oriskany
21:45 hours in the invasion zone now, and the non-commando ground forces from Sword Beach have finally linked up with the Commandos and the airborne troops at Pegasus Bridge. Meanwhile, a German counterattack has been defeated at Gold (Kampfgruppe Meyer), Yet the Germans have also driven back to the coast at Lion sur Mer, briefly splitting Juno Beach off from Sword Beach. Meanwhile, as darkness falls, Allies start to prepare to bring in D-Day+1 forces, including 2nd US Infantry at Omaha, 90th Infantry at Utah, and lead units of the 51st Highlanders, 49th Infantry, and 7th Armoured (the famous Desert Rats). Although many of these units would not be fully deployed until perhaps week later, reinforcements continued to pour into the beachhead.
I think something like 180,000 Allied troops were landed in all on the opening day.
But of course Normandy campaign doesn’t end until mid-August with the closing of the Falaise Gap at Argentan, and the destruction of 7th and 15th Armies.
So I’m gonna go ahead and sign off. Thanks to everyone who helped keep this thread going on this important day.
