10 April 1944
Naval Commander in Chief, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, responsible for Neptune, issues orders for the naval involvement on D-Day. The document stretches to 1,100 pages.
22–29 April 1944
Operation Tiger, realistic US rehearsal for Overlord at Slapton Sands between Plymouth and Dartmouth. On the night of 27/28 April two German E-boats in the English Channel find eight LSTs, sink two and damage others, and kill 441 soldiers and 197 sailors.
An Army Field Kitchen Unit is driven onto LST 506 of Force B that loaded at Falmouth and Plymouth and arrived in the Western Task Force area on 6/7 June.
National Archives
Major Tom Normanton, 27
intelligence staff, Southwick House.
‘There was a complete hush in the room – a cool, calm atmosphere and one of quiet confidence. Everything had been thought out but we all remembered the old adage that the finest of plans comes to an end when the shooting starts. The weather was blowing a gale. The wind was howling and the rain was lashing down but inside there was almost complete silence. There was only a handful of people in the map room itself. There were no raised voices and no raised tempers. And there was none of the normal backslapping or laughing. In our hearts we all knew this was it.’
Phantom Fleets
5 June 21:30 First aircraft take off from British airfields. (More than 10,000 aircraft are involved in the invasion.)
By midnight 1,333 heavy RAF bombers drop 5,316 tons of bombs on radar stations and the ten most important German gun batteries in the assault area. In the 24 hours between the night of 5 and 6 June. The RAF drops 15,000 and 20,000 tons of bombs.
5/6 June Operations Taxable and Glimmer, both devised by Wing Commader E. I. Dickie, create ‘Phantom Fleets’ on enemy radar screens. Taxable involves 16 Lancasters of 617 Squadron and is a joint RN/RAF operation aimed at making the Germans believe that an invasion force was attacking the French coast between Dieppe and Cap d’Antifer. Attacks on enemy radar installations had all but destroyed their effectiveness, but care had been taken to leave enough operational to allow the Germans to deceive themselves that their radars were showing an invasion fleet. The RN uses 18 small vessels as tugs to tow balloons, which would show up as large ships on the German radar screens. This ‘convoy’ occupies an area of sea that measures 14 miles by 15 miles and appears to move at seven knots towards the coast. It is known subsequently that the German High Command has plotted three invasion forces arriving on the French coast.
Six aircraft of 218 Squadron, and a few boats, mount Operation Glimmer, whose ‘convoy’ is aimed at the beaches of Boulogne. German searchlights are turned on and guns open fire on the convoy. Luftwaffe night fighters are directed towards the jammers and spend hours in the area, as do E-boats searching for a fleet that never sailed.
15 aircraft of 138, 149 and 161 Squadrons, giving the impression of a much larger force, drop dummy parachutists called ‘Ruperts’ between Rouen and Le Havre. At 04:00 the 915th Regiment, General Marcks’ LXXXIV Corps reserve, abandons Omaha and sets off to intercept them. It takes hours before the German reserve can be re-grouped and brought back to the beachhead.
16 aircraft of 90, 138 and 149 Squadrons, flying tracks 15 miles south of that taken by the invasion forces, simulate landings at Maligny and Villers Bocage. The Maligny decoy serves to relieve some pressure on US airborne forces around Ste-Mere-Eglise.
24 Lancasters of 101 Squadron and five B-17 Flying Fortresses of 214 Squadron, carrying 82 radio jammers between them, obliterate the German night-fighter frequencies for more than five hours.
16 Stirlings of 199 Squadron and four Fortresses of 803 Squadron USAAF establish a Mandrel screen from Littlehampton to Portland Bill jamming all but 5 per cent of the Freya radars between Cherbourg and Le Havre.
The Allies fly 14,674 sorties on D-Day. Losses, chiefly due to flak, are 113 (0.77 per cent). The Luftwaffe flies 319 sorties.
D-Day map, Southwick House.
Royal Navy
Ena Howes
Duty Petty Officer.
‘I was Duty Petty Officer on the night of 5 June. It was remarkably quiet and after the previous night’s cancellation because of adverse weather conditions, the operation was under way. For once the operators had time to chat amongst themselves, wondering if their boyfriends had sailed off to France too? Would we get any leave beforehand? Would the invasion succeed? How bad would the casualties be? All of these thoughts were bandied about, helping to pass the time – it was a very long night. Because of the use of scramblers we could only anticipate what was happening, but a call from General Omar Bradley at about 02:00 gave us cause to hope that everything was going to plan. The RAF had bombed the coastal batteries between Le Havre and Cherbourg and gliders had landed Airborne Divisions behind the coastline of Normandy. By the end of the Middle Watch we received news that everything was going well and at 06:30 the first seaborne troops were landing on the beaches. I finally went off duty at 08:00 and then came the BBC announcement of the landings. The Mess echoed to an almighty cheer. After all the planning the beginning of the end was in sight. Our lads were in France and we had been part of it! I walked down the tree-lined drive at Southwick House very tired but very happy.’
BBC 8 a.m. bulletin
on the morning of 6 June read by Frederick Allen.
‘Supreme Allied Headquarters have issued an urgent warning to inhabitants of the enemy-occupied countries living near the coast. The warning said that a new phase in the Allied air offensive had begun. Shortly before this warning the Germans reported that Havre, Calais and Dunkirk were being heavily bombarded and that German naval units were engaged with Allied landing craft.’
New York bulletin
3:32 a.m., Tuesday, 6 June.
‘Under the command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the coast of France.’
Southwick House near Portsmouth, Eisenhower’s and Montgomery’s HQ from 28 May 1944, where the momentous desicion to go for invasion was taken on Monday 5th June.
Penny Riches
Mary Hoskins, 21
student nurse.
‘As our nurses’ home next to the Royal South Hampshire Hospital had been bombed, we had been billeted out in a large house in Highfield, Southampton. For weeks before, we had become used to the movement of troops and the droning of aircraft which had disturbed our sleep. On 6 June someone dashed into our room and gave us the shock news. A reliable source on the wireless had broadcast that we had made a landing on the Normandy coast. We dressed hurriedly and in small groups made our way to catch our tram. The streets were filled with people as we tried to get to work and the tram services were in chaos.