It's a Team's Life

Operation Neptune

Today June 6, 2023 marks the 79th anniversary of the landings and the airborne operations at Normandy that is well known as D-Day.  The date was Tuesday June 6, 1944 was when Operation Overload the Battle of Normandy was started.  This entire operation included over 1,200 aircraft, more than 5,000 ships and almost 160,000 troops.  At the time it was the largest seaborne operation in history.  A list of the countries involved for the Allies:  United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Greece and South Africa.

The overall planning for this invasion started in 1943 and a lot of misleading operations we conducted to deceive the Germans.  This operation was code named Operation Bodyguard.

The seaborne operations were split up in five areas of operation.  Each area had a certain beach code name and those were:  Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword.  Each these beach heads had a Corps assigned to them.  For example V Corps (Fifth Corps) was assigned to Omaha Beach.  Also, assigned under the V Corps was the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions.  The entire number of men assigned to the was over 34,000.  The beaches were also broken up by main country zones.  The United States had Omaha and Utah.  The United Kingdom and Canada were assigned Gold, Juno and Sword.

The operation was put in motion on June 5th late in the evening.  It was questionable because of the weather.  The decision was given go since the weather was just slightly since security and keeping troops contained on England for another month was not optimum.  That allowed the time for the elements of airborne and sea to get into position.  The airborne did night drops into France behind the Normandy beach heads.  During this the sea portion carrying the troops that would make the landings on the Normandy beaches would be heading to the sectors they would be landing on.

Aerial bombardment of the French coast and strategic points started at midnight.  This was used to soften up the defenses of the German Army and Air Forces.  This included over 2,200 aircraft from the Canada, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Before this happened, the French resistance had operations to disrupt the German communications, rail movement, electricity, and movement of reinforcements that could help support the Germans on the Normandy beach front.

At the end of the 6th the Allied casualties we at over 10,000 with over 4,400 of those confirmed dead.  The Germans losses were just over 1,000 men.  Civilian losses were put at around 3,000.

So, on this day June 6, 2023 remember all of those who served on D-Day on that fought to preserve our freedoms.

Here are articles of some of the veterans of the operations going back this year to Normandy.  There are getting to be fewer and fewer of these men alive to make the trip back to Normandy.

102-year-old-wwii-vet-returning-normandy

43-wwii-veterans-fly-atlanta-normandy-ahead-d-day

 

Sandy & Stephen

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