As we rapidly approach the 78th anniversary, the 'ninety day wonders' that rule the roost at WoW Towers thought it would be very splendid if we posted up a few choice D-Day / Operation Overlord factoids to celebrate and commemorate this momentous military endeavour.
So, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are a dozen delectable D-Day facts for your viewing pleasure.
The 'D' in D-Day is derived from the word 'Day'. It quite literally means the day on which a military operation begins.
US President Roosevelt told General Dwight D. Eisenhower that he would be commanding the upcoming invasion of France while they were in Tunis on 7th December, 1943
The original date set for D-Day was 5th June, but it was delayed due to poor weather
The deception plan delployed to keep the Germans guessing as to when/where the invasion would take place was code-named Operation Bodyguard
British Major General Percy Hobart designed several specialist vehicles specifically for the invasion. They included swimming tanks and armoured bulldozers. The soldiers called them 'Hobart's funnies'
Between January and June 1944 British factories produced 7 million jerry cans in support of the invasion
Around 7,000 ships of all shapes and sizes were used on D-Day
73,000 US soldiers and 83,000 British and Canadian troops crossed the channel on D-Day
The crossing took about 17 hours. The invasion force sailed to a rendezvous area in the middle of the Channel nicknamed 'Piccadilly Circus. From there they then set off to the invasion zones
No Allied planes were lost to the Luftwaffe on D-Day, although 113 were lost to anti-aircraft fire
There were five invasion beaches: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword
Only one VC was awarded on D-Day - to CSM Stanley Hollis of the Green Howards
Within 100 days of the invasion, 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tonnes of equipment, rations and supplies had been unloaded through two temporary 'Mulberry' harbours
OK - so it was a bakers dozen.
If you want to know more about D-Day, why not check out D-Day: A Layman's Guide which is 99p / 99c (or equivalent) on Amazon Kindle and other e-book formats worldwide.
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