Timeline of the D-Day landings of 6th June 1944 hour by hour as events
unfolded on the day
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/10878674/D-Day-6th-June-1944-as-it-happened-live.html
Canadian soldiers land on Courseulles beach in Normandy, on June 6, 1944 as Allied forces storm the Normandy beaches. Photo: STF/AFP/Getty Images
As it happened hour by hour:
Introduction
The largest seaborne invasion in history was confirmed for June 6 1944 after
Group Captain James Stagg, chief meteorologist for the RAF, told Gen
Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander, that weather conditions would be
favourable. The decision was taken at Southwick House near Portsmouth,
Advance Command Post of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
(SHAEF).
6,939 vessels – 1,213 warships, 4,126 landing craft, 736 ancillary craft and
864 merchant vessels – gathered in “Area Z” south of the Isle of Wight, in
preparation for landings at five Normandy beaches, along 50 miles of the
coast – Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
Operation Fortitude, a painstaking campaign of deception involving the setting
up of a fake First US Army Group under General George Patton, has worked –
the Germans have been deceived into thinking a Normandy invasion will be
merely a diversion for a real attack at Pas-de-Calais, and that Norway will
be invaded next.
D-Day weather map / RAF Group Captain James Stagg (Geoff Robinson / PA)
of Operation Fortitude – begins, designed to distract German
anti-paratrooper units while the real landings take place.
RAF aircraft drop hundreds of dummy paratroopers across Seine-Maritime,
Calvados, Manche. An SAS team parachutes in to the Cotentin peninsula and
lands five miles west of Saint-Lô. Lieutenant Norman Poole becomes the first
man to jump over Normandy. They install amplifiers to play combat noises,
mortar explosions and the sound of soldiers cursing.
00.10 The first “pathfinders” jump over Normandy. They are in advance
of the airborne assault and will mark drop zones for paratroopers and
landing paths for gliders.
00.16 Six Horsa gliders are dropped above Cabourg. Major John Howard
commands 180 men whose objective is to capture two bridges, code-named Ham
and Jam – the Bénouville Bridge over the Caen Canal (Ham) and the Ranville
Bridge (Jam) over the river Orne. Staff Sgt Jim Wallwork pilots lead glider.
The Pont de Bénouville will later be renamed Pegasus Bridge after the emblem
of the British airborne forces, and the Pont de Ranville renamed Horsa
Bridge.
They must be captured to secure the eastward route for troops landing at Sword
beach and to prevent German tanks coming west from Calais.
Gliders landed at Pont de Bénouville (PA)
Major John Howard:
We were coming in at 90 mph on touchdown. I suppose that really was the
most exhilarating moment of my life. I could see the bridge tower 50 yards
from where I was standing. Above all, the tremendous thing there was that
there was no firing at all. We had complete surprise, we had caught old
Jerry with his pants down.
00.35 Both bridges are captured in less than 15 minutes, with two men
killed and 14 wounded. L/Cpl Edward Tappenden sends the “Ham and Jam”
victory radio message.
00.50 RAF aircraft drop paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division over
Ranville, Merville, Trouffeville and Troarn. Their aim is to take out the
battery of Merville to the south-east of Cabourg, destroy the bridges and
occupy the crest of Troarn to prevent the arrival of German reinforcements
during the landings.
The Merville battery overlooks the beaches where the British and Canadians
will land. They need to neutralise it before 05:15, after which the Royal
Navy will shell it.
01.00 To the west, paratroopers of the US 101st and 82nd Airborne
Divisions are dropped. They too are to protect troops landing on the beaches
but they are scattered widely across the Cotentin peninsula and some drown
in flooded fields.
01.15 Operation Taxable is under way, another part of the effort to
deceive the enemy. 617 Squadron of the RAF (the Dambusters) drops strips of
“window”, metal foil that fools radar operators that they are looking at a
naval convoy. “Window” is also dropped in Operation Glimmer by 218 Squadron
near Boulogne-sur-Mer, again designed to reinforce idea that invasion will
happen at Pas-de-Calais.
01.20 Man battle stations order given to first Navy hands. The process
of lowering the landing craft into the water begins. Airborne troops on
shore disrupt communications by knocking down telephone poles and severing
phone lines.
01.30 Men from the 9th Parachute Battalion, part of the 6th Airborne
Division, rendezvous a mile east of Merville battery but only 150 of 600
make it because the drop has dispersed them so widely.
02.00 The first wave of bombers leaves Britain to attack targets in the
vicinity of the beachheads
02.40 Field Marshal von Rundstedt commands the German army in France.
He is hearing reports from Normandy of fighting but still believes an
invasion is aimed at Pas-de-Calais. The 21st Panzer Division could be
mobilised but Hitler is aleep at Berchtesgaden and cannot be woken to give
the order. (Image: Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
02.51 USS Ancon, flagship of the Omaha assault force, drops anchor 11 miles off the coast undetected.
03.00 USS Samuel Chase, an attack transport ship and part of the vast
fleet that makes up Operation Neptune, anchors off Omaha Beach. Among those
aboard is Robert Capa, the American war photographer.
03.15 Georges and Thérèse Gondrée, proprietors of the Café Gondreé
beside Pegasus Bridge, were initially suspicious of the activity outside.
But now they realise the soldiers are British and open their doors to greet
the liberators.
03.30 Assault troops begin boarding landing craft.
Film still from the D-Day landings showing commandos aboard a landing
craft on their approach to Sword Beach (IWM via Getty Images)
03.35 The HQ of the 6th Airborne Division lands by glider north of
Ranville.
04.00 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (505th PIR) – an
infantry regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division – captures
Sainte-Mère-Eglise, the first town to be liberated.
04.30 Two X-class midget submarines, X20 and X23, each with a crew of
five, have sat silently off the Normandy coast for two days before D-Day.
Now they surface to put up an 18-ft telescopic mast equipped with navigation
lights and radio beacon to guide British and Canadian landing craft to the
beaches.
04.35 132 men from the 4th and 24th cavalry squadrons of the US 4th
Cavalry Group under Lt Col Edward Dunn land off the St Marcouf islands,
three miles from Utah beach. SHAEF believed the Germans might have built
heavy batteries on them. There are no Germans but there are minefields.
04.40 Von Rundstedt orders the 12th SS Panzer Division and Panzer-Lehr
to move immediately to Calvados. Gen Jodl, at OKW, the Armed Forces High
Command, cancels the order at 06.30 and decides to wait for Hitler to wake
up.
