It is almost impossible to convey the sheer gargantuan scale of the Allied Invasion of Europe. Ā The photographs above show some of the scope of the operation but even they are limited to showing just one snapshot of a massive operation. Ā The first photograph shows Omaha Beach, just one of the five beaches that were landed on. Ā The photograph frames a beach packed with hundreds of ships and vehicles while the sky is filled with barrage balloons. Ā The bottom image shows just a portion of one of the Allied invasion fleets destined for Normandy.
Operation Overlord was the single largest combined air-sea-land amphibious invasion ever attempted in military history. Ā One of the best ways to demonstrate the scale of the operation is to examine the numbers.
Over 2 million Allied troops had been gathered in Britain for the invasion.
156,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day, made up of:
73,000 Americans
61,715 British
21,400 Canadians
3,000+ Other Allied troops
380,000 German troops were deployed in the region
- ~50,000 troops in Normandy
- 2,200 tanks Northern France
- 570 Luftwaffe planes stationed in France & Holland
The German Atlantic Wall:
- 1,670 miles long
- Comprised 17 million cubic metres of concrete and 1.2 million tonnes of steel
- Cost 3.7 billion Deutschmarks to build
6,939 vessels made up the Invasion Armada
- 1,213 combat vessels
- 4,126 landing ships & craft
- 846 merchant vessels
- 736 ancillary craft
11,590 Allied aircraft at the Invasionās disposal
- 9,500 combat aircraft (fighters/bombers)
- 14,674 sorties flown
- 2,395 aircraft and 867 gliders landing 23,400 British and American paratroops
- 127 Allied Aircraft lost
Men & Equipment landed by D-Day+5 (11th June):
- 326,547 troops
- 54,186 vehicles
- 104,428 tons of supplies
Casualties suffered during Operation Neptune (the landings):
Allied: ~12,000 casualties with 4,413 confirmed dead during landings
- American: 6,603 killed & wounded
- British: 2,700 killed & wounded
- Canadian: 946 killed & wounded
French Civilian Casualties: Estimates vary between 25,000 - 39,000 Ā (killed in the preliminary bombing and during the subsequent invasion and Battle of Normandy)
German:
- Estimated between 4,000 - 9,000 killed and wounded
- Estimated 200,00 killed and wounded during entire Operation Overlord
Image One Source - Omaha Beach
Image Two Source - Glider Landing Zone
Image Three Source - View out to see from Omaha Beach
Image Four Source - Paratroops drop into Normandy
Image Five Source - A blurry Aerial Photograph Showing a Small Part of the Invasion Fleet
āFacts and figures of D-Dayā (Source)
āD-Day figuresā (Source)
āD-Day and the Battle of Normandyā (Source)
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