June 6, 201411 yr As you may know the bulk of D-Day activity started 70 years ago today, 6 June 1944. However, the first 'element' of the invasion sailed not on 6 June but actually on 4 June. The element was composed of 4 miniature submarines that sailed at dark from England. Their mission was to approach the Normandy beaches and sit offshore, occasionally raising their periscopes to recon the proposed landing area. With over 7,000 ships, boats and other surface craft ready to embark there was the obvious concern to keep the advantage of surprise. The next duty of the mini subs was to surface at a prearranged time and shine a west pointing beacon so those 7,000 vessels would have something to guide them to the proper beaches. When the subs did surface in the early hours of June 5th, they received a signal from the Allied Supreme Command that instructed them to submerge once more and spend the next 24 hours at the bottom of the channel and to wait until the weather cleared. They sat all day from June 5th to June 6th and at 2:00 am they again surfaced and reported normal German activity which indicated that the element of surprise was still in effect. The invasion began! https://archive.org/details/Complete_Broadcast_Day_D-Day a fantastic site that has recordings of the actual CBS news reports and can be downloaded to hear the D-Day Invasion as reported as it unfolded! Cheers! Edited June 6, 201411 yr by Spur38
June 6, 201411 yr Thanks for the post Spur. I'd never heard the story of the subs. The almost unimaginable amount of preparation and logistical support needed to pull off the invasion makes me wonder if we could do it today. Listening to the radio broadcasts now.
June 6, 201411 yr Thanks for the post Spur. I'd never heard the story of the subs. The almost unimaginable amount of preparation and logistical support needed to pull off the invasion makes me wonder if we could do it today. Listening to the radio broadcasts now. We could absolutely pull it off today! Have you even SEEN the number of party planners, event coordinators, & staff monkeys we have?? By god, it would be so (over)planned by so many people & briefed to so many other people, that there'd be no one left to actually go ashore! It wouldn't matter though, the war was won on PowerPoint, & everyone got an OPR bullet!!
June 6, 201411 yr We could absolutely pull it off today! Have you even SEEN the number of party planners, event coordinators, & staff monkeys we have?? By god, it would be so (over)planned by so many people & briefed to so many other people, that there'd be no one left to actually go ashore! It wouldn't matter though, the war was won on PowerPoint, & everyone got an OPR bullet!! Not sure if I should like or dislike this post. Let me build a stop-light chart and I'll get back to you.
June 11, 201411 yr Oh we could do it, but it would take some resolve NOT to listen to anyone above the rank of O-4. FIFY
June 11, 201411 yr I'm not normally a fan of the Huffington Post, but they put together some interesting pictures, juxtaposing photos of modern France with those of D-Day: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/06/d-day-landing-sites-pictures_n_5458026.html
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