04.45 Merville battery is captured by the British 9th Parachute
Battalion, clearing the path for the landing on Sword beach. But it has old
75mm guns and not 150mm guns as was thought.
05.30 Shortly after sunrise, Allied naval forces begin bombardment of
the beaches; seven battleships, 23 cruisers and 103 destroyers pound the
shoreline. HMS
Belfast is among those bombarding Juno beach. USS Tuscaloosa
bombards the 30 batteries around Utah beach.
American battleship USS Arkansas firing its big guns while shelling the
beaches of Normandy (Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image)
05.37 A flotilla of three German E-boats stumbles on the invasion fleet
and fires torpedoes, hitting the Norwegian destroyer Svenner.
05.37 A flotilla of three German E-boats stumbles on the invasion fleet
and fires torpedoes, hitting the Norwegian destroyer Svenner.
06.00 The BBC broadcasts a message from Gen Eisenhower to the people of
Normandy:
The lives of many of you depend on the speed with which you obey. Leave
your towns at once – stay off the roads – go on foot and take nothing with
you that is difficult to carry. Do not gather in groups which may be
mistaken for enemy troops.
06.10 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb batteries over
Omaha Beach but cloud cover means they mostly miss their targets.
As we reached Omaha beach, all 40 aircraft dropped their bombs. More than
100 tons of bombs exploded in a few seconds. This was the only mission over
Europe when I felt the concussion of our own bombs.
- Henry Tarcza, on a B-17 of 8th Air Force.
06.15 As H-Hour nears, rocket launcher barges approach the beaches,
spraying them with salvoes of rockets: 20,000 in the British sector (Gold,
Juno and Sword beaches) and 18,000 in the American sector (Utah and Omaha
beaches)
06.30 H-Hour on Omaha and Utah beaches. The 1st and 29th
American Divisions land over a four-mile front at Omaha. The US 4th Division
assaults Utah. 23,250 are to land at Utah.
06.40 Problems are immediately obvious at Omaha, where 34,000 men and
3,300 vehicles are to be landed. Many landing craft miss their targets; 10
are swamped by rough seas; Duplex Drive tanks – modified Shermans with
floats attached – are sinking in the swell (27 of the first 29 are lost).
And German resistance – from the 352nd Infantry Division – is stronger than
anticipated.
Allied troops crouch behind the bulwarks of a landing craft as it nears
Omaha Beach (AP)
06.41 USS Corry forced to abandon ship due to heavy gunfire and mine
damage.
06.45 At Utah, the westernmost of the five beaches, the situation is
better, despite the tide taking landing craft a mile south of their intended
position. The first troops to reach the shore are from 2nd Battalion, 8th
Infantry. Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr, 56-year-old son of the
former president and assistant commander of the 4th Division, is in the
first wave.
Aerial view of the first landing with landing craft and allied soldiers.
(GETTY)
Members of an American landing party lend helping hands to others whose
landing craft was sunk (REUTERS)
06.48 Berlin Radio has announced that Allied paratroopers are landing
in France and that an E-boat has sunk a destroyer
06.58 Bombing over Gold beach and the west of Juno beach begins: 385
B-17s of the 1st Bombardment Division strike coastal batteries between
Longues-sur-Mer and Courseulles-sur-Mer. Meanwhile 322 B-17s of the 3rd
Bombardment Division hit batteries and defences between Bernières and
Ouistreham to cover the east of Juno beach and Sword beach.
A B-25 Mitchell bomber flies over the Allied invasion fleet in the
English Channel (REX)
07.10 A US Army Ranger Assault Group of 225 men led by Colonel Rudder
attacks the eastern face of Pointe du Hoc, a 100-ft high fortified cliff
between Utah and Omaha beaches. After fierce fighting the gun emplacements
are taken but found to be empty – artillery had already been moved. Fighting
continues for 36 hours after which only 90 Rangers emerge unscathed.
07.25 H-Hour at Sword beach
The British 3rd Division lands, led by Maj Gen Tom Rennie, whose aim is to
liaise with the 6th Airborne and the 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions to take
Caen and the Carpiquet aerodrome by nightfall. 28,845 men will land at
Sword.
07.30 H-Hour at Gold beach.
The British 50th Division's mission, under the command of Major General
Douglas Graham, is to establish a beachhead between Arromanches - important
for the deployment of the artificial Mulberry harbour - and Ver-sur-Mer,
then head to Bayeux to cut the road to Caen. After initial resistance,
progress is good with relatively few casualties. By the end of the day,
24,970 will have landed with 413 casualties.
A Cromwell tank leads a British Army column from the 4th County of
London Yeomanry inland from Gold Beach (REUTERS)
07.35 H-Hour at Juno beach.
The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division commanded by Maj Gen Rodney Keller is meant
to land in two sectors at 07.35 and 07.45 but each timing is delayed by 10
minutes because of rough seas.
07.40 After hours without a decision, and with Hitler still sleeping,
Gen Edgar Feuchtinger unilaterally orders his 21st Panzer Division to move
on the eastern beaches.
07.55 The first Canadian assault wave at Juno finds beach
obstacles partly submerged by the tide. Engineers cannot clear paths to the
beach; landing craft hit mines and almost a third are destroyed or damaged.
Heavy casualties are sustained in the first hour on Juno. 21,400 men will be
landed, with 1,200 casualties.
Canadian soldiers land on Courseulles beach (STF/AFP/Getty Images)
Troops of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division landing at Juno Beach
(Galerie Bilderwelt / GETTY)
08:00 Frederick Allen reads the BBC news:
Supreme Allied Headquarters have issued an urgent warning to inhabitants of
the enemy-occupied countries living near the coast. The warning said that a
new phase of the Allied air offensive had begun.
General Eisenhower sends
his initial report back to headquaters:
All preliminary reports are satisfactory. Airborne formations apparently
landed in good order... Preliminary bombings by air went off as scheduled.
...
Yesterday, I visited British troops about to embark and last night saw a
great portion of a United States airborne division just prior to its
takeoff. The enthusiasm, toughness and obvious fitness of every single man
were high and the light of battle was in their eyes.
I will keep you informed.
08.10 Resistance on Sword beach is weak. Within 45 minutes,
fighting has moved inland and on the east flank the Commando units have
reached the Orne. In all there will be 630 casualties securing the beach.
08.20 Brigadier Lord Lovat leads the Commandos of 1st Special Service
Brigade ashore in the second wave at Sword beach, with piper Bill Millin
playing "Highland Laddie". They are to relieve Major John Howard
at Pegasus Bridge.
