D-Day: The Element of Surprise

"Our intention is to honour the survivors and their fallen comrades while the events of June 6, 1944 remain within living memory." (Bill Danard, Canada Post)

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/collecting/details.page?article=2004/06/06/d-day&cattype=collecting&cat=stamps

On the 60th anniversary of D-Day, Canada Post issued a stamp to commemorate the historic event of World War II. "With the imagery of this stamp, we aim to capture the experience of the very first Canadian troops to land on Juno Beach that day.  We tried to balance a sense of victory achieved with an acknowledgment of the human price," explained Bill Danard of Canada Post (https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/collecting/details.page?article=2004/06/06/d-day&cattype=collecting&cat=stamps)

Much preparation went into the D-Day invasion, which included Canadian, American and British troops.  The Allies wanted to capitalize on a number of factors.  The moon had to be full (June 5, 6 or 7).  The tides had to be low.  The weather had to be appropriate (low winds, light cloud cover).  If all went well, they would catch the Germans sleeping.  The forecast for June 5, the original invasion day, was horrible:  a stiff wind, choppy seas and overcast.  Operation Neptune would have to be postponed for a day.  

The landing place also had to be perfect.  The Allies had dropped clues hinting that they would land at Pas de Calais.  However, it was too fortified.  In the end, they chose Normandy.  The word went out:  "Halycon Five finally and definitely confirmed."  On June 6, 1944, the Canadians debarked at Juno Beach.  By midday, the beachhead had been won.  "[By] nightfall, Canadians had penetrated further inland than any other seaborne forces."  The Canadian Army had proven once again, like in the First World War, that they were a formidable fighting force.  

Why were the Germans caught sleeping?  While the Allies employed expert meteorologists (two British teams and one American team) to predict the Normandy coast weather that month, so too did the Germans.  The former had decided that a Beaufort Scale rating of 4 or lower was acceptable for winds while the latter had decided that 4 was too strong.  Furthermore, General Eisenhower went ahead and made the ultimate decision to launch the D-Day invasion whereas General Rommel, shopping for birthday shoes with his wife in Berlin, waited for an ultimate order from Hitler, which never came.

Sadly, Canadians suffered 359 losses while the Allies suffered 12,000 deaths on D-Day.  However, the number was a lot lower than the 75,000 predicted without the element of surprise.  

What a glorious sight!  D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 courtesy https://medium.com/@wwnorton/the-weather-on-d-day-85ea0491a14f#.29huzcj3c.

D-Day Prayer

My former pastor once pointed out that on D-Day, President Roosevelt asked employers if they would give their employees the day off to pray for the troops.  Although the weather was questionable for an invasion on the Normandy beaches that day, although the Germans had panzer tanks ready, although the odds were stacked against them, the Allies went ahead with the invasion.  My pastor believes that it was prayer which gave them a much needed edge.  The weather co-operated.  Hitler's two top men were out of the country at the time and Hitler was still in bed with orders not to be disturbed.  Therefore the Allies were able to launch a surprise attack which was successful.  Here is the radio address that President Roosevelt delivered that fateful day.

My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.
And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.
Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer (my italics).  But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.
And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.
And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.
With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.
Thy will be done, Almighty God.
Amen.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944

Photo of President Roosevelt reading D-Day prayer courtesy http://1.bp.blogspot.com.

D-Day: The Element of Surprise

"Our intention is to honour the survivors and their fallen comrades while the events of June 6, 1944 remain within living memory." (Bill Danard, Canada Post)

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/collecting/details.page?article=2004/06/06/d-day&cattype=collecting&cat=stamps

On the 60th anniversary of D-Day, Canada Post issued a stamp to commemorate the historic event of World War II. "With the imagery of this stamp, we aim to capture the experience of the very first Canadian troops to land on Juno Beach that day.  We tried to balance a sense of victory achieved with an acknowledgment of the human price," explained Bill Danard of Canada Post (https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/blogs/collecting/details.page?article=2004/06/06/d-day&cattype=collecting&cat=stamps)

Much preparation went into the D-Day invasion, which included Canadian, American and British troops.  The Allies wanted to capitalize on a number of factors.  The moon had to be full (June 5, 6 or 7).  The tides had to be low.  The weather had to be appropriate (low winds, light cloud cover).  If all went well, they would catch the Germans sleeping.  The forecast for June 5, the original invasion day, was horrible:  a stiff wind, choppy seas and overcast.  Operation Neptune would have to be postponed for a day.  

The landing place also had to be perfect.  The Allies had dropped clues hinting that they would land at Pas de Calais.  However, it was too fortified.  In the end, they chose Normandy.  The word went out:  "Halycon Five finally and definitely confirmed."  On June 6, 1944, the Canadians debarked at Juno Beach.  By midday, the beachhead had been won.  "[By] nightfall, Canadians had penetrated further inland than any other seaborne forces."  The Canadian Army had proven once again, like in the First World War, that they were a formidable fighting force.  

Why were the Germans caught sleeping?  While the Allies employed expert meteorologists (two British teams and one American team) to predict the Normandy coast weather that month, so too did the Germans.  The former had decided that a Beaufort Scale rating of 4 or lower was acceptable for winds while the latter had decided that 4 was too strong.  Furthermore, General Eisenhower went ahead and made the ultimate decision to launch the D-Day invasion whereas General Rommel, shopping for birthday shoes with his wife in Berlin, waited for an ultimate order from Hitler, which never came.

Sadly, Canadians suffered 359 losses while the Allies suffered 12,000 deaths on D-Day.  However, the number was a lot lower than the 75,000 predicted without the element of surprise.  

What a glorious sight!  D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 courtesy https://medium.com/@wwnorton/the-weather-on-d-day-85ea0491a14f#.29huzcj3c.

King George VI & Churchill Plan to Land at Normandy Beach on D-Day

"The war had immeasurably strengthened the link between the King and his people." (http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheHouseofWindsor/GeorgeVI.aspx)

King George VI wrote a letter to Sir Winston Churchill on May 31, 1944.  Its contents were shocking:  the prime minister, pushing 70 years old, and the king, pushing 50, both intended on landing on the Normandy beach on D-Day.  How was their plan foiled?

Sir Winston Churchill, a veteran of the Boer War in Africa, was no stranger to combat.  King George VI, a veteran of the First World War, was also familiar with battle.  The king had remained at Buckingham Palace, which was bombed nine times during the first few years of World War II.  He had toured London's East End, sifting through the rubble after the Blitz.

Even so, when Churchill proposed that he would land on the beaches at Normandy with the British troops on D-Day, King George was shocked.  "I don't think I need to emphasize what it would mean if...a chance bomb, torpedo or mine should remove you from the scene," he explained in his letter to Churchill.

King George thought that he would deter Churchill by suggesting that he join him in the D-Day landing.  Churchill, "the Lion", was all for it, however.  Admiral Ramsay intervened and explained to both leaders that they were needed at home to make crucial decisions if D-Day did not go as planned. "I would ask you to reconsider your plan," wrote King George to Churchill.

In the end, neither the king nor the prime minister participated in the D-Day landings.  Sir Winston Churchill made his famous V for Victory sign from 10 Downing Street.  King George delivered a D-Day speech from Buckingham Palace to build moral among the British population.  "The war had immeasurably strengthened the link between the King and his people."

http://themellowjihadi.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Corbis-NA008867.jpg

The U-boat: That Dastardly Villain

Here are ten facts you may not know about the U-boat.

1.  Germany turned out over 1000 U-boats during the Second World War.  Most of these were built between 1941 and 1945.

2.  Hamburg turned out a third of Germany's U-boats.  The city was heavily targetted by Allied bombers.

3.  Seventy percent of German U-boats were lost, missing in action or scuttled at sea.  The Allies' organized convoys and improved submarine tactical countermeasures caused this high percentage.

4.  The first ship to be sunk by a U-boat during World War II was the HMS Indomitable.

5.  U-boat stands for the German word Unterseeboot.  Winston Churchill declared:  "Enemy submarines are to be called U-boats.  The term submarine is to be reserved for Allied underwater vessels.  U-boats are those dastardly villains who sink our ships while submarines are those gallant and noble craft which sink theirs."

6.  Karl Donitz, "The Father of the U-boat Weapon", was instrumental in organizing Operation Hannibal, evacuating hundreds of thousands of East Prussians across the Baltic Sea fleeing the Red Army.

7.  Most U-boats were sunk not by ships but by aircraft.

8.  British Commandos hijacked a German U-boat which had an enigma ciphering machine on board.  This gave them vital information about the Nazis which helped them invade the Normandy beaches  on June 6, 1944.  Without this information, D-Day likely wouldn't have taken place until 1945.

9.  U-boats were under the jurisdiction of the Kriegmarine, the German Navy.

10.  Boom nets, mines and waves were just some of the obstacles faced by U-boats.

Source:  funtrivia.com

German U-boat later sunk in Churchill River, Labrador courtesy http://padiprosnorthamericacaribbean.com/2012/10/12/sunken-wwii-nazi-u-boats-found-in-canada/.