It is the 66th anniversary of the Allied Force invasion of the Nazi-occupied Normandy beaches. Please remember the heros from many countries who placed themselves in harms way, those who fell on foreign soil, and those who lived the rest of their lives with physical wounds, mental images and emotional scars of what they went through to rid the world of an evil force.
On June 6, 1944 156,000 troops invaded Normandy. The Americans numbered 73,000 – 23,250 on Utah Beach, 34,250 on Omaha Beach and 15,500 airborne troops. The British numbered 61,715 and the Canadians 21,400 – 24,970 British and Canadians invaded Gold Beach, 21,400 on Juno Beach, 28,845 on Sword Beach and 7,900 airborne troops
11,590 aircraft were involved in the invasion. The Allied forces flew 14,674 sorties during the operation. 127 aircraft were lost. 2,395 aircrat and 867 gliders of the RAF and US airforce landed on D-Day.
There were 6,939 naval vessels involved in the operation: 1213 naval combat ships, 4126 landing ships, 736 ancillary craft and 864 merchant vessels. 195,700 brave souls were involved in the naval operations on D-Day: 52,889 US, 112,824 British and 4988 from other Allied countries. 24 warships and 35 merchant ships or auxiliaries were sunk.
Within 5 days 326,547 troops, 54,186 vehicles and 104,428 tons of supplies had been landed on the beaches of Normandy.
While accurate casualty numbers for D-Day are not available, 12,000 men and over 2,000 aircraft were lost in operations leading up to D-Day. The casualty figures for the D-Day invasion are estimated at 10,000. Approximately 4,414 souls were lost.
Over the course of the entire Battle of Normandy over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or missing: 209,000 Allied casualties with approximately 37,000 dead amongst the ground forces and another 16,714 dead in the Allied air forces. It is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed during the Allied bombing.
There are twenty-seven war cemeteries that hold over 110,000 dead from both sides of the Battle.
While the following is rather U.S.-centered, I believe it appropriate as a sentiment we should all hold for those dwindling numbers of WWII veterans who are still alive, as well as those fighting forces who currently place themselves in danger each day to defend the values of the countries they fight for.
Never Forget
Valhall.
References:
The statistics for the Battle of Normandy were taken from:
http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/faq.htm
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