Piper Bill Millin strikes up Blue Bonnets as 1st SS Brigade Commandos
wade ashore at Ouistreham on SWORD beach (ALAMY)
Read Bill
Millin's Telegraph obituary:
Millin began his apparently suicidal serenade immediately upon jumping from
the ramp of the landing craft into the icy water. As the Cameron tartan of
his kilt floated to the surface he struck up with Hieland Laddie. He
continued even as the man behind him was hit, dropped into the sea and sank.
Once ashore Millin did not run, but walked up and down the beach, blasting
out a series of tunes. After Hieland Laddie, Lovat, the commander of 1st
Special Service Brigade (1 SSB), raised his voice above the crackle of
gunfire and the crump of mortar, and asked for another. Millin strode up and
down the water’s edge playing The Road to the Isles.
08.25 There are Sherman tanks on Omaha beach giving cover to troops but
casualties are severe. Photographer Robert Capa has come ashore in the
second wave with the 16th Regiment of the US 1st Infantry Division. He takes
106 pictures but only 11 survive mistakes in the processing lab - those images will become
the most enduring of the day.
08.35 Half-tracks, jeeps and trucks are stuck in deep water on Omaha.
Wounded men on the beach are drowning as the tide comes in.
I was the first one out. The seventh man was the next one to get across the
beach without being hit. All the ones in between were hit. Two were killed;
three were injured. That's how lucky you had to be.
- Captain Richard Merrill, 2nd Ranger Battalion
08.40 Hitler is still asleep at Berchtesgaden.
08.50 Troops from the 48th Royal Marines at Saint-Aubin-sur-mer on Juno
Beach, Normandy:
(HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY)
09.05 Hitler is finally awake at the Berghof, Berchtesgaden. He
regards the news from Normandy as excellent, still thinking - thanks to
Operation Fortitude's chain of deceptions - that the morning's events are a
cover for the real invasion at Pas-de-Calais.
09.15 General Omar Bradley, commander of the US First Army and in
charge of the assaults on Omaha and Utah, is watching the chaos at
Omaha from the cruiser the USS Augusta. He considers evacuation or diverting
troops from Utah, the situation appears so perilous.
American landing craft approach Omaha beach on D-Day (ALAMY)
09.30 BBC newsreader John Snagge broadcasts Communiqué No 1,
first official announcement of D Day.
This is London. London calling in the Home, Overseas and European services
of the BBC and through United Nations Mediterranean, and this is John Snagge
speaking.
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force have just issued Communiqué
No 1.
Communiqué No 1: Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval
forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this
morning on the northern coast of France.
I’ll repeat that communiqué.
Communiqué No 1: Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval
forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this
morning on the northern coast of France.
09.38 Lord Lovat, leading 1st Special Service Brigade at Sword,
cuts an extraordinary figure as he greets the incoming waves of Commandos,
brushing the sand from his brogues.
Later, in his autobiography, he recalled the moment of landing:
The command craft had a comfortable landing. On these occasions the senior
officer, stepping cautiously (rather than attempting a headlong dive), is
first off the boat. Surprisingly, it is as safe a place as any. The water
was knee-deep when Piper Millin truck up 'Blue Bonnets', keeping the pipes
going as he played the commandos up the beach. It was not a place to hang
about in, and we stood not on the order of our going. That eruption of 1,200
men covered the sand in record time... As we ran up the slope, tearing the
waterproof bandages off weapons, the odd man fell, but swift reactions saved
casualties.
Read more:
Lord Lovat: he was a giant among giants on D-Day
'The handsomest man to cut a throat' was how Winston Churchill described
Shimi
09.48 There are hundreds of bodies on the beach at Omaha and
floating in the water. German machine gunners of the 352nd Infantry Division
are finding it too easy to pick off US forces as they attempt to sprint
across the sand to the potential shelter of the 10ft-high seawall.
10.00 John Snagge reads the BBC news:
This is the BBC Home Service – and here is a special bulletin read by John
Snagge. D-Day has come. Early this morning the Allies began the assault on
the north-western face of Hitler’s European fortress. The first official
news came just after half-past nine, when Supreme Headquarters of the Allied
Expeditionary Force issued Communique Number One...This said: ‘Under the
command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air
forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of
France’.
Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of SHAEF, broadcasts to Europe and
says "the hour of your liberation is approaching":
People of Western Europe: a landing was made this morning on the coast of
France by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This landing is part of
the concerted United Nations plan for the liberation of Europe, made in
conjunction with our great Russian allies.
I have this message for all of you. Although the initial assault may not
have been made in your own country, the hour of your liberation is
approaching.
All patriots, men and women, young and old, have a part to play in the
achievement of final victory. To members of resistance movements, I say,
'Follow the instructions you have received.' To patriots who are not members
of organized resistance groups, I say, 'Continue your passive resistance,
but do not needlessly endanger your lives until I give you the signal to
rise and strike the enemy. The day will come when I shall need your united
strength.' Until that day, I call on you for the hard task of discipline and
restraint.
Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (L)
shows the strain of his command as he and Britain's Field Marshal Bernard
Montgomery (R), his deputy commander, confer on the invasion plans of
Normandy (AFP)
and fires torpedoes, hitting the Norwegian destroyer Svenner.
05.37 A flotilla of three German E-boats stumbles on the invasion fleet
and fires torpedoes, hitting the Norwegian destroyer Svenner.
06.00 The BBC broadcasts a message from Gen Eisenhower to the people of
Normandy:
The lives of many of you depend on the speed with which you obey. Leave
your towns at once – stay off the roads – go on foot and take nothing with
you that is difficult to carry. Do not gather in groups which may be
mistaken for enemy troops.
06.10 B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators bomb batteries over
Omaha Beach but cloud cover means they mostly miss their targets.
As we reached Omaha beach, all 40 aircraft dropped their bombs. More than
100 tons of bombs exploded in a few seconds. This was the only mission over
Europe when I felt the concussion of our own bombs.
- Henry Tarcza, on a B-17 of 8th Air Force.
06.15 As H-Hour nears, rocket launcher barges approach the beaches,
spraying them with salvoes of rockets: 20,000 in the British sector (Gold,
Juno and Sword beaches) and 18,000 in the American sector (Utah and Omaha
beaches)
06.30 H-Hour on Omaha and Utah beaches. The 1st and 29th
American Divisions land over a four-mile front at Omaha. The US 4th Division
assaults Utah. 23,250 are to land at Utah.
06.40 Problems are immediately obvious at Omaha, where 34,000 men and
3,300 vehicles are to be landed. Many landing craft miss their targets; 10
are swamped by rough seas; Duplex Drive tanks – modified Shermans with
floats attached – are sinking in the swell (27 of the first 29 are lost).
