June 5, 1944

June 6, 1944 - D-Day

C-47 Dakota ( a military version of the DC-3) used to transport airborne troops to Normandy at: Musee des Troupes Aeroportees - Sainte Mere Eglise

The borne marking Kilometer 0 of La Voie de la Liberte stands in front of the town hall of Sainte Mere Eglise. Here at 0430 hours on the morning of June 6, 1944 Lt. Colonel Edward Krause of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division raised the stars and stripes over the first town in France to be liberated by the Americans.

THE FRENCH STATE WORK - FAMILY - FATHERLAND APPEAL TO THE FRENCH PEOPLE Frenchmen,      The German and Anglo Saxon armies have met upon our soil. France will therefore become a battlefield.      Officials, civil servants, railwaymen, workers stand firm at your post to continue the life of the nation and accomplish the tasks which are incumbent upon you. Frenchmen,      Do not aggravate our misfortune by acts which risk bringing tragic reprisals upon you. It will be the innocent French population which will suffer the consequences.      Do not listen to those who are looking to exploit our distress, who would lead the country to disaster. France will not be saved except by observing the most rigorous discipline. Obey the orders of the Government. That each may stand firm beside his duty.      The circumstances of battle will lead the German army to take special measures in the zones of combat. Accept this necessity. It is one constant recommendation I make to you in the interest of your safety.      I urge you, Frenchmen, to think again of the mortal peril which would face our country if this signal warning was not heard. Marshal of France Head of State Philippe Petain

View of La Pointe du Hoc from the German Fortification It was a day when daunting tasks were commonplace but none was more daunting than that of Colonel James Rudder’s 2nd Battalion of U.S. Army Rangers. They would land with the first wave, scale the 100 foot high cliffs of Pointe du Hoc and knockout the German artillery perched in steel and reinforced concrete bunkers atop the promontory. View from La Pointe du Hoc looking towards Utah Beach The Rangers encountered fierce resistance from the German defenders despite the heavy air and naval bombardments of the fortress prior to their attack. When the smoke cleared 135 of Rudder’s 225 man force were dead or wounded. The emplace- ments they now commanded were empty. The heavy artillery that Allied planners had feared capable of raining destruction on the Utah and Omaha sectors had never been installed. The desperate attempts of the Resistance to warn the Americans of the empty emplacements had failed.

La Bataille Supreme est Engagee!      After much fighting, furor and pain the decisive shock has come, the hoped for shock. Of course, it is the Battle of France and it is the Battle of the French!      We are told that an immense assault force has begun to leave the shores of Old England to aid us. Before, this last bastion of Western Europe was stopped for a short time by a sea of German oppression. Today it is the departure point for the offensive of liberty. France, submerged for four years but at no time reduced nor vanquished, France is arising to do its part there.      For the sons of France, it goes without saying, the obligation is simple and sacred, to fight with all the means at their disposal. They shall destroy the detested enemy, the dishonorable enemy.      The Battle of France has commenced. There is nothing more in the nation, in the Empire, in the armed forces but one and the same will, one and the same hope. Behind the clouds, if heavy with our blood and with our tears, there is that which will restore the sunlight and our grandeur. General Charles DeGaulle Broadcast to France June 6, 1944

Citizens of France! I am proud to have again under my command the gallant forces of France. Fighting beside their allies, they will play a worthy part in the liberation of their homeland. Because the initial landing has been made on the soil of your country, I repeat my message to the peoples of other occupied countries in Western Europe. Follow the instructions of your leaders. A premature uprising of all Frenchmen may prevent you from being of maximum help to your country in the critical hour. Be patient. Prepare. General Dwight D. Eisenhower Broadcast to France June 6, 1944

D-Day Memorial - Omaha Beach, Normandy

People of Western Europe,      A landing was made this morning on the coast of France by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This landing is part of a concerted United Nations plan for the liberation of Europe, made in conjunction with our great Russian allies. I have this message for all of you, although the initial assault may not have been in your own country, the hour of your liberation is approaching General Dwight D. Eisenhower Broadcast to France June 6, 1944

If we do not succeed in our mission to close the seas to the Allies, or in the first 48 hours, to throw them back, their invasion will be successful ...      In the absence of strategic reserves and due to the total inadequacy of our navy and of our air force we will have lost the war. Fieldmarshal Erwin Rommel Commandant of German Army Group B

