D-Day
Battle of Graignes: An HQ Company’s Heroic Last Stand in Normandy
By Martin K.A. MorganSome 16 million Americans served during World War II, and tens of thousands of sons of the State of Louisiana served in every branch of the U.S. Read more
D-Day
Code named Operation Overlord, the D-Day Invasion occurred on June 6, 1944, as elements of five Allied infantry and three Allied airborne divisions assaulted the Normandy coast of Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Under the overall command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the landings on Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah, and Omaha beaches succeeded in establishing a foothold on the continent. Following an arduous campaign in Normandy and savage fighting across the German frontier, troops of the Western Allies met the Soviet Red Army, advancing from the East, and Nazi Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945.
D-Day
Assault on Ludendorff Bridge: The First Allied Crossing of the Rhine
By Jon DiamondOn a cold March evening in the Goldenrod Café in West Point, Nebraska, Mary Timmermann, a waitress there, picked up the telephone receiver when her boss told her it was Omaha calling long distance for her. Read more
D-Day
From Paratrooper to POW: Bob Nobles of the 82nd Airborne
By Kevin M. Hymel“The lieutenant said for everyone to lay your arms down,” a fellow paratrooper told Pfc. Bob Nobles, who had been fighting for six grueling days in the hedgerows following his unit’s jump into Normandy. Read more
D-Day
The OSS and the Fourth Dimension of Warfare
By Bob BerginMajor General John K. Singlaub was a young airborne lieutenant when he took up an offer from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to become engaged in “hazardous duty behind enemy lines.” Read more
D-Day
Massacre at Hémevez
By Martin K.A. MorganWhen we remember the 13,000 paratroopers and glider infantrymen who contributed so significantly to the hard-won success of June 6, 1944, we tend to remember the stories that leave us with something to admire. Read more
D-Day
The D-Day Invasion Museum
By Flint WhitlockThere is such a treasure trove of fine military museums in Normandy—perhaps more than anywhere else in the world—that we could devote an entire issue to nothing but them. Read more
D-Day
Soldiers of Juno: The Canadian Invasion of Normandy
By Dorothy BrothertonAs John Wesley Pointon jumped into the cold English Channel water with the Royal Canadian 7th Brigade Signal Corps and struggled with a heavy radio strapped to his back toward the beach that was being torn apart by shot and shell, the farm boy from Saskatchewan tried to make his mind go blank. Read more
D-Day
Commandos Crack Hitler’s Atlantic Wall
By Mark SimmonAfter successfully fighting seasickness during the crossing of the English Channel, Lance-Corporal Ted Brooks of Number 48 (Royal Marine) Commando arrived on Nan Red Beach—which formed the left flank of Juno Beach—on the morning of June 6, 1944. Read more
D-Day
The Supply Front: The Allies’ Key to Victory
By Glenn BarnettAfter the war in Europe was won, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had many opportunities to review various campaigns with the leaders of the Soviet Army–– including even Joseph Stalin himself. Read more
D-Day
The Path of Heroism
By Stephen J. Ochs, PHDOn the morning of April 18, 1945, amid street fighting in rubble-strewn Nuremberg, Germany, 20-year-old U.S. Read more
D-Day
Deaths in WWII: Casualties, and the Graves Registration Units
By Mason B. WebbThe very nature of war means that some participants will be killed and others will be wounded, and some estimate the deaths in WWII to be around 85 million. Read more
D-Day
Building the Atlantic Wall
By Allyn VannoyThe popular image of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall) is one of massive bunkers and huge artillery pieces recessed in concrete casemates stretching the length of the Reich’s coastline. Read more
D-Day
Airborne at La Fière: Slugfest in Normandy
By Flint WhitlockThe night of June 5, 1944, and the morning of June 6 were without a doubt some of the most pivotal hours in the history of the 20th century. Read more
D-Day
The 1st Commando Brigade’s Invasion of Germany
By Mark Simmons“The big day came and we moved off to our positions. Shortly a huge bombing raid commenced on the town of Wesel, followed by an artillery barrage which virtually shook the very ground under us. Read more
D-Day
Demise of the Japanese Navy
By Christopher MiskimonThe Japanese superbattleship Musashi was steaming east along with a fleet of other battleships, cruisers, and destroyers on their way toward what was expected to be a climactic battle at Leyte Gulf. Read more
D-Day
The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center
By Borden BlackThe American Infantry’s illustrious history, which is older than that of the country, comes alive in an impressive, $100,000,000, 190,000-square-foot museum located just outside Fort Benning, Georgia. Read more
D-Day
D-Day+1: Canadians at the Battle of Buron and Authie
By Herb KugelOn June 7, 1944, D+1, two volunteer Canadian 3rd Division, 9th Infantry Brigade regiments, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders (the North Novas) and the 27th Canadian Armoured Regiment (the Sherbrooke Fusiliers)—together with volunteer units from the Camerons of Ottawa and Forward Observers from the 14th Field Regiment—fought an important but now generally forgotten battle in Normandy. Read more
D-Day
Sub Hunters Over the Bay of Biscay
By Patrick J. Chaisson“Am over enemy submarine in position …”
Cut off in mid-transmission, this contact report came from a U.S. Read more
D-Day
“John Ford’s Navy”: A Filmmaker in the OSS
By Michael D. HullWith such award-winning films as Stagecoach, Young Mr. Lincoln, Drums Along the Mohawk, The Grapes of Wrath, The Long Voyage Home, and How Green Was My Valley behind him, John Ford was one of Hollywood’s most respected directors by the time World War II broke out in 1939. Read more
D-Day
The Big Three in Tehran: The Meeting That Shaped WWII
By Michael D. HullWorld War II made a disparate trio of allies —British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Marshal Joseph Stalin, and American President Franklin D. Read more