And German resistance – from the 352nd Infantry Division – is stronger than
anticipated.
Allied troops crouch behind the bulwarks of a landing craft as it nears
Omaha Beach (AP)
06.41 USS Corry forced to abandon ship due to heavy gunfire and mine
damage.
06.45 At Utah, the westernmost of the five beaches, the situation is
better, despite the tide taking landing craft a mile south of their intended
position. The first troops to reach the shore are from 2nd Battalion, 8th
Infantry. Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr, 56-year-old son of the
former president and assistant commander of the 4th Division, is in the
first wave.
Aerial view of the first landing with landing craft and allied soldiers.
(GETTY)
Members of an American landing party lend helping hands to others whose
landing craft was sunk (REUTERS)
06.48 Berlin Radio has announced that Allied paratroopers are landing
in France and that an E-boat has sunk a destroyer
06.58 Bombing over Gold beach and the west of Juno beach begins: 385
B-17s of the 1st Bombardment Division strike coastal batteries between
Longues-sur-Mer and Courseulles-sur-Mer. Meanwhile 322 B-17s of the 3rd
Bombardment Division hit batteries and defences between Bernières and
Ouistreham to cover the east of Juno beach and Sword beach.
A B-25 Mitchell bomber flies over the Allied invasion fleet in the
English Channel (REX)
07.10 A US Army Ranger Assault Group of 225 men led by Colonel Rudder
attacks the eastern face of Pointe du Hoc, a 100-ft high fortified cliff
between Utah and Omaha beaches. After fierce fighting the gun emplacements
are taken but found to be empty – artillery had already been moved. Fighting
continues for 36 hours after which only 90 Rangers emerge unscathed.
07.25 H-Hour at Sword beach
The British 3rd Division lands, led by Maj Gen Tom Rennie, whose aim is to
liaise with the 6th Airborne and the 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions to take
Caen and the Carpiquet aerodrome by nightfall. 28,845 men will land at
Sword.
07.30 H-Hour at Gold beach.
The British 50th Division's mission, under the command of Major General
Douglas Graham, is to establish a beachhead between Arromanches - important
for the deployment of the artificial Mulberry harbour - and Ver-sur-Mer,
then head to Bayeux to cut the road to Caen. After initial resistance,
progress is good with relatively few casualties. By the end of the day,
24,970 will have landed with 413 casualties.
A Cromwell tank leads a British Army column from the 4th County of
London Yeomanry inland from Gold Beach (REUTERS)
07.35 H-Hour at Juno beach.
The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division commanded by Maj Gen Rodney Keller is meant
to land in two sectors at 07.35 and 07.45 but each timing is delayed by 10
minutes because of rough seas.
07.40 After hours without a decision, and with Hitler still sleeping,
Gen Edgar Feuchtinger unilaterally orders his 21st Panzer Division to move
on the eastern beaches.
07.55 The first Canadian assault wave at Juno finds beach
obstacles partly submerged by the tide. Engineers cannot clear paths to the
beach; landing craft hit mines and almost a third are destroyed or damaged.
Heavy casualties are sustained in the first hour on Juno. 21,400 men will be
landed, with 1,200 casualties.
Canadian soldiers land on Courseulles beach (STF/AFP/Getty Images)
Troops of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division landing at Juno Beach
(Galerie Bilderwelt / GETTY)
08:00 Frederick Allen reads the BBC news:
Supreme Allied Headquarters have issued an urgent warning to inhabitants of
the enemy-occupied countries living near the coast. The warning said that a
new phase of the Allied air offensive had begun.
General Eisenhower sends
his initial report back to headquaters:
All preliminary reports are satisfactory. Airborne formations apparently
landed in good order... Preliminary bombings by air went off as scheduled.
...
Yesterday, I visited British troops about to embark and last night saw a
great portion of a United States airborne division just prior to its
takeoff. The enthusiasm, toughness and obvious fitness of every single man
were high and the light of battle was in their eyes.
I will keep you informed.
08.10 Resistance on Sword beach is weak. Within 45 minutes,
fighting has moved inland and on the east flank the Commando units have
reached the Orne. In all there will be 630 casualties securing the beach.
08.20 Brigadier Lord Lovat leads the Commandos of 1st Special Service
Brigade ashore in the second wave at Sword beach, with piper Bill Millin
playing "Highland Laddie". They are to relieve Major John Howard
at Pegasus Bridge.
Piper Bill Millin strikes up Blue Bonnets as 1st SS Brigade Commandos
wade ashore at Ouistreham on SWORD beach (ALAMY)
Read Bill
Millin's Telegraph obituary:
Millin began his apparently suicidal serenade immediately upon jumping from
the ramp of the landing craft into the icy water. As the Cameron tartan of
his kilt floated to the surface he struck up with Hieland Laddie. He
continued even as the man behind him was hit, dropped into the sea and sank.
Once ashore Millin did not run, but walked up and down the beach, blasting
out a series of tunes. After Hieland Laddie, Lovat, the commander of 1st
Special Service Brigade (1 SSB), raised his voice above the crackle of
gunfire and the crump of mortar, and asked for another. Millin strode up and
down the water’s edge playing The Road to the Isles.
08.25 There are Sherman tanks on Omaha beach giving cover to troops but
casualties are severe. Photographer Robert Capa has come ashore in the
second wave with the 16th Regiment of the US 1st Infantry Division. He takes
106 pictures but only 11 survive mistakes in the processing lab - those images will become
the most enduring of the day.
08.35 Half-tracks, jeeps and trucks are stuck in deep water on Omaha.
Wounded men on the beach are drowning as the tide comes in.
I was the first one out. The seventh man was the next one to get across the
beach without being hit. All the ones in between were hit. Two were killed;
three were injured. That's how lucky you had to be.
- Captain Richard Merrill, 2nd Ranger Battalion
08.40 Hitler is still asleep at Berchtesgaden.
08.50 Troops from the 48th Royal Marines at Saint-Aubin-sur-mer on Juno
Beach, Normandy:
(HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY)
09.05 Hitler is finally awake at the Berghof, Berchtesgaden. He
regards the news from Normandy as excellent, still thinking - thanks to
Operation Fortitude's chain of deceptions - that the morning's events are a
cover for the real invasion at Pas-de-Calais.
09.15 General Omar Bradley, commander of the US First Army and in
charge of the assaults on Omaha and Utah, is watching the chaos at
Omaha from the cruiser the USS Augusta. He considers evacuation or diverting
troops from Utah, the situation appears so perilous.
