Imagining a Better Future by Re-imagining the Past

Sunday, June 7, 2020

D-Day Anniversary

"For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home." President Franklin D Roosevelt D-Day Prayer, June 6, 1944.

These are interesting times, both in real-world matters and in Dieselpunk. In the real world, we’ve seen people of all races join together in demands for racial justice. And in the Dieselpunk community, there have been conversations about the role of politics, if any, in the genre. As my readers know, I have my own thoughts on all of these topics and more. However, rather than write about such issues at this time, what’s needed is to step back and remember one of the pivotal moments in history: the D-Day invasion that took place on June 6, 1944.

Early in World War II, Germany invaded and occupied northwestern France. In 1941, the Allies planned for a cross-Channel invasion of the continent. The code name for the invasion was “Operation Overlord.” In November 1943, Adolf Hitler, who was aware of the threat of an invasion along France’s northern coast, charged Erwin Rommel with finishing the Atlantic Wall, a 2,400-mile fortification of bunkers, landmines, and beach and water obstacles

In January 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed commander of Operation Overlord. In the months and weeks before D-Day, the Allies carried out a massive deception operation intended to make the Germans think the main invasion target was Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy. Also, they led the Germans to believe that Norway and other locations were also potential invasion targets. Many tactics were used to carry out the deception, including fake equipment, a phantom army commanded by George Patton and supposedly based in England, across from Pas-de-Calais, double agents, and fraudulent radio transmissions.

Initially, the date for Operation Overlord was June 5, 1944. However, bad weather on the days leading up to the operation caused it to be delayed. By dawn on June 6, as the meteorologists predicted, the weather had cleared. Thousands of paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground behind enemy lines, securing bridges and exit roads. The amphibious invasions began at 6:30 a.m. The British and Canadians overcame light opposition to capture beaches codenamed Gold, Juno, and Sword, as did the Americans at Utah Beach. U.S. forces faced massive resistance at Omaha Beach, where there were over 2,000 American casualties. However, by day’s end, approximately 156,000 Allied troops had successfully stormed Normandy’s beaches. According to some estimates, more than 4,000 Allied troops lost their lives in the D-Day invasion, with thousands more wounded or missing.

Less than a week later, on June 11, the beaches were fully secured, and over 326,000 troops, more than 50,000 vehicles, and some 100,000 tons of equipment had landed at Normandy.

By the end of August 1944, the Allies had reached the Seine River, Paris was liberated, and the Germans had been removed from northwestern France, effectively concluding the Battle of Normandy. The Allied forces then prepared to enter Germany, where they would meet up with Soviet troops moving in from the east.

On April 30, Hitler committed suicide while cowering in his bunker. A few days later, on May 8, 1945, the Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany.

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