Author: Cornelius Ryan
Translators: Li Wenjun, Tao Jie, Shen Huihui
Publisher: CITIC Publishing Group
Publication time: April 1, 2018
Believe me, Lang, the first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive... Germany's fate is closely related to it... For both the Allies and Germany, this day will be the longest.
Don't forget to share your experience!
——Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
April 22, 1944
preface
June 6th, 1944, Tuesday, D-Day
The "Overlord" operation, the Allied invasion of Europe, began at 0:15 on June 6, 1944- in the first hour of the day that would forever be known as "D-Day". At that moment, some selected personnel from the US 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions stepped out of their planes and jumped into the moonlit Normandy night sky. Five minutes later, a small group from the British 6th Airborne Division 50 miles away also jumped off their plane. These airborne pioneers, known as "Pathfinders," are tasked with igniting glowing signals at the airborne site to guide subsequent paratroopers and airborne infantry on gliders to land. What do you think about this?
The Allied airborne forces clearly marked the farthest boundary of the Normandy battlefield, with five beaches where the Allies were preparing to land lying between them and the French coastline: Utah, Omaha, Gold Beach, Juno, and Sword Beach. Don't forget to share your experience!
During the hours when paratroopers fought in the dark forests of Normandy before dawn, the world's largest fleet ever began to assemble outside those beaches - nearly 5000 ships carrying over 200000 soldiers from the army, navy, and coast guard. What do you think about this?
At 6:30 in the morning, after a fierce naval and aerial bombardment, thousands of soldiers waded into the water and landed, forming the first attack wave of the landing operation. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
The following is not a military history, but a story about people: the officers and soldiers of the Allied forces, the enemies they faced, and the civilians caught up in the bloody chaos of D-Day. The day the battle began also meant that Hitler's crazy gamble to rule the entire world would come to an end. Have you tried this before? Share your story!
illustration
Hitler's' Atlantic Barrier 'was awe inspiring, and no army about to launch an attack had ever encountered such a defense - however, this barrier was not entirely completed. These photos (enlarged from a 16mm German propaganda video) can give us a general impression of the German heavy artillery and reinforced concrete defense works on the coastline where the Allies were going to land. Underground communication lines, machine gun nests, mortar positions, and minefields make up for the lack of heavy artillery cover, and the beach is filled with intricate anti landing mine obstacles Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
In February 1944, Rommel was inspecting defense facilities along the coast of France. The person on his right (almost out of the photo) is Lieutenant General Alfred Gauss, who was Rommel's Chief of Staff until March 1944. The person standing behind the officer pointing ahead, facing the camera, is Captain Helmut Lang, Rommel's deputy What do you think about this?
One of the simple but deadly beach obstacles designed by Rommel - a wooden stake with a Teller anti tank mine tied to the top. Most of these devices were self-designed by Rommel, who proudly referred to them as' my inventions' Have you tried this before? Share your story!
Lieutenant General Hans Speider, Chief of Staff of Rommel
Major General Max Joseph Penzel, Chief of Staff of the 7th Army Group
Eisenhower
General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, and the main leaders of the Allies, from left to right, are: General Omar Bradley, Commander of the US 1st Army Group; Admiral Bertram Ramsey, Commander in Chief of the Allied Navy; General Arthur Tedder, Deputy Commander of the Allied Forces Air Force; Eisenhower; General Montgomery, Commander in Chief of the D-Day Landing Forces; General Traford Leigh Mallory, Commander in Chief of the Allied Air Forces; Lieutenant General Walter Biddle Smith, Chief of Staff of Eisenhower Have you tried this before? Share your story!
In the last few weeks of May, British ports were filled with soldiers and equipment preparing for the D-Day attack. The picture shows the troops and vehicles preparing to board the tank landing ship in Brixton, UK. Please pay attention to those sturdy 'protruding embankments', which are specially installed for the convenience of loading and unloading shallow draft landing ships What do you think about this?
The picture is a crossword puzzle from The Daily Telegraph, implying the code name of D-Day, which greatly frightened the Allied High Command. Although the content of these crossword puzzles was prepared several months ago, strangely enough, they appeared together in the newspaper during the tense days before the attack. Pay attention to "Overlord" and "Neptune", these two codes appear on the same day, June 2nd, four days before the attack Don't forget to share your experience!
On the evening of June 5, 1944, General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, bid farewell to the first batch of paratroopers carrying out airborne missions before the attack began. He talked to the famous soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States for an hour, then with tears in his eyes, he watched them fly into the night sky. Eisenhower's expression in the picture is firm, while the soldiers who are about to die have strange hairstyles shaved off on both sides, with their faces painted black with oil paint Don't forget to share your experience!
