Operation Overlord

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/06/2016 at 14:09 • Filed to: None

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944, was the largest amphibious assault in history, and the numbers are staggering. Here are just a few of them:

The US landed 23,250 soldiers on Utah Beach, 34,250 on Omaha Beach, and 15,500 airborne troops. The British and Canadians landed 83,115 troops, 24,970 on Gold Beach, 21,400 on Juno Beach, 28,845 on Sword Beach, and 7900 airborne troops.

11,590 Allied aircraft flew 14,674 sorties, and 127 were lost. In the airborne landings before and during the amphibious assault, 2,395 aircraft and 867 gliders of the Royal Air Force and US Army Air Force were used.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the naval component of the D-Day landings, employed nearly 7,000 ships: 4,126 landing ships and landing craft, 736 ancillary craft and 864 merchant vessels. Nearly 200,000 personnel were assigned to Operation Neptune: 52,889 US, 112,824 British, and 4,988 from other Allied countries.

By June 11 (D+5), 326,547 troops, 54,186 vehicles and 104,428 tons of supplies had been landed on the invasion beaches.

The Allied casualties figures for D-Day have generally been estimated at 10,000, including 2,500 dead. Broken down by nationality, the usual D-Day casualty figures are approximately 2,700 British, 946 Canadians, and 6,603 Americans. The Germans are estimated to have lost between 4,000-9,000 men. Today, twenty-seven war cemeteries hold the remains of over 110,000 dead from both sides: 77,866 German, 9,386 American, 17,769 British, 5,002 Canadian and 650 Poles. The bodies of many American casualties were repatriated to the USA, where they were reburied.

4 US soldiers were !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism on D-Day, including Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr, the oldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt.

(Source: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ; US Army photo)

DISCUSSION (16)

Future next gen S2000 owner > ttyymmnn
06/06/2016 at 14:28

Every time I read about WWI & WWII I quietly hope that we will never reach that level of conflict again. The toll would be tremendous.

djmt1 > ttyymmnn
06/06/2016 at 14:31

If you ever want to gain a perspective about how terrifying the landing must of been for the souls involved just look out of one of the German bunkers on to the beach.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn
06/06/2016 at 14:32

Something so large and kept so well under wraps.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
06/06/2016 at 14:35

The deception is equally impressive as the invasion.

ttyymmnn > djmt1
06/06/2016 at 14:38

I have. And I’ve stood on Pointe du Hoc and looked down, trying to imagine what it was like for those Rangers who had to climb up while under fire. It's truly humbling.

ttyymmnn > Future next gen S2000 owner
06/06/2016 at 14:38

I'd rather not think about it.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn
06/06/2016 at 14:46

Okinawa was on the same order of magnitude in terms of total men involved, if not as high a number of ships and boats. It can provide an interesting contrast for what happens when you *don’t* have as effective surprise against an entrenched enemy. 82 days of constant battle...

I actually know S. B. Buckner V through the board games club at Georgia Tech - never have asked him about his great-granddad ...

wkiernan > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
06/06/2016 at 16:18

Except that according to Eugene Sledge, the Marines went ashore in Okinawa standing up, to their utter amazement.

It sure got worse after that.

Have you ever read his book? It’s brilliant. If you plan to read at least a half dozen books about war in your entire lifetime, this book should be one of them.

Kinja'd!!!

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > wkiernan
06/06/2016 at 16:32

I’ve been needing to reread a bunch of my WWII Pacific Theater books (including American Guerilla in the Phillippines , which I didn’t realize had been made into a movie. By Fritz effing Lang, no less.) There’s another jam-up book on Midway I need to find again, and of course Shinano! I should, presumably, add With The Old Breed to my collection to coincide with that.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
06/06/2016 at 16:38

As a youngster, my uncle on my fathers side was stationed at Okinawa with the USAF, and my grandfather on my mothers side was a radio man on commercial ships, and had traveled the world. Happened to recieve a post card from my uncle while my grandfather was visiting. An innocent and enthused 6 year old me went running to my grandpa to ask if he’d ever been to Okinawa. (At the time, I wasn’t really conscious of what World War II was, or that my grandpa was a Marine, and certainly didn’t grasp the magnitude of it all.) His reply: “Been there? I helped take the damn island.” That was the most he ever discussed of his service. For some reason, thirty years later, I can remember that exchange as if it were yesterday.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever
06/06/2016 at 16:53

I had a great uncle in the Pacific with the 1st Marine Division - I don’t recall if he went through the battle of Okinawa, though he *was* involved in taking Peleliu in an interesting way ... Also had a great-grandfather who served on the CV-3 Saratoga , including if I’m not mistaken during February of ‘45 when it took kamikaze hits off Iwo. My great-grandmother had a picture of the planes burning on the deck, an alternate of this one .

Nauraushaun > ttyymmnn
06/06/2016 at 17:27

Are Australians considered to be British in these numbers?

ttyymmnn > Nauraushaun
06/06/2016 at 17:41

I don’t know. The numbers come from a British site, so they may lump everybody together.

user314 > ttyymmnn
06/06/2016 at 20:43

670 of the 1,051 LST Mk.2s built during WWII came from shipyards along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, with 264 being built at the Dravo and Ambridge yards here in Pittsburgh, 171 in Evansville, In, and 156 in Seneca, Il. The ships were constructed, launched (during which they achieved their highest speeds), and sent down the Mississippi to New Orleans where their masts were fitted.

Nauraushaun > ttyymmnn
06/06/2016 at 21:47

Just because we’re supposedly ruled by their queen...the posh bastards!

ttyymmnn > Nauraushaun
06/06/2016 at 21:55

The Commonwealth!