Today is the 68th anniversary of D-Day.

[Major Hogwash]

The invasion of American forces in Europe during WWII began today.

[Fix The Stupid]

1. Sigh...

not just the US...


"Many countries were involved in D-Day. The three main nations were the United Kingdom who attacked code named Gold and Sword beaches. The United States who attacked Utah and Omaha beaches. And Canada who attacked Juno Beach. Also their were units fighting for the free French, and Poland also fought as well. There were also contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and the Netherlands.

In addition to the above, the Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and Royal Norwegian Navy provided support for the landings.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_countries_were_involved_in_the_D-Day_invasion#ixzz1x1Jkp3aY"

[Cali_Democrat]

3. Yup

Many Americans seem to have this crazy notion that we won WW2 all by ourselves.

[Major Hogwash]

8. Pretty much, we did.

I guess you failed history in school as well as the civics class.

[sudopod]

17. :/ nt

[Cali_Democrat]

20. You honestly believe that?

How can you so casually dismiss the contributions of the British, Soviets, Chinese, Canadians, etc?

[Major Hogwash]

29. Wow, you ARE from California, aren't you??

I had no idea.

LOL

[Cali_Democrat]

45. WW2 was not won by just Americans

It was won by the allies together. One should not dismiss the efforts of other countries. Their citizens fought hard and died for the same cause.

[Spider Jerusalem]

46. Not really, no

you apparently failed history; I don't recall any Americans at Stalingrad or El Alamein. Twenty million Soviets died fighting the Germans; Hitler was defeated not by the Western allies but by Russia (and twin turning points of the war against Germany came at El Alamein and Stalingrad, before there was a single American soldier in combat against Germany). The US largely won the war in the Pacific, but not without contributions from Britain (in the China/Burma/India theatre) and ANZAC.

And there were more British and Commonwealth troops landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day than Americans.

[deaniac21]

4. Here is the breakdown of the casualties:

British - 2700
Canadians - 946
Americans - 6603

15,000-20,000 French civilians died with an unknown number of casualites.


Source: http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/faq.htm
Britain: 2,700 killed

United States: 1,465 killed

Canada: 500 killed

Germany: 4,000 killed

[cwydro]

22. Would you care to post the casualties of Britain

during the war? The civilian casualties and the military? How about the casualties of the Soviet Union? Are you aware they lost more than any other country during that war? That they approached from the east, as we attacked from the beaches?

Do you know that the American landing at Omaha Beach resulted in so many American casualties because of a screw-up?

Read your history.

[deaniac21]

32. We were only discussing Normandy. My father flew B-29s in the CBI theater

ands I'd be willing to say I have forgotten more about the history than you have learned. The Russians and Chinese suffered even more than the Germans. Before Normandy, Russian troops used to call the cans of spam sent by america "second front". The Russians were 80% of the war effort. I've been to Volvograd 3 times to dig in the battlefield of Stalingrad and talk to the people who were there. Do you even know what the Volga looks like?




[link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties|

[Major Hogwash]

7. It was an American invasion, led by Americans

The plan was designed by an American, led by an American.

But, we were allies back in WWII, so I didn't leave anyone out intentionally.
It's just that I am proud to be an American.

[cwydro]

24. No, it was an ALLIED invasion

with the participation of all the ALLIES.

Good lord, how old are you?

(edited to add: your name is aptly chosen)

[Major Hogwash]

27. No, it was an American invasion.

Christ, how old are you?

Your nickname makes no sense.

[truebrit71]

35. Wrong again. Really, try reading some history books, not the history channel.

It was an ALLIED invasion or were they Muppets that landed at Gold, Sword and Juno beaches?

Your post is so blindingly fucking ignorant as to be laughable...the "american" invasion you talk about was on two beaches, British, Canadian and other allied forces took THREE beaches, which means that even though you completely fucking suck at historical facts, you should be able to figure out that THREE beaches is more than TWO beaches which means that the MAJORITY of the invasion was actually by forces OTHER than American...

As a very proud Brit I am immensely thankful for the sacrifices made by American forces on that day, and all of the other days before and after, but do me a fucking favour and knock off the "America saved the day routine"...because it isn't historically accurate and it does a HUGE dis-service to the many other Allied soldiers, and thousands of my fellow countrymen that died that day, and days prior, whilst America tried to figure out which side of the war they were on...

