D-Day (2024)

FAQs

What does the D is D-Day stand for? ›

The term D-Day is used by the Armed Forces to refer to the beginning of an operation. The 'D' stands for 'Day', meaning it's actually short for 'Day-Day' (which is nowhere near as catchy).

The D-Day operation of June 6, 1944, brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history. The operation, given the codename OVERLORD, delivered five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France.

These two dates stand on opposite ends of American involvement in the war, and their meaning could not be more different. D-Day put the Allies on a decisive path toward victory. Beginning with the Normandy beaches, they pushed back against Axis forces until Germany was forced to surrender less than a year later.

Of the 4,414 Allied troops killed on D-Day, 2,501 were Americans. More than 5,000 were wounded. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The battle — and especially Allied bombings of French villages and cities — killed around 20,000 French civilians.

He had reacted with glee when the Allies launched their invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, convinced that the enemy would be so utterly smashed on the beaches that the defeat would knock the British and Americans out of the war. Then he could concentrate all his armies on the eastern front against Stalin.

Disorganization, confusion, incomplete or faulty implementation of plans characterized the initial phases of the landings. This was especially true of the airborne landings which were badly scattered, as well as the first wave units landing on the assault beaches.

The names of both Omaha and Utah were probably suggested by Omar Bradley, as two privates fitting out his London headquarters were from Omaha, Nebraska (Gayle Eyler) and Provo, Utah; they were not named after the corps commanders, who were from Virginia (Gerow) and Louisiana (Collins).

On D-Day, the Americans came close to defeat on Omaha partially because the preliminary air and naval bombardment failed to knock out strong defence points, but also because they faced highly effective German troops who had gained hard-earned experience on the Eastern Front.

As of 2023, just 119,550 of the 16.4 million who served – less than one percent – were still alive, according to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. At that time, about 131 World War II veterans were dying each day, the museum said.

There is no definitive answer, but some historians have calculated, based on unit casualties against men landed, that Allied soldiers had a 97.6% chance of surviving D-Day. That isn't to say they would not get hit or wounded. Most infantrymen expected at one time to be hit.

What was the largest loss of life in one day? ›

The deadliest day in recorded history is January 23, 1556. An earthquake struck China and killed around 830,000 people in one day. The Indonesian tsunami in 2004 is considered to be in 2nd place, with 230,000 killed in one day. However, the global population has more than tripled since then.

The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs.