D-Day facts to share with your family

June 6, 9:31 AMSeattle Eastside Family ExaminersMichele & Lexie

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Allied troops landing on Omaha Beach

Did you happen to remember that today is the 65th anniversary of D-Day? On June 6, 1944, one of the greatest military operations ever commenced and was a turning point in World War II. 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France in order to defeat the Germans. It was a day of loss, honor, and above all, courage. Take some time today to talk to your
kids about this moment in history. Here are some quick facts to guide you along.

• Over 5000 ships and 13,000 aircraft were involved in the D-Day invasion.
   
• The assault took place in two phases: an airborne phase that launched shortly after midnight and an amphibious landing on the coast that occurred at 6:30am.
   
• The attack occurred on a 50-mile stretch of Normandy coast. The beaches were divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
   
• Weather played a significant role in determining when D-Day would happen. A full moon and spring tides were required. The weather in early June had been windy, high seas would make it impossible for landing crafts to launch, and low clouds would not allow aircraft from finding their targets. As luck -or fate- would have it, the meteorologist saw that there would be a brief improvement on June 6. In addition, the poor weather conditions caused German forces to relax somewhat as they did not expect an attack.
   
• The French Resistance was also crucial to D-Day. They had been receiving covert messages via the BBC in its French service. Meaningless messages were broadcast as well as specific orders. The French Resistance attacked railway lines and destroyed telephone and electrical substations. The attack was actually suspected by the head of the signals section of German Intelligence and he alerted officials to it. Unfortunately for him, he had done this a month earlier and nothing had happened so his warnings were ignored.
   
• Omaha Beach suffered the worst casualties. It was the most heavily fortified beach by the German 352nd Infantry Division, which were one of the best trained. Only 2 of 16 tanks survived the landing on the beach. Within the first few hours, 5,000 troops out of 50,000 had been killed. Other high casualties were on Juno Beach and Gold Beach.
   
• The eventual success of D-Day signaled the beginning of the end of World War II for the Germans.
   
• Today, there are war memorials and cemetaries in Normandy to commemorate D-Day and the fallen soldiers. The American Cemetary is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach. 9,387 military dead are buried there.
   

Source: Wikipedia, Army, The National D-Day Memorial Foundation