[cwydro]

38. Give up on the guy truebrit...

He's either very ignorant, and secure in that...or he's trolling.

Sad though.

At any rate, he's outnumbered on his own thread by those who have had the benefit of education in their lives.

[Spider Jerusalem]

47. More British and Commonwealth troops landed in Normandy that day than Americans.

On D-Day, the Allies landed around 156,000 troops in Normandy. The American forces landed numbered 73,000: 23,250 on Utah Beach, 34,250 on Omaha Beach, and 15,500 airborne troops. In the British and Canadian sector, 83,115 troops were landed (61,715 of them British): 24,970 on Gold Beach, 21,400 on Juno Beach, 28,845 on Sword Beach, and 7900 airborne troops.

http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/d-day/d-day-and-the-battle-of-normandy-your-questions-answered#troops

[slor]

12. Do not forget the "Resistance"...

and their bravery as well.

[deaniac21]

33. The Resistance effort has been magnified over time. In actuality they did little.

[truebrit71]

36. Bullshit. But thanks for playing.

[sabrina 1]

37. Did they? I think you need to read some history. But that IS how the story has been told

in the US. Ignorance of history, no wonder we keep repeating it.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

41. Arrival of the 2nd SS Panzer division ' Das Reich' was delayed by 15 days by the Resistance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_SS_Panzer_Division_Das_Reich

"...The Battle of Normandy and fighting in the West - 1944
When ordered to the Normandy battle front, Das Reich was delayed by fifteen days through a concerted programme of sabotage organised by SOE and the French Resistance. This delay was critical to the success of the D-Day advance.[8] ..."


The Resistance even managed to kidnap an SS Major, Helmut Kämpfe. The Das Reich was so incensed at the work of the Resistance in delaying their advance that they took it out on the civilian population. In the town of Oradou-Sur-Glan they rounded up the entire village of 700 people, herded them into a church at gunpoint and set it on fire. In the town of Tulle, where 40 German SS soldiers had been killed by the Resistance, they took the entire male population to the town square and hung them all.

[deaniac21]

42. At Stalingrad the Soviets were killing 40 Germans a minute....

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

43. Without question

Last edited Thu Jun 7, 2012, 04:57 PM - Edit history (3)

No one in their right mind is denying it. The Russians BY FAR carried the biggest load in defeating the Nazis. But the fact remains that due to their destruction of bridges, roads, communications lines, supply lines, trains, kidnappings, and hit-and-run attacks, it is universally acknowledged that the Resistance delayed arrival of the Das Reich SS Panzer Division at the D-Day front for two weeks, having a significant impact. The Das Reich was one of the fiercest the Germans had. By the way, did you ever hear or read about the two squadrons of Free French fighter pilots who were integrated into the Russian Air Force through an agreement between DeGaulle and Stalin? Four of the pilots were awarded the highest military honors (like the Congressional Medal of Honor), Hero Of The Soviet Union. They were called the Normandie-Niemen. One of their squadron leaders, Marcel Albert was KIA when he received his medal, after becoming a quadruple air ace, shooting down 21 German planes. Every Russian school kid knows the story.

The Resistance wasn't a professional army. They weren't terribly well equipped for the most part (small arms and machine guns). They had lost at least four of their top leaders at the hands of Klaus Barbi of the Gestapo, who tortured and murdered three of them including the leader of the Resistance, Jean Moulin (the latter died after horrible torture, without giving up any names) and Barbi sent the forth to die in Dachau. The Resistance had suffered terrible losses, such as at the Plateau des Glieres where with guns and supplies dropped in by the British they tried to confront the Germans in an uprising (taking more than 5,000 German soldiers with them). In the Battle of the Vercors, a Resistance army of nearly 8,000 men was surrounded by the Germans and killed to the last man. Their best bet was hit-and-run and general sabotage of communications and infrastructure at which they had become expert at the time of D-Day. Dwight Eisenhower wrote:

"Throughout France the Resistance had been of inestimable value in the campaign. Without their great assistance the liberation of France would have consumed a much longer time and meant greater losses to ourselves."