Colonel Helmut Mayer is the Chief of Intelligence for the 15th Army Group. It was he who discovered the secret language conveyed to the underground resistance organization in France in the poetry of Verlaine, successfully deciphered it, and issued a warning that the Allies would land within 48 hours Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
The picture shows a page from the operational log of the 15th Army Group, which contains the first two lines of Weilan's poetry. Colonel Mayer discovered intelligence from it that the Allies were about to land. Please note that the important message "Blessing mon Coeur d'une longeur monotone" in the second paragraph was intercepted from a BBC broadcast to the French underground resistance at 9:15 am (10:15 am UK time), and its meaning - that the landing will begin at midnight on June 6th within 48 hours - was recorded 5 minutes later. Although other information about D-Day was also deciphered, only this one was recorded in the German military's operational log. A large amount of evidence shows that Colonel Mayer's statement that the German army believed Weilan's poetry to be the most important information is well founded. On June 8th, Hitler's headquarters demanded an explanation from Rundstedt, questioning why he did not issue a comprehensive warning, particularly pointing out the message of the Weilland poem Have you tried this before? Share your story!
Destination: Normandy. A group of paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division conducted a final inspection before boarding the DC-3
The fleet sailed towards the beach, escorted by anti-aircraft balloons and fighter jets towed by motorboats
The DC-3 aircraft of the 316th Transport Squadron is towing a Waco glider over France
Royal Navy Assault Team advances towards Sword Beach
The British army landing in Normandy
US soldiers transfer landing craft, preparing to charge towards the Normandy beachhead
The first batch of American generals to set foot in Normandy, from left to right: Major General Matthew Litchi of the 82nd Airborne Division; Brigadier General James Gavin, Deputy Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division; Maxwell D., Commander of the 101st Airborne Division Major General Taylor. The first senior British officer to land in Normandy was Major General Richard Gale, the commander of the 6th Airborne Division Have you tried this before? Share your story!
Alexander Reno, the mayor of Saint Melegaris, witnessed the massacre on the town square, and Father Louis Leland ordered the bell of the church to be rung Don't forget to share your experience!
This precious photo is the only one left so far. It shows the photos of the pathfinders of the 82nd Airborne Division before they set out for Normandy. They are the first Americans to land in France. How many of these people in the photo survived? How many are still alive? I only found two of them, one of whom was Private Robert Murphy, who landed in the garden of the Lefroy family. The third person standing from the right, wearing a wool hat, was him Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Members of the US Army Air Force bomber crew
The Hosa glider, capable of carrying 30 people, crashed near Saint Melegaris, resulting in the death of 8 paratroopers
Many areas at both ends of the Normandy battlefield were flooded, resulting in a large number of British and American paratroopers being killed here. In the darkness, paratroopers carrying heavy equipment often cannot release their parachutes, and many people drown in water less than 1 meter deep What do you think about this?
Father Edward Waters held a ceremony at the dock for the assault troops of the 1st Infantry Division, whose next stop will be Omaha Beach What do you think about this?
A few minutes ago, Omaha Beach was just around the corner, and the assault troops, soaked in seawater, crouched inside the assault landing craft speeding towards the beach Don't forget to share your experience!
At the beginning of the D-Day battle, soldiers landing on the northeast coast of France are using lifelines to help American soldiers on a capsized landing craft disembark What do you think about this?
Major General Omar Bradley (wearing glasses), commander of the US 1st Army Group, is watching the landing craft sail towards Omaha Beach from the bridge. Standing next to him is Rear Admiral Allen Kirk, commander of the US Special Operations Fleet responsible for capturing Omaha and Utah Beach What do you think about this?
The US landing craft near Omaha caught fire after being hit
Survivors from another sunk landing craft boarded a life raft and struggled to reach the beach
Wave after wave of assault landing craft passed by the heavy cruiser Augusta
At H time on Omaha Beach. The assault troops, hit by firepower, are struggling amidst numerous obstacles and huge waves. This photo was taken by the late photographer Bob Capa of Life magazine and may be the most memorable D-day photo ever taken Have you tried this before? Share your story!
Photos of the US beachhead after successful landing, with subsequent troops carrying equipment advancing inland
15 minutes after the start of the H-hour, the landing troops, suppressed by enemy fire, were dodging the barrage behind obstacles What do you think about this?
