06/06/2026
82 years ago today, the largest naval, air and land operation in history took place.
Originally planned for May 1st, then June 5th, but delayed both times for bad weather, the invasion was conducted in two main phases - an airborne assault and amphibious landings. Shortly after midnight on 6 June, over 18,000 Allied paratroopers were dropped into the invasion area to provide tactical support for infantry divisions on the beaches. Allied air forces flew over 14,000 sorties in support of the landings and, having secured air supremacy prior to the invasion, many of these flights were unchallenged by the Luftwaffe.
Nearly 7,000 naval vessels, including battleships, destroyers, minesweepers, escorts and assault craft took part in Operation 'Neptune', the naval component of 'Overlord'. Naval forces were responsible for escorting and landing over 132,000 ground troops on the beaches. They also carried out bombardments on German coastal defences before and during the landings and provided artillery support for the invading troops.
-Soldiers in the first assault wave on Utah beach had a 50/50 survival rate.
-Only 1 in 6 Paratroopers landed in the correct area, but were still able to create chaos for the German forces.
-In the planning phase of the paratrooper operation, there was an expectation that casualties would be 75%
-Not a single Allied aircraft was shot down by the German Luftwaffe, but 113 were downed by anti aircraft fire.
-The youngest soldier to participate in the invasion was Private Robert “Bobby” Jones who lied about his age (like many did) and joined at 14 and fought at the invasion at 16 years old.
-Operation Fortitude was an Allied false flag operation used to deceive Germany into believing the invasion would occur at another location.
-The fake information in Operation Fortitude was labeled “Ultra Secret” in an attempt to make it sound more plausible when intercepted.
-The real info on the invasion was classified above “Top Secret” and labeled as “BIGOT,” for British Invasion of German Occupied Territory.
-Operation Fortitude employed the use of fake radio traffic, misinformation fed to double agents, fake armies of paratroopers, and inflatable tanks.