American landing craft approach Omaha beach on D-Day (ALAMY)
09.30 BBC newsreader John Snagge broadcasts Communiqué No 1,
first official announcement of D Day.
This is London. London calling in the Home, Overseas and European services
of the BBC and through United Nations Mediterranean, and this is John Snagge
speaking.
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force have just issued Communiqué
No 1.
Communiqué No 1: Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval
forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this
morning on the northern coast of France.
I’ll repeat that communiqué.
Communiqué No 1: Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval
forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this
morning on the northern coast of France.
09.38 Lord Lovat, leading 1st Special Service Brigade at Sword,
cuts an extraordinary figure as he greets the incoming waves of Commandos,
brushing the sand from his brogues.
Later, in his autobiography, he recalled the moment of landing:
The command craft had a comfortable landing. On these occasions the senior
officer, stepping cautiously (rather than attempting a headlong dive), is
first off the boat. Surprisingly, it is as safe a place as any. The water
was knee-deep when Piper Millin truck up 'Blue Bonnets', keeping the pipes
going as he played the commandos up the beach. It was not a place to hang
about in, and we stood not on the order of our going. That eruption of 1,200
men covered the sand in record time... As we ran up the slope, tearing the
waterproof bandages off weapons, the odd man fell, but swift reactions saved
casualties.
Read more:
Lord Lovat: he was a giant among giants on D-Day
'The handsomest man to cut a throat' was how Winston Churchill described
Shimi
09.48 There are hundreds of bodies on the beach at Omaha and
floating in the water. German machine gunners of the 352nd Infantry Division
are finding it too easy to pick off US forces as they attempt to sprint
across the sand to the potential shelter of the 10ft-high seawall.
10.00 John Snagge reads the BBC news:
This is the BBC Home Service – and here is a special bulletin read by John
Snagge. D-Day has come. Early this morning the Allies began the assault on
the north-western face of Hitler’s European fortress. The first official
news came just after half-past nine, when Supreme Headquarters of the Allied
Expeditionary Force issued Communique Number One...This said: ‘Under the
command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air
forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of
France’.
Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of SHAEF, broadcasts to Europe and
says "the hour of your liberation is approaching":
People of Western Europe: a landing was made this morning on the coast of
France by troops of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This landing is part of
the concerted United Nations plan for the liberation of Europe, made in
conjunction with our great Russian allies.
I have this message for all of you. Although the initial assault may not
have been made in your own country, the hour of your liberation is
approaching.
All patriots, men and women, young and old, have a part to play in the
achievement of final victory. To members of resistance movements, I say,
'Follow the instructions you have received.' To patriots who are not members
of organized resistance groups, I say, 'Continue your passive resistance,
but do not needlessly endanger your lives until I give you the signal to
rise and strike the enemy. The day will come when I shall need your united
strength.' Until that day, I call on you for the hard task of discipline and
restraint.
Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (L)
shows the strain of his command as he and Britain's Field Marshal Bernard
Montgomery (R), his deputy commander, confer on the invasion plans of
Normandy (AFP)
10.10 Where's Rommel? Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is absent from his HQ
at La Roche-Guyon, north-west of Paris. He has returned home to Herrlingen
in south-west Germany for his wife Lucie’s 50th birthday. He is shortly to
realise this was a mistake.
10.18 Destroyers and smaller craft close to shore are desperately
trying to provide cover for the landed men at Omaha. There are in theory
five exits from the beach - a paved road leading to Vierville-sur-Mer, two
dirt roads leading to Colleville-sur-Mer and Saint-Laurent-sur-Mert, and two
dirt paths - but given the level of fire the only practicable way out is to
scale the cliffs as the US Rangers had at Pointe du Hoc (see 07.10)
10.25 Lord Lovat and his Commandos are marching towards to Bénouville
to relieve Major Howard at Pegasus and Horsa bridges.
British paratroopers in Normandy (AFP / GETTY)
10.33 Maj Gen Keller, leading the Canadians at Juno, messages SHAEF: "Beach-head
gained. Well on our way to our immediate objectives"
Canadian soldiers from 9th Brigade land 06 June 1944 with their bicycles
at Juno Beach in Bernieres (AFP)
at La Roche-Guyon, north-west of Paris. He has returned home to Herrlingen
in south-west Germany for his wife Lucie’s 50th birthday. He is shortly to
realise this was a mistake.
10.18 Destroyers and smaller craft close to shore are desperately
trying to provide cover for the landed men at Omaha. There are in theory
five exits from the beach - a paved road leading to Vierville-sur-Mer, two
dirt roads leading to Colleville-sur-Mer and Saint-Laurent-sur-Mert, and two
dirt paths - but given the level of fire the only practicable way out is to
scale the cliffs as the US Rangers had at Pointe du Hoc (see 07.10)
10.25 Lord Lovat and his Commandos are marching towards to Bénouville
to relieve Major Howard at Pegasus and Horsa bridges.
British paratroopers in Normandy (AFP / GETTY)
10.33 Maj Gen Keller, leading the Canadians at Juno, messages SHAEF: "Beach-head
gained. Well on our way to our immediate objectives"
Canadian soldiers from 9th Brigade land 06 June 1944 with their bicycles
at Juno Beach in Bernieres (AFP)
10.40 Amid the carnage of Omaha, Colonel George Taylor,
regimental commander of the US 16th Infantry Regiment, shouts to his men:
Two sorts of people are going to stay on this beach, those who are dead and
those who are going to die. Let’s get the hell out of here!
10.45 The German 21st Panzer Division has received orders to attack
between Bayeux and Caen.
10.55 The progress of the British is being assisted by the "Hobart's
Funnies" of 79th Armoured Division - modified tanks designed by Percy
Hobart that can clear mines and prepare trackways.
Sherman Crab Mark II minesweeping flail tank is used to clear already
identified minefields (IWM / GETTY)
regimental commander of the US 16th Infantry Regiment, shouts to his men:
Two sorts of people are going to stay on this beach, those who are dead and
those who are going to die. Let’s get the hell out of here!
10.45 The German 21st Panzer Division has received orders to attack
between Bayeux and Caen.
10.55 The progress of the British is being assisted by the "Hobart's
Funnies" of 79th Armoured Division - modified tanks designed by Percy
Hobart that can clear mines and prepare trackways.
Sherman Crab Mark II minesweeping flail tank is used to clear already
identified minefields (IWM / GETTY)
11.07 Despite progress it is becoming clear that the plan to take Caen
from Sword beach by nightfall will not happen. The South Lancashires hold
Hermanville but await tank support from the Staffordshire Yeomanry in order
to move on.