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

40. No. 3 Unit of the No. 10 Commando - German Jews who landed at Sword Beach

They were volunteers who had fled from Germany who were organized into the No. 3 Unit of the famed No. 10 Commando. There were other Units comprised of Dutch and French in the No. 10. In the film The Longest Day, they show the taking of the town of Ouistraham by the French Unit. Here's a description of the Jewish Unit with a list of names.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/ww2/sugar13.html

[Javaman]

2. My cousin was in the 29th.

he's in his late 80's right now. And old rough and tumble guy from the Brookly. Also known in my family as "Cousin Vinny in that Bronx" (he moved there after the war).

the things he saw...

[truebrit71]

5. Wow..there really are no words for just how wrong this post is...

[oneshooter]

9. So find some , and tell us why it is wrong. n/t

[Auggie]

10. Technically, it's the invasion of France

Allied forces had been fighting in Italy the year before.

[oneshooter]

13. Technically, there were two Allied invasions of France.

[Auggie]

14. And they were ...?

[oneshooter]

15. The first was the Normandy Invasion.

The second was "Operation Dragoon". It was made to relieve the pressure on the Normandy beachhead.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dragoon

I have an Uncle I have never met that was part of that operation. He is still in France.
http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/rh.php

There is a veteran of both invasions right here in Texas.
http://www.bb35library.usstexasbb35.com/index.html

Oneshooter

[Auggie]

44. Many thanks. I'd never heard of Dragoon.

[cwydro]

25. Go read some history. nt

[oneshooter]

34. What part of my post is incorrect?

[cwydro]

39. I intended to respond to the OP again.

My apologies...

[Posteritatis]

16. Yep. At least it didn't claim the war began in 1941 or something. (nt)

[cwydro]

23. Thanks

it is truly ignorant...

[MineralMan]

6. Yup. And my neighbors are probably trying to figure

out why my flag is out this morning.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. I used to know a girl who was born on 6/6/66

and I can't help but think of her this time of year.

[SGMRTDARMY]

18. My dad and uncle were both involved in WW2

My uncle wasn't involved in D-Day, he was on a carrier in the Pacific, my dad was in the European Theater flying the P-51 Mustang escorting bombers into Germany.

Tom Brokaw was absolutely right when he said that the WW2 vets are the Greatest Generation.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. My two Canadian uncles would disagree about the "American" invasion.

Both survived D-Day and fought they're way into Germany.

[cwydro]

21. It wasn't an invasion OF American forces in Europe.

It was an invasion BY ALLIED forces into Europe.

Nobody invaded the American forces lol

My uncle (British) was there...

[Ron Obvious]

26. 90% of the European war was fought on the eastern front

Last edited Fri Jun 8, 2012, 02:41 AM - Edit history (1)

Not to diminish the importance of d-day or the bravery of the allied forces who took part, but the European war was nearing its end when it happened.

Essentially the European war was won by the Soviets, who lost over 20 million people in the process, while the Germans lost close to 7 million all-told. At Stalingrad, an entire German Army numbering over 200,000 men was defeated and the survivors sent to Siberia. Only about 1% of them ever returned home after the war 10 years later. The war in the east also involved the largest tank battles seen ever, involving thousands and thousands of tanks on both sides.

Maybe this isn't something to be brought up on the anniversary of d-day, but if you only get your history from Hollywood (and I fear that's the vast majority of the American public), you're probably thinking of the war in the east as a footnote to the main conflict in the west, when the the reverse is closer to being true. It's always annoyed me a bit.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, lots of archive and video material has become available on this part of the conflict. It's utterly fascinating to watch if you get a chance.

[Major Hogwash]

28. Normandy was on the Eastern Front in Russia????

Geez, I don't know if you watched any movies from Hollywood about the D-Day invasion, but you certainly don't seem to know much about geography.

Not to diminish the other crap in your comment, or anything like that.

[Ron Obvious]

30. Huh?

How on earth did you get that I thought Normandy was in Russia from what I posted? For the record, I've been to both places, actually.

The facts in my post are really not controversial.

[Javaman]

31. One of the most amazing stats I have ever read regarding the eastern front was...

the length of its front would be comparable to the distance from Seattle to San Diego!

We have no idea.

I read a lot of alternative history and I have always wondered what the war would have been like had hitler not invaded Russia.