Although in the back of their minds, some of the 150,000 soldiers knew that they were a part of history. Even if they were unfamiliar to the political side of the storm of Normandy, the numbers were enough to make anyone stagger. 5000 ships carrying not only the majority of the soldiers, but also 30,000 vehicles. 13,000 parachute men dropped from 800 airplanes, flown from 9 British Airfields. An additional 300 planes dropping bombs, equaling the number of parachuters. 5,000 tons of gasoline per day. No doubt at least some of the soldiers knew this D-day was different than all the others they had either survived or had imagined.
Debate still surrounds the meaning of the "D" in "D-day". Some see it representing "decision" referring to the decision to use this type of overwhelming attack. Others speculate that it standing for "departed" or the departing soldiers who left their lives on hold to fight. However, most likely "D-day" was given its name for the code system used during the previous world war. "H-hour" and "D-day" were used to designate the certain time and/or date the following operation was to begin. This was used to record the operation starting time and date before it was actually known or planned. It was also used to keep the operation times secret. "D-day" simply referred to its own date, June 6th, 1944
Links for More Information
Information on specific topics of WWII, including tanks and land infantry, and the Air and Naval Forces
Professional website with an online movie, a Did-You-Know section and letters from the time period regarding D-day
A Brief Summary of D-day, with links for the general topics of the Invasion of Normandy, the Omaha Beach Campaign, and the raid of Dieppe
Perspectives of soldiers on D-day, ranging from fighter pilots to the front lines