11.22 There are perhaps 2,000 dead at Omaha but troops are reaching the
cliffs led by US Rangers. Gen Bradley is messaged that "things look
better".
After the assault at the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc by the 2nd Ranger
Battalion, German prisoners are gathered and an American flag is deployed
for signaling. (GETTY)
11.30 BBC correspondent Howard Marshall, best known as a cricket
commentator, reports from the beaches (it is unclear which he's on):
The scene on the beach, until one had sorted it out, was at first rather
depressing because we did see a great many barges in difficulty with these
anti-tank screens. And we noticed that a number of them had struck mines as
ours struck mines.
But then we began to see that in fact the proportion which had got through
was very much greater. And the troops were moving all along the roads. The
tanks were out already and going up the hills. That in fact we were
dominating the situation. And that our main enemy was the weather and that
we were beating the weather. That we had our troops and our tanks ashore and
that the Germans weren’t really putting up a great deal of resistance.
11.40 MPs are crowding the House of Commons awaiting a statement from
Winston Churchill updating them on the extraordinary events of the morning.
11.48 Beyond Gold beach, the assault on Le Hamel is proving bloody and
will take until late afternoon, with the support of the 147th Field
Regiment, Royal Artillery.
12.00 John Snagge reads a special midday bulletin on the BBC's Home
Service:
D-Day has come. Early this morning the Allies began the assault on the
north-western face of Hitler's European fortress. The first official news
came just after half past nine when Supreme Headquarters of the Allied
Expeditionary Force... issued Communique No 1 [see 09.30] ...
It was announced a little later that General Montgomery is in command of
the Army Group carrying out the assault. This Army Group includes British,
Canadian and United States forces.
The Allied Commander-in-Chief General Eisenhower has issued an Order of the
Day addressed to each individual of the Allied Expeditionary Force. In it he
said: 'Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well
equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year
1944. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together
to victory.
'I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in
battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good luck, and let us
all beseech the Blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble
undertaking.'...
His Majesty the King will broadcast to his people at home and overseas at
nine o'clock tonight.
Read the full Order
of the Day
from Sword beach by nightfall will not happen. The South Lancashires hold
Hermanville but await tank support from the Staffordshire Yeomanry in order
to move on.
11.22 There are perhaps 2,000 dead at Omaha but troops are reaching the
cliffs led by US Rangers. Gen Bradley is messaged that "things look
better".
After the assault at the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc by the 2nd Ranger
Battalion, German prisoners are gathered and an American flag is deployed
for signaling. (GETTY)
11.30 BBC correspondent Howard Marshall, best known as a cricket
commentator, reports from the beaches (it is unclear which he's on):
The scene on the beach, until one had sorted it out, was at first rather
depressing because we did see a great many barges in difficulty with these
anti-tank screens. And we noticed that a number of them had struck mines as
ours struck mines.
But then we began to see that in fact the proportion which had got through
was very much greater. And the troops were moving all along the roads. The
tanks were out already and going up the hills. That in fact we were
dominating the situation. And that our main enemy was the weather and that
we were beating the weather. That we had our troops and our tanks ashore and
that the Germans weren’t really putting up a great deal of resistance.
11.40 MPs are crowding the House of Commons awaiting a statement from
Winston Churchill updating them on the extraordinary events of the morning.
11.48 Beyond Gold beach, the assault on Le Hamel is proving bloody and
will take until late afternoon, with the support of the 147th Field
Regiment, Royal Artillery.
12.00 John Snagge reads a special midday bulletin on the BBC's Home
Service:
D-Day has come. Early this morning the Allies began the assault on the
north-western face of Hitler's European fortress. The first official news
came just after half past nine when Supreme Headquarters of the Allied
Expeditionary Force... issued Communique No 1 [see 09.30] ...
It was announced a little later that General Montgomery is in command of
the Army Group carrying out the assault. This Army Group includes British,
Canadian and United States forces.
The Allied Commander-in-Chief General Eisenhower has issued an Order of the
Day addressed to each individual of the Allied Expeditionary Force. In it he
said: 'Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well
equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year
1944. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together
to victory.
'I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in
battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good luck, and let us
all beseech the Blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble
undertaking.'...
His Majesty the King will broadcast to his people at home and overseas at
nine o'clock tonight.
Read the full Order
of the Day
12.07 Winston Churchill is on his feet, addressing a packed House of
Commons. He teases MPs by talking at length about the progress of the war in
Italy.
12.15 At last, Churchill turns to the events of June 6:
I have also to announce to the House that during the night and the early
hours of this morning, the first of the series of landings in force upon the
European Continent has taken place.
In this case the liberating assault fell upon the coast of France. An
immense armada of upwards of 4,000 ships, together with several thousand
smaller craft, crossed the Channel. Massed airborne landings have been
successfully effected behind the enemy lines, and landings on the beaches
are proceeding at various points at the present time.
The fire of the shore batteries has been largely quelled. The obstacles that were constructed in the sea have not proved so difficult as was
apprehended. The Anglo-American Allies are sustained by about 11,000
firstline aircraft, which can be drawn upon as may be needed for the
purposes of the battle. I cannot, of course, commit myself to any particular
details. Reports are coming in in rapid succession. So far the Commanders
who are engaged report that everything is proceeding according to plan. And
what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and
difficult that has ever taken place.
The airborne troops are well established, and the landings and the
follow-ups are all proceeding with much less loss - very much less - than we
expected. Fighting is in progress at various points. We captured various
bridges which were of importance, and which were not blown up. There is even
fighting proceeding in the town of Caen, inland.
But all this, although a very valuable first step - a vital and essential
first step - gives no indication of what may be the course of the battle in
the next days and weeks, because the enemy will now probably endeavour to
concentrate on this area, and in that event heavy fighting will soon begin
and will continue without end, as we can push troops in and he can bring
other troops up.
It is, therefore, a most serious time that we enter upon. Thank God, we
enter upon it with our great Allies all in good heart and all in good
friendship.
Commons. He teases MPs by talking at length about the progress of the war in
Italy.
12.15 At last, Churchill turns to the events of June 6:
I have also to announce to the House that during the night and the early
hours of this morning, the first of the series of landings in force upon the
European Continent has taken place.
In this case the liberating assault fell upon the coast of France. An
immense armada of upwards of 4,000 ships, together with several thousand
smaller craft, crossed the Channel. Massed airborne landings have been
successfully effected behind the enemy lines, and landings on the beaches
are proceeding at various points at the present time.
The fire of the shore batteries has been largely quelled. The obstacles that were constructed in the sea have not proved so difficult as was
apprehended. The Anglo-American Allies are sustained by about 11,000
firstline aircraft, which can be drawn upon as may be needed for the
purposes of the battle. I cannot, of course, commit myself to any particular
details. Reports are coming in in rapid succession. So far the Commanders
who are engaged report that everything is proceeding according to plan. And
what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and
difficult that has ever taken place.
The airborne troops are well established, and the landings and the
follow-ups are all proceeding with much less loss - very much less - than we
expected. Fighting is in progress at various points. We captured various
bridges which were of importance, and which were not blown up. There is even
fighting proceeding in the town of Caen, inland.
But all this, although a very valuable first step - a vital and essential
first step - gives no indication of what may be the course of the battle in
the next days and weeks, because the enemy will now probably endeavour to
concentrate on this area, and in that event heavy fighting will soon begin
and will continue without end, as we can push troops in and he can bring
other troops up.
It is, therefore, a most serious time that we enter upon. Thank God, we
enter upon it with our great Allies all in good heart and all in good
friendship.
12.30 Update from Sword beach: the 1st South Lancashire Regiment (South
Lancs) and 2nd East Yorkshire Regiment (East Yorks) have led the charge. The
coastal strongpoint at la Breche has been captured, as has
Hermanville-sur-Mer. The 185th Infantry Brigade, part of the second wave,
has begun to push inland despite a lack of supporting armour.
American B-26 Marauder returns to UK base across the SWORD invasion
beach on D-Day (Alamy)
12.34 Where's Rommel? Being driven back at high speed from his home in
Herrlingen to his HQ at La Rochue-Guyon. He has some way to go.
12.40 Update from Gold beach: the Germans are holding 1st Battalion of
the Hampshire Regiment at bay outside Le Hamel. The forces of 50th Division
have pushed inland four miles towards the town of Creully and 47 Commando
Royal Marines have gone west four miles to take Port-en-Bessin and close the
gap with the US forces at Omaha.
A sweet, rancid smell, never forgotten, was everywhere; it was the smell of
burned explosive, torn flesh and ruptured earth.
- Private Hooley, 'A' Company, 1 Hampshire
British soldiers Moving Into The French Countryside, source &
location unknown (Jamie Wiseman /REX)
12.50 Lord Lovat and his Commandos, accompanied by piper Bill Millin,
approach the Bénouville bridges to relieve Major John Howard, 2nd
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Georges Gondrée, proprietor
of the Café Gondreé, comes out with champagne for Lovat but is waved away
with the words: "I'm working".
12.55 Update from Juno beach: Canadian and British Commando forces have
advanced through St Aubin and Courseulles, before pushing four miles inland,
but they are meeting frequent pockets of resistance.
German prisoners-of-war march along Juno Beach landing area to a ship
taking them to England, after they were captured by Canadian troops at
Bernieres Sur Mer, France on June 6, 1944 (REUTERS/Ken Bell/National
Archives of Canada)
approach the Bénouville bridges to relieve Major John Howard, 2nd
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Georges Gondrée, proprietor
of the Café Gondreé, comes out with champagne for Lovat but is waved away
with the words: "I'm working".
12.55 Update from Juno beach: Canadian and British Commando forces have
advanced through St Aubin and Courseulles, before pushing four miles inland,
but they are meeting frequent pockets of resistance.
German prisoners-of-war march along Juno Beach landing area to a ship
taking them to England, after they were captured by Canadian troops at
Bernieres Sur Mer, France on June 6, 1944 (REUTERS/Ken Bell/National
Archives of Canada)
13.00 Frederick Allen reads the one o'clock BBC news: he recounts the
details of the morning as described to the House of Commons by Winston
Churchill and says that the Prime Minister was "loudly cheered"
when he sat down.
The German home listener heard his first news of the Allied attack just
half an hour ago.
13.10 Update from Utah beach: the 4th US Infantry Division's
progress has been much easier than what is being endured at Omaha. Utah was
lightly defended because the Germans thought that deliberate flooding of
low-lying areas behind the beach provided a natural defence. But the
Americans are making good progress across marshland to hook up with US
Airborne forces, who dropped earlier in the Merderet and Douve valleys.
American troops of the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division at
Utah Beach (REUTERS)
details of the morning as described to the House of Commons by Winston
Churchill and says that the Prime Minister was "loudly cheered"
when he sat down.
The German home listener heard his first news of the Allied attack just
half an hour ago.
13.10 Update from Utah beach: the 4th US Infantry Division's
progress has been much easier than what is being endured at Omaha. Utah was
lightly defended because the Germans thought that deliberate flooding of
low-lying areas behind the beach provided a natural defence. But the
Americans are making good progress across marshland to hook up with US
Airborne forces, who dropped earlier in the Merderet and Douve valleys.
American troops of the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division at
Utah Beach (REUTERS)
13.18 Update from Omaha: German strongpoints have been taken,
including strategic fortification WN72, with its 88mm and 50mm guns. This
should open the route to the village of Vierville-sur-Mer.
13.45 Progress at Omaha is thanks in no small part to the
fighting spirit of the 29th Infantry Division, led by Maj Gen Norman "Dutch"
Cota, one of the highest ranking officers on the beaches. He had taken a
pessimistic view of the landings, realising the perils that awaited. But now
his indomitable spirit shines through.
Meeting the commander of the 5th Ranger Battalion, Cota asks "What outfit
is this?" A voice shouts "5th Rangers!" To which Cota
answers: "Well, God damn it then, Rangers, lead the way!"
U.S. Army troops make a battle plan in a farmyard amid cattle, which
were killed by artillery bursts (REUTERS/US National Archives)
13.35 From Omaha, Gen Bradley aboard USS Augusta receives the
message: "Troops previously stopped on Easy Red, Easy Green and Red Fox
beaches, progress on hills behind the beaches.
13.30 Caen is bombed for the first time on D Day. 70-plus B-24s
of the 2nd Bombardment Division drop 160 tons of bombs over the town. Many
civilians are killed.
13.50 Despite a leaflet drop over Caen earlier, warning civilians of an
Allied air attack, there are many casualties.
(ALAMY)
including strategic fortification WN72, with its 88mm and 50mm guns. This
should open the route to the village of Vierville-sur-Mer.
13.45 Progress at Omaha is thanks in no small part to the
fighting spirit of the 29th Infantry Division, led by Maj Gen Norman "Dutch"
Cota, one of the highest ranking officers on the beaches. He had taken a
pessimistic view of the landings, realising the perils that awaited. But now
his indomitable spirit shines through.
