This might have been the prototype of the US military stuffup, because a yank was in command, except unfortunately more troops from other nations than yanks were caught up in it.
Never mind - when the history books come out - it was all yanks and a great glorious triumph. Saved Europe saved France - even though France was decimated from hosting the bulk of the war. Ungrateful froggies eh?
On 6th June 1944 a major offensive by the Allied Forces began against the Nazi occupiers of France with thousands of servicemen dropped on the beaches of Normandy in what is now known as D Day.
The biggest portion of the D Day landing forces were from Great Britain, Canada and the United States but there were also troops from Australia, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Poland.
On D Day itself around 156,000 Allied troops were dropped on the beaches and were supported by more in the air and naval operations as well as thousands at home from all the countries who were involved in the planning and preparation for the major offensive.
It was a costly exercise in terms of human life with many servicemen not making it past the beaches and falling almost in the spot where they had disembarked boats and many more thousands killed in the subsequent Battle of Normandy which raged on until the end of August.
Even before D Day the Allied air forces had lost over 2,000 aircraft and nearly 12,000 men in the air operations that paved the way for the land offensive.
Estimated casualties during the D Day landings stand at around 10,000, which includes 2500 dead, as well as those wounded, missing in action and taken as prisoners of war. German forces are thought to have suffered between 4000 and 9000 casualties.
During the Battle of Normandy 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went missing. This included 209,000 Allied casualties with 37,000 dead on the ground and a further 16,714 deaths among members of the Allied air forces.
