Operation Overlord

[John McLaughlin]

77 Years ago Operation Overlord began on June 6 1944 with the Normandy Invasion. It ended on August 30 1944. The cost was high on all sides. The Allies landed more than 160,000 troops at Normandy, of which 73,000 were American. There were also 83,115 British and Canadian forces who landed on Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches. By the end of the first day, none of the assault forces had secured their first-day objectives. Allied casualties on June 6 have been estimated at 10,000 killed, wounded, and missing in action: 6,603 Americans, 2,700 British, and 946 Canadians.
Once out of Normandy, Allied forces advanced quickly and liberated Paris on August 25. German forces retreated across the Seine five days later, marking the end of Operation Overlord.
From D-day through August 21, the Allies landed more than two million men in northern France and suffered more than 226,386 casualties: 72,911 killed/missing and 153,475 wounded. German losses included over 240,000 casualties and 200,000 captured. Between 13,000 and 20,000 French civilians died, and many more were seriously wounded.

 

[captras]

That generation was one of the greatest in our history! Thanks for this!

 

[JROD]

That generation was one of the greatest in our history! Thanks for this!

Awesome! We must never forget! We, in this great USA, and most of the world owe our freedom to that magnificent WWII generation. Much respect and gratitude! Salute! ABN ATW!

 

[Bilmon]

My dad jumped into St Mere Eglise with the 82nd that morning. Can't imagine what that took, behind German lines not knowing if landing would succeed and to make 3 other combat jumps besides, was wounded in Holland during Market Garden [ A Bridge to Far]