Photo of the Day
Photo of the Day Podcast
Photo of the Day
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Photo of the Day

No. 637

The New York Times 6:00 AM extra edition, 6/6/44.

“The invasion of Europe from the west has begun.1

“In the gray light of a summer dawn Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower threw his great Anglo-American force into action today for the liberation of the Continent.

“General Eisenhower’s first communique was terse and calculated to give little information to the enemy: ‘Allied naval forces supported by strong air forces began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.’

Wall map of the Normandy landings in Southwick House, a large manor house in Portsmouth which served as Eisenhower’s headquarters for the invasion.

“Berlin said the ‘center of gravity’ of the fierce fighting was at Caen, ten miles inland from the sea and fighting there might indicate the Allies’ seizing of a beachhead.

Allies enter Caen.

“The German accounts told of Nazi shock troops thrown in to meet Allied airborne units and parachutists.

“United States battleships and planes took part in the bombardment of the French coast, Allied Headquarters announced.

Allied ships load up in Portsmouth in preparation for D-Day.

“The weather was not particularly favorable for the Allies.

“There was a heavy chop in the Channel and the skies were overcast.

“Whether the enemy was taken by surprise was not known yet.

Allies advance through Normandy's hedgerows. German POWs captured in Normandy, June 1944.

General Eisenhower told his forces that they were about to embark on a ‘great crusade.’ The eyes of the world are upon you, he said, and the ‘hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.’

“Details of how the assault developed are still lacking.

“It is known that the huge armada of Allied landing craft that crept to the French coast in darkness was preceded by mine sweepers whose task was to sweep the Channel of German mine fields and submarine obstructions.

“Big Allied warships closed in and engaged the enemy’s shore batteries.

“Airborne troops landed simultaneously behind the Nazis’ coast defenses.

French partisans.

“General Eisenhower broadcast a message to the underground movement of Europe, warning its members to stand fast and continue passive resistance but not to endanger lives ‘until I give you the signal to rise and strike the enemy.’”

Twenty years later, Eisenhower returned to Normandy with CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite.

They visited the American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach.

Eisenhower:

“I think and hope and pray that humanity will learn more than we had learned up to that time.

“But these people [resting in the cemetery] gave us a chance,

“and they bought time for us, so that we can do better than we have before.”

*******************************

I’ll see you tomorrow.

— Brenda

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The news article has been edited for brevity.

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Brenda Elthon