History

06 Jun 2024 18:31

16:30: British soldiers (alongside Dutch and Polish) are pushing from Gold beach along the road to Bayeux, capturing Reyes and approaching Arromanches.

History

06 Jun 2024 16:15

14:25: General von Oppeln-Bronikowski meets General Marcks after making it through Caen with his 22nd Panzer Regiment.
"Oppeln," Marcks informs him, "if you don’t succeed in throwing the British into the sea we shall have lost the war."
Oppeln complies, but is aware that he has just 98 tanks.

History

06 Jun 2024 15:05

13:02: it is not lost on many that the morale of the defenders has collapsed. General von Oppeln-Bronikowski, making his way through Caen, notices a group of soldiers stumbling through the rubble, drunkenly singing Deutschland Über Alles.

History

06 Jun 2024 14:15

12:15: Canadian troops have captured the town of Reviers as they push outwards from Juno, which is rapidly reaching capacity as more troops land.

History

06 Jun 2024 13:05

11:05: the Hillman complex of fortifications is holding back the British advance towards Caen. The fortifications are very tough, although the defenders seem low on morale. Some surrenderers ask if this is just a raid.
Private Lionel Roebuc, frustrated at the battle, enters a pillbox and smashes a portrait of Hitler on the wall, angry "all the trouble that chap had caused us".

History

06 Jun 2024 12:30

10:30: Rommel cancels a meeting with Hitler, where he would have asked for panzers to be sent to Normandy, and begins the drive to France immediately. His car reaches 90mph as he shouts "Tempo! Tempo! Tempo!" to his driver.

History

06 Jun 2024 11:32

09:32: John Snagge of the BBC announces that landings have taken place on the northern coast of France.

History

06 Jun 2024 09:35

07:35: landings at Juno beach.

History

06 Jun 2024 09:25

07:25: landings at Sword Beach.

History

06 Jun 2024 08:31

It is apparent something is very wrong at Omaha Beach. Many men are up to a mile away from where they should be and are lost. The dead and dying are scattered everywhere, whilst the wounded are slowly drowned by the rising tide.

History

06 Jun 2024 08:01

06:00: A broadcast from Eisenhower to the French civilians -
"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."

History

06 Jun 2024 06:30

04:30: Von Rundstedt has quickly realised the gravity of the situation and ordered a mobilisation. But that requires the approval of Hitler, who is asleep.

History

06 Jun 2024 04:11

02:11: General Marcks is discussing his upcoming wargame when a phone call interrupts the conversation. The commander of the 716th Division in Caen is on the line, reporting parachute drops nearby. He is aware this could be the start of something.

History

06 Jun 2024 03:05

About 01:00: General Erich Marcks of the 84th Corps celebrates his birthday and is preparing to travel from Saint-Lô to Rennes, where, he is to play a wargame centred on an Allied invasion.
(Second photo is from The Longest Day)

History

06 Jun 2024 02:30

00:30 : Oberleutnant Brandenburger calls his regimental command post that he is witnessing an airborne operation. The scale of this is not yet apparent.

History

06 Jun 2024 17:15

15:15: after heavy bombing, Caen is now on fire. Civilians were warned of incoming bombers by leaflets dropped, but many did not evacuate.
An anonymous man pens a note that will be found on his body the following month:
"I feel that I am dying. It is terrible to know that I’m going to die because I have been expecting the liberation for so long. But I know that, because of my death, other people will be liberated. Long live France, long live the Allies."

History

06 Jun 2024 15:31

13:30: General Omar Bradley is waiting for news aboard the USS August, and hears that the battle for Omaha is finally going in the Americans' favour. Coastal bombardment has helped the battle, and now 18,772 troops have landed. It is clearly almost over on the beach.

History

06 Jun 2024 15:01

13:00: John Snagge is reading the lunchtime news to listeners across Europe, many of whom listen for news on the invasion. One listener is Anne Frank, who wonders if this means she will be able to go back to school.

History

06 Jun 2024 14:10

12:10: Churchill is giving a speech to a packed and nervous group of MPs about the progress of the Italian campaign. He looks tired and pale. He finally moves to the invasion. "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."

History

06 Jun 2024 12:45

10:45: at Caen prison, a wave of executions of French resistance fighters has taken place, and the bodies are now being buried in flowerbeds.

History

06 Jun 2024 12:02

10:00: Eisenhower's pre-recorded speech announces D-Day on the BBC to people across Western Europe.

History

06 Jun 2024 11:05

09:05: Hitler is now finally awake. Informed of the situation, he is relieved that finally something has happened. But the real invasion, he believes, is coming for Calais.

History

06 Jun 2024 09:30

07:30: landings at Gold.

History

06 Jun 2024 08:31

06:35: At the Pointe du Hoc, bizarre scenes unfurl as Rangers are climbing to the top to take the cliffs. But German gunners are throwing grenades and stones like it is a castle siege.

History

06 Jun 2024 08:30

06:30: landings begin at Omaha and Utah beach.

History

06 Jun 2024 06:45

04:45: As paradrops continue, local German officers speculate that this is, in fact, a diversion - the drops are too chaotic and dispersed. Indeed, some are - General Marcks is confused by dummies dropped nearby.

John Steele, a paratrooper, is recovering after playing dead for two hours whilst suspended from the church spire in Sainte-Mère-Église.
British troops are massacred taking the Merville Battery (above). They are nonetheless successful.

History

06 Jun 2024 04:40

02:40: Field Marshall von Rundstedt (centre) is awake and surveying the intelligence filtering back to him. The Kriegsmarine is reporting that their radars are swarmed. Von Rundstedt suggests this might be a flock of seagulls. He does not think it worth bothering Rommel yet.

General Marcks, meanwhile, orders that all units under his command be informed of the invasion.

History

06 Jun 2024 03:30

01:30 : General Friedrich Dollman, awoken, orders the alert of the 7th Army. He is caught unprepared; intelligence about a possible invasion has not been passed back to him and many of his forces are exercising in Rennes.

History

06 Jun 2024 03:01

01:00 : Kriegsmarine radars begin to notice the invasion armada which has assembled off the coast. It is, in fact, the largest armada of its kind in history; though nobody comprehends this yet.

Lieutenant Commander Heinrich Hoffmann is informed whilst he is in the cabin of his E-boat. One of the most respected E-boat commanders, he convenes a meeting as he is convinced this is the invasion. He is nervous; his wife asked him several hours earlier "Heinrich, I’m restless tonight. Is there anything afoot?’"

History

06 Jun 2024 02:21

00:21 : Major John Howard (pictured) and his men capture Pegasus Bridge.