World leaders and even a choir from Longview High School will be attending the 80th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, France.

Here are 7 things to know about World War II’s pivotal Battle of Normandy:

1. D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in military history.

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy as part of the assault on Nazi-occupied France that became the became the largest air, land, and sea invasion in history.

“The invasion force included 7,000 ships and landing craft manned by over 195,000 naval personnel from eight allied countries. Almost 133,000 troops from the United States, the British Commonwealth, and their allies, landed on D-Day,” according to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.

By the end of the D-Day invasion, more than nine thousand troops were dead or wounded.

2. Why is it called D-Day?

According to the U.S. Air Force, “‘D-Day’ was the general Allied code word to describe the first day of an operation.” Despite debate among historians, the Department of Defense points to a statement by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower for clarification: “Be advised that any amphibious operation has a ‘departed date;’ therefore the shortened term ‘D-Day’ is used.”

The Allied invasion of northwest Europe was given the code name ‘Operation Overlord,’ while the assault phase was named ‘Operation Neptune.’

3. It almost didn’t happen because of the weather.

The initial Allied landings at Normandy were delayed from May 1944 due to a lack of available landing craft. In early June, Commander of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force General Dwight Eisenhower and his commanders met to determine a date for the invasion. Weather was a major element of the strategy.

According to the Department of Defense, “a near-full moon was needed to help guide ships and airborne troops; and the tides had to be strong enough to expose beach obstacles at low tide and float supply-filled landing vehicles far onto the beach during high tide.”

June 5, 6, and 7, 1944 were chosen as the ideal dates that month.

“If the attack was not launched on one of those dates, Ike would be forced to wait until June 19 to try again. Any wait risked secrecy,” according to Tim Rives, deputy Director of the Eisenhower Presidential Library.

With only a short window of good weather predicted for June 5, the order was given to initiate the D-Day invasion in the early hours of June 6.

4. The cost of battle was high on both sides.

According to data published by the White House, the Battle of Normandy resulted in 226,386 Allied casualties (72,911 killed/missing and 153,475 wounded). German forces saw approximately 240 thousand casualties and 200 thousand captured. Civilians losses were also high. It is estimated that between 13 thousand and 20 thousand French civilians died.

5. General Eisenhower drafted ‘In Case of Failure’ letter.

General Eisenhower composed a note in the event the D-Day invasion failed.

“In the statement, he praised the men under his command and claimed that any fault or failure ‘is mine alone,’” according to a teaching document from the U.S. National Archives. “The only apparent hint of nerves on his part is his error in dating the note ‘July 5′ instead of June 5.”

While the main objective of liberating France was successful, the D-Day invasion was almost a failure for the Americans, according to the Department of Defense.

“Thousands of U.S. paratroopers died during their drop behind enemy lines at Utah Beach, having been shot out of the sky by enemy fire or weighed down and drowned in flooded marshlands. Many also missed their landing spots, as did the seaborne forces, which landed more than a mile from their intended destination, thanks to strong currents.”

6. Thousands of soldiers who fought at D-Day trained in East Texas.

Over the course of World War II, more than 200 thousand military personnel trained at Camp Fannin, located between Tyler and Winona, before seeing combat on the front lines in both Europe and the Pacific.

Many of the the camp’s earliest trainees served in the infantry during Operation Overlord, including the D-Day landings in northern France. More than 20 of these soldiers died during the Battle of Normandy between June 6 and August 30 of 1944.

7. 80th anniversary of D-Day to be attended by world leaders.

Several commemorations in Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day are expected to be attended by world leaders. The list of dignitaries includes 25 heads of state, according to a BBC report.

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to attend, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, and the United Kingdom’s King Charles, Queen Camilla, and Prince William. Representatives of Russia were invited, but not President Vladimir Putin, according to TV network France 24. A recent report by Politico indicates Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also looks to attend the gathering.

The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of KLTV/KTRE-TV or Gray Television. They are solely the opinion of the author. All content © Copyright 2024 Lane Luckie