QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT D-DAY

NAMES, FOOTNOTES, ABBREVIATIONS, ETC.

To find something fast on this page: use the 'Ctrl + F' key's, and type a word in the window.

Sherman tanks in Douvres-la-Délivrande, Then and Now

  • WHAT WAS THE LENGTH OF THE 'ATLANTIC WALL': From Kirkenes (Finish-Norwegian border) to the Pyrenees, 4800 km!
  • ORGANISATION TODT: Company responsible for the construction of the Atlantikwall
  • HOW MANY PEOPLE WORKED ON THE 'ATLANTIKWALL': At the end of 1943, over 500.000
  • COSSAC: Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (first plan of the allied invasion)

    Insignia of SHAEF

  • SHAEF: Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (replaced COSSAC)
  • HEADQUARTERS SHAEF: Bushey Park, a camp with the code-name 'Widewing'
  • HOW MANY WORKED FOR SHAEF: 750 officers and 6000 lower ranks
  • ALLIED SUPREME COMMANDER: General Dwight D. Eisenhower (14-10-1890 / 28-03-1969)

    General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Tedder and Montgomery

  • DEPUTY COMMANDER: Air Marshal Sir Arthur William Tedder (1890-1967)
  • COMMANDER GROUND FORCES: General Sir Bernard Montgomery (17-11-1887 / 25-03-1976)
  • COMMANDER FIRST AMERICAN ARMY: Lieutenant-General Omar Bradley (12-02-1893 / 08-04-1981)
  • CHIEF-STAFF (ASSISTANT EISENHOWER): General-Major W. Bedell Smith(-1895 / 09-08-1961)

    Chief-Staff Bedell Smith and Lieutenant-General Omar Bradley

  • AEAF: Allied Expeditionary Air Force
  • COMMANDER AEAF: Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory (11-07-1892 / 14-10-1944)
  • COMMANDER NAVY: Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay

    Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory and Admiral Ramsay

  • OPERATION BOLERO: The American built-up in Great Britain (from 36.000 in May 1942 to 1.5 million in May 1944)
  • HOW LONG WERE THE LINES TO THE TOILETS: Sometimes as longs as 400 metres!
  • G.I.: Government Issue (the regular American soldier)
  • SUPPLIES AMERICAN ARMY: May 1944, 50.000 tanks, 450.000 trucks and 450.000 tonnes of ammunition
  • HOW MANY HOSPITAL BEDS: 124.000
  • HOW MANY MAPS WHERE PRINTED: 170.000.000 (one hundred seventy million!), from the landing beaches alone 40.000.
  • BIGOT: Extreme 'Top Secret' stamped papers.
  • CODENAME ENTIRE OPERATION: 'Overlord' (issued in May 1943) (originally called 'Round Up')
  • CODENAME 'READY DAY': 'Y-DAY', the day everything should be ready for the invasion, 1 June, 1944
  • CODENAME FOR THE NAVY-OPERATIONS ON D-DAY: 'Neptune'
  • OPERATION FORTITUDE: (LCS - London Controlling Section), false operations to mislead the Germans that the invasion was at Calais.
  • OPERATION 'GLIMMER' AND 'TAXABLE': Part of the misleading operations in the English Channel during D-Day. Motor boats and aluminium foil dropping from bombers to fool the German radar radar
  • OPERATION 'MANDREL' AND 'TITANIC': Part of the misleading campaign in the English Channel. Disturbance of German radar and false airborne landings
  • F.F.I.: Forces Françaises L'Intérieur, the French Home Defence
  • RÉSISTANCE / MAQUIS: The French resistance
  • CODE WORDS FOR THE FRENCH RESISTANCE: (first part) 'Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne' ('The long sobs by the violins of autumn'), (when the second part came, the invasion was eminent within 48 hours), (second part) 'Blessent mon coeur d'une languer monotone' ('That wounds my heart with a monotone longing')
  • WHO WAS THE POET THAT WROTE THE VERSE: Chanson d'Automne, the 'Song of the Autumn': was Paul Verlaine
  • OKW: Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
  • COMMANDER OKW: Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
  • INSPECTOR ATLANTIKWALL: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

    Field Marshal Von Rundstedt and Field Marshal Rommel

  • WAT WAS THE DATE FOR D-DAY: Tuesday, 6 June, 1944
  • 'PICCADILLY CIRCUS': Assemble area for the ships, south of the Isle of Wight.
  • H-HOUR: Timetable for the landing on the beaches (vary per sector)
  • BATTLE CRUISER 'ORION': First ship to open fire, at 05.10 hours (target, Mont Fleