, and missing/captured.
I guess the reason why I made this thread is for people to understand that the battle wasn't won on the beaches of Omaha, but in the streets of Carentan and St. Lo, in the battered buildings of Caen, and in the small, irregular fields of the Norman bocage.
It is estimated that the United States suffered around 6,000 casualties on June 6, 1944 (2,501 of which were KIA). For the Battle of Normandy as a whole, the United States suffered 135,000 total casualties (29,000 of which were KIA). Operation Overlord was far larger than just the beach landings. It was a brutal, Eastern Front-style campaign that saw total casualties for the Allies and Germans soar to over 500,000 killed, wounded, and missing/captured.
I guess the reason why I made this thread is for people to understand that the battle wasn't won on the beaches of Omaha, but in the streets of Carentan and St. Lo, in the battered buildings of Caen, and in the small, irregular fields of the Norman bocage.
6
Posted on 6/7/26 at 3:05 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
I guess the reason why I made this thread is for people to understand that the battle wasn't won on the beaches of Omaha, but in the streets of Carentan and St. Lo, in the battered buildings of Caen, and in the small, irregular fields of the Norman bocage.
How many people believe that it was won on D-Day?
On second thought, don’t answer that. I probably don’t want to know
Posted on 6/7/26 at 4:05 pm to Sun God
Biggest surprise were the hedgerows.
Posted on 6/7/26 at 4:18 pm to RollTide1987
I understand why June 6 receives so much focus, and rightfully so. But if the landings had failed, there would have been no breakout from Normandy, no liberation of Paris, and perhaps a very different course for the war in Western Europe. D-Day was not the victory itself, but it was the crucial first step toward victory.
Posted on 6/7/26 at 4:24 pm to RollTide1987
my grandfather was the 2nd wave to hit the beaches. He spoke very little about that but did say to me once, when we had them on the run, we didn't stop, I walked over France to Germany
Posted on 6/7/26 at 5:27 pm to RollTide1987
Speaking of beach and amphibious landings, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about Okinawa, Iwojima, Peleliu, Guadalcanal, etc. in the Pacific. Absolutely brutal some of that fighting and it lasted for months at a time on a small piece of real estate in the middle of the ocean. Every yard was contested in some of those places. 21,000 Japanese troops on Iwojima and only 216 were taken prisoner. I don’t think even the Germans were that insane to fight to the death. Fanatical level of belief.
This post was edited on 6/7/26 at 5:29 pm
Posted on 6/7/26 at 5:38 pm to Sofaking2
quote:
I’ve been doing a lot of reading about Okinawa, Iwojima, Peleliu, Guadalcanal, etc. in the Pacific
Helmet for My Pillow and With the Old Breed should be required reading in high school
Posted on 6/7/26 at 6:00 pm to RollTide1987
quote:
St. Lo
Speaking of required reading, Clay Pigeons of St Lo by Glover Johns should be on this list. Not only did this man have to command an entire battalion of men who were essentially sacrificed by higher command for the "big picture," but he was influential in the career of David Hackworth who later wrote About Face.
frickin legend.
Posted on 6/7/26 at 6:16 pm to RollTide1987
What gets even less discussion and credit is the intelligence work and planning that went into D-day.
There are some amazing articles and documentaries on how it was planned, kept secret, misdirected, and finally triggered and executed.
My particular favorite is reading how they used crossword puzzles in the public newspapers across London and southern England to transmit orders and status updates.
There are some amazing articles and documentaries on how it was planned, kept secret, misdirected, and finally triggered and executed.
My particular favorite is reading how they used crossword puzzles in the public newspapers across London and southern England to transmit orders and status updates.
Posted on 6/7/26 at 6:20 pm to Purplehaze
quote:
Biggest surprise were the hedgerows.
It’s always boggled my mind how the Allies were so ill prepared for the hedgerows in Normandy. They had been smuggling agents in and out of Northern France for almost two years at that point. They had God only knows how many thousands of arial recon photographs of quite literally every square inch of France from the Normandy coast clear to Paris. I could kinda understand the Americans not being that familiar with the rural countryside in Normandy France, but the Brits too? They live right across the channel!
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