D-DAY to THE LIBERATION OF PARIS

Almighty God, Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a might endeavor. A struggle to preserve our republic, our religion and our civilization and to set free a suffering humanity. They will be sore tried by night and by day without rest until the victory is won. Some will never return. Embrace these Father and receive them, Thy heroic servants into Thy Kingdom. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Broadcast to the Nation June 6, 1944

Rommel in a message to Hitler, July 15th, 1944 (German original) Die Lage an der Front der Normandie wird von Tag zu Tag schwieriger, sie nähert sich einer schweren Krise.      Die eigenen Verluste sind bei der Härte der Kämpfe, dem außergewöhnlich starken Materialeinsatz des Gegners, vor allem an Artillerie und Panzern, und bei der Wirkung der den Kampfraum unumschränkt beherrschenden feindlichen Luftwaffe derartig hoch, daß die Kampfkraft der Divisionen rasch absinkt. Ersatz aus der Heimat kommt nur sehr spärlich und erreicht bei der schwierigen Transportlage die Front erst nach Wochen. Rund 97000 Mann an Verlusten (darunter 2360 Offiziere - unter ihnen 28 Generäle und 354 Kommandeure) - also durchschnittlich pro Tag 2500-3000 Mann - stehen bis jetzt insgesamt 6000 Mann Ersatz gegenüber. Auch die materiellen Verluste der eingesetzten Truppen sind außerordentlich hoch und konnten bisher in nur geringem Umfang ersetzt werden, z.B. von 225 Panzern bisher nur 17.      Die neuzugeführten Divisionen sind kampfungewohnt und bei der geringen Ausstattung mit Artillerie, panzerbrechenden Waffen und Panzerbekämpfungsmitteln nicht imstande, feindliche Großangriffe nach mehrstündigem Trommelfeuer und starken Bombenangriffen auf die Dauer erfolgreich abzuwehren. Wie die Kämpfe gezeigt haben, wird bei dem feindlichen Materialeinsatz auch die tapferste Truppe Stück für Stück zerschlagen. Die Nachschubverhältnisse sind durch die Zerstörungen des Bahnnetzes, die starke Gefährdung der Straßen und Wege bis zu 150 Kilometer hinter der Front durch die feindliche Luftwaffe derartig schwierig, daß nur das Allernötigste herangebracht werden kann und vor allem mit Artillerie- und Werfermunition äußerst gespart werden muß. Neue nennenswerte Kräfte können der Front in der Normandie nicht mehr zugeführt werden. Auf der Feindseite fließen Tag für Tag neue Kräfte und Mengen an Kriegsmaterial der Front zu. Der feindliche Nachschub wird von unserer eigenen Luftwaffe nicht gestört. Der feindliche Druck wird immer stärker.      Unter diesen Umständen muß damit gerechnet werden, daß es dem Feind in absehbarer Zeit - 14 Tage bis 3 Wochen - gelingt, die eigene dünne Front, vor allem bei der 7. Armee, zu durchbrechen und in die Weite des französischen Raumes zu stoßen. Die Folgen werden unübersehbar sein.      Die Truppe kämpft allerorts heldenmütig, jedoch der ungleiche Kampf neigt dem Ende entgegen. Ich muß Sie bitten, die Folgerungen aus dieser Lage unverzüglich zu ziehen. Ich fühle mich verpfichtet, als Oberbefehlshaber der Heeresgruppe dies klar auszusprechen.

"To the memory of the victims of the bombardment that destroyed the city of Saint Lo - June 6, 1944" - inscribed on the medieval ramparts of Saint Lo, Normandy

Sherman Tank, a relic of Patton’s sweep through Brittany beside the road at Roscoff, Brittany

Why would you wish to hide the emotion that embraces us all, men and women, who are here, home, in Paris standing up to free itself and that knew to do so with its own hands. No! We will not hide this emotion, profound and sacred, There have been minutes which have overcome each one of our poor lives.      Paris! Paris insulted! Paris broken! Paris martyred! But Paris freed! Paris freed by itself, freed by its own people with the assistance of the armies of France, with the support and assistance of the entire French nation, of the France that fights, of the only France, of the true France, of France eternal. General Charles DeGaulle Speech at Paris City Hall The evening of August 25, 1944

contributed by Richard Doody