Meeting the commander of the 5th Ranger Battalion, Cota asks "What outfit
is this?" A voice shouts "5th Rangers!" To which Cota
answers: "Well, God damn it then, Rangers, lead the way!"
U.S. Army troops make a battle plan in a farmyard amid cattle, which
were killed by artillery bursts (REUTERS/US National Archives)
13.35 From Omaha, Gen Bradley aboard USS Augusta receives the
message: "Troops previously stopped on Easy Red, Easy Green and Red Fox
beaches, progress on hills behind the beaches.
13.30 Caen is bombed for the first time on D Day. 70-plus B-24s
of the 2nd Bombardment Division drop 160 tons of bombs over the town. Many
civilians are killed.
13.50 Despite a leaflet drop over Caen earlier, warning civilians of an
Allied air attack, there are many casualties.
(ALAMY)
14.10 Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis of the Green Howards
is having a remarkable day. After landing at Gold beach, he investigates two
German pillboxes with his company commander. He takes all but five of the
occupants of the first pillbox prisoner and then captures 26 prisoners from
the second. Then he clears a neighbouring trench.
Later he leads an attack on an enemy position containing a field gun and
Spandau machine guns; then after withdrawing returns to fetch two men left
behind.
He will be the only winner of a Victoria Cross on D-Day.
14.20 Périers, south of Sword beach, is liberated by the Staffordshire
Yeomanry.
14.35 Colonel von Oppeln-Bronikowski, leading the 22nd Panzer Regiment,
has passed Caen and is urged by Gen Marks, commander of the 84th Corps, to
press on to the beaches:
The fate of Germany... depends on the success of your attack.
14.48 US troops beyond Omaha hold Colleville-sur-Mer. The German
916th Grenadier Regiment led by Col Goth counter-attacks but unsuccessfully.
15.00 The first sections of two massive artificial harbours code-named
Mulberry are heading across the Channel.Built of concrete and steel they
will help the Allies to resupply the invasion force.
Constructed Mulberry harbours at Arromanches, Sept 1944 (ALAMY)
15.10 Where's Rommel? Now less than an hour from La Roche-Guyon after a
madcap dash back from Germany with his driver.
15.30 At Omaha, Heinrich Severloh, the last German defender of
strongpoint WN62, abandons his post. He claims to have fired over 12,000
rounds with a machine gun and 400 with his rifle and may be responsible for
hundreds of the casualties on the beach.
15.40 General Gunther Blumentritt, Von Rundstedt's chief of staff,
calls Lt General Speidel at Rommel’s HQ to announce that Hitler has finally
agreed to send in the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, based south of
Rouen, and the Panzer Lehr based near Chartres.
15.45 Strongpoint Sole between Ouistreham and Colleville-sur-Orne falls
to B Squadron 13 Hussars and the 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire. 40 Germans
are captured.
15.50 Winston Churchill is going back to the Commons to make another
statement
16.00 Le Hamel is finally captured by 1 Battalion Hampshire from Gold
beach. 231st Brigade moves on to Arromanches. 69th Brigade meets resistance
in Villers le Sec/Bazenville area.
Meanwhile, Rommel has arrived back at La Roche-Guyon.
16.05 American armour begins advancing inland from Omaha beach. First
US Sherman tank reaches the road connecting the beach to Colleville but is
destroyed.
16.15 9th (UK) Brigade who landed at Sword move inland. 185th Brigade
repels attack by 21st Panzer Diviosn at Périers Ridge but the British
advance slows.
D-DAY British troops follow a Sherman tank towards a Normandy village
after the landings (Alamy)
16.30 Caen is bombed for the second time today, an attempt again
to destroy German communication lines. This time the targets are the bridges
on the Orne river. Bombing lasts for more than a quarter of an hour, and the
neighborhood is destroyed. The town has now suffered many hundreds of
civilian casualties.
16.50 Charles de Gaulle, in London, has recorded an address to
the French people to be broadcast this evening. There have been tensions
with Churchill and Eisenhower who kept the details of D Day from the Free
French leader, but in the end his speech is not vetted.
17.10 Reinforcements are leaving Britain by ship and later more will
arrive by glider.
18.00 Charles de Gaulle’s address is broadcast to France.
The battle has begun and France will fight it with fury. For the sons of
France, whoever they may be, wherever they may be, the simple and sacred
duty is to fight the enemy with every means in their power.” He gives thanks
to the British for their effort in the liberation of France. On hearing him,
tears well up in Churchill’s eyes. Noticing an uncomfortable look on the
face of General Ismay, his chief of staff, General Ismay, he says: “You
great tub of lard! Have you no sentiment?
Charles de Gaulle speaking on BBC radio in 1940 (GETTY)
18.10 Canadian 9th Brigade reaches Bény.
18.20 Churchill has spoken again to the Commons: “I have been at
centres where the latest information is received and I can state to the
House that this operation is proceeding in a thoroughly satisfactory manner.”
19.00 Across Fleet Street, editors are preparing their front pages. The
Daily Telegraph’s main headline tomorrow will be: ALLIED
INVASION TROOPS SEVERAL MILES INTO FRANCE
View the full Daily Telegraph front
page June 7th 1944
20.00 The fighting continues: 1st Suffolk Regiment captures the Hillman
fortified site at Colleville-sur-Orne above Sword Beach. The
concrete-reinforced stronghold has been the headquarters for the 736rd
Regiment Grenadiers.
20.55 Arromanches is captured; this will be key to installing the
Mulberry harbours.
21.00 King George VI addresses Britain, the Empire and North America on
the BBC:
Once more, a supreme test has to be faced. This time, the challenge is not
to fight to survive but to fight to win the final victory for the good
cause. Once again, what is demanded from us all is something more than courage, more than endurance. We need a revival of spirit – a new, unconquerable resolve.
21.20 Operation Mallard has begun: 250 gliders escorted by RAF
fighters bring reinforcements and equipments for the 6th British Airborne
Division.
21.30 185th Brigade halts at Biéville, three miles from Caen.
22.00 General Montgomery boards the destroyer HMS Faulknor at
Portsmouth for the beaches, where he will take command of Allied troops.
22.30 Caen is bombed for a third time today.
23.59 By the end of D-Day, 159,000 Allied troops, marines, airmen and
naval personnel ashore have successfully established four sizeable
beachheads. The invasion front remains vulnerable to German counter-attack,
and there will be terrible fighting ahead, but a crucial step has been taken
towards liberating Europe.
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