After successfully landing on the beachhead, the US military is organizing its equipment and preparing to advance forward
After the successful landing, American soldiers guarded the newly captured beachhead position in the foxhole
25 minutes after the start of the H-hour, the engineers of the Royal Marine Corps 10th Assault Unit began to advance. Pay attention to units seeking cover behind obstacles and bulldozing tanks of engineers Have you tried this before? Share your story!
US soldiers injured on Omaha Beach are hiding behind the breakwater, waiting for evacuation
These contents, taken from the operational log of the US 1st Infantry Division, almost recorded every minute of the 7-hour crisis experienced by the troops on Omaha Beach before advancing inland after 1 pm. Note that in the first 25 minutes after the start of H, the 552 patrol boat (messages 8 and 11) reported that the entire first attack wave operation had completely failed What do you think about this?
Howitzers used by the US military
The Browning M2 (M2HB) 12.7mm heavy machine gun of the US military
French underground resistance members discuss situation with US paratroopers
Soldiers from the US 4th Infantry Division waded into the water and climbed onto Utah Beach. The first batch of troops suffered minor casualties, but the beach was hit by heavy artillery in the morning of that day Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
The medical staff of the 4th Infantry Division are treating the wounded on the beach
Now listen, it's just the two of us, we can't be apart anymore. For God's sake, you have to act like me, follow closely behind me, and not fall behind. We're acting alone - I don't think we'll be able to come back. "This is the instruction given by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Priller to his wingman pilot Heinz Wodalchik before takeoff. This was the only air raid launched by the Nazi German Air Force during the early stages of the Allied landing Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
On Utah Beach, German 88mm heavy artillery shells exploded in the middle of the assault team. The soldier on the right side of the screen is hiding under the breakwater for safety Don't forget to share your experience!
On the second day after landing, Colonel James Earl Rudel, the commander of the 2nd Cavalry Battalion, was escorting German prisoners of war to the cliff. The American flag was used to protect these troops from accidental attacks by their own people What do you think about this?
The commander of the 4th Infantry Division, Major General Raymond Oscar Patton (in the center), is holding a meeting at his first field command post, about 300 meters away from Utah Beach. On his right, wearing a woolen hat, was Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who was one of the first settlers. On Barton's left is Clarence G., the commander of the 746th Tank Battalion Colonel Yu Pufei Have you tried this before? Share your story!
The brave and fearless Deputy Commander of the 29th Infantry Division, Brigadier General Norman Kotta, completely ignored the enemy's gunfire and calmly walked on Omaha Beach, commanding the 29th Infantry Division to advance inland Don't forget to share your experience!
Colonel Werner Pluskat, German artillery commander at Omaha Beach. He discovered a huge enemy landing fleet in the observation bunker, which was located in the middle of the Normandy beachhead Have you tried this before? Share your story!
The British army landed against the enemy. The location of the beach is unclear, but I've found that it's likely to be Golden Beach. Note that the injured soldier on the left is lying in the water, and there are other people who have been shot and fallen nearby, but the troops on the right are still calmly advancing along the beach. This is one of the most realistic photos of D-Day, as it showcases a fact that every veteran who lands knows - either suddenly collapsing and dying somewhere, or temporarily enjoying a false sense of security in another place. No place is truly safe Don't forget to share your experience!
Canadian soldiers crowded into infantry landing craft and headed towards Juno Beach. Pay attention to the foldable bicycles on the left Have you tried this before? Share your story!
The amphibious tank on the waterway opened the way ahead, and their canvas "floating rings" resembling balloons have now been folded up. British soldiers followed closely behind and attacked an unknown beach - possibly the western part of Sword Beach Have you tried this before? Share your story!
This precious picture holds great historical significance. Standing in the picture is Colonel Ernest Dupuy, Eisenhower's press officer, who is announcing to the free world the long-awaited news that the Allies have landed in Europe. At that time, it was 9:33 am Have you tried this before? Share your story!
Fully armed US soldiers boarded Yuta Beach, with landing craft packed behind them
The biggest success of the US military on D-Day was the assault on Utah Beach, where the troops of the 4th Infantry Division entered the inland faster than expected. On the right side of the picture, soldiers trekking through flooded areas are going to rendezvous with paratroopers. As the Normandy battle progressed, scenes along the roadside became increasingly common: the bodies of German and American soldiers and officers Have you tried this before? Share your story!
On the evening of Day D, American soldiers on Utah Beach watched as gliders flew over their heads to support the still besieged paratrooper unit Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
The scene after the Allies completely controlled the Normandy beachhead
At the beginning of the downfall of Hitler's Third Reich, German prisoners of war were struggling to move forward on Omaha Beach Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Dedicated to all those who participated in D Day
