6 June 1944
Posted: Saturday, June 06, 2009 by Travis Cody in
Today is the 65th commemoration of the Allied landings at Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944. Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and civilians from many nations invaded Hitler's fortress Europe. Many gave their lives to liberate the continent from Nazi tyranny.
I've linked to a lot of information about the units noted below. It's certainly not comprehensive, but there's still a lot of it. I don't expect anyone to read through all of it, but I do encourage you to pick one or two.
These are the units that participated in the invasion, as found on Wiki.
- British 6th Airborne Division
- British I Corps
- British 3rd Infantry Division
- British 27th Armoured Brigade
- Canadian 3rd Infantry Division
- Canadian 2nd Armoured Brigade
- British XXX Corps
- British 50th Infantry Division
- British 8th Armoured Brigade
- British 79th Armoured Division
- U.S. V Corps
- U.S. 1st Infantry Division
- U.S. 29th Infantry Division
- U.S. VII Corps
- U.S. 4th Infantry Division
- U.S. 101st Airborne Division
- U.S. 82nd Airborne Division
- U.S. 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions
- Free French Special Air Service (SAS) 4th Battalion
- Elements from 8 different navies comprised the invasion fleet of 6,939 ships.
- The British Special Operations Executive supported elements of the French Resistance.
- Elements of the U.S. Navy underwater demolition teams.
All of these units and civilians played roles in the successful landings and subsequent push inland. It was a war that engulfed and impacted the world, and it took the better part of the world to ultimately end it.
To those who sacrificed all, I wish you the eternal peace you earned.
To all who served, I thank you and salute you.
The United States
The United Kingdom
Free France
Canada
Poland
The Netherlands
Norway
Belgium
Australia
New ZealandRemember them.
Excellent post, Trav! We most certainly do owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who served and died, those who served and survived and from many nations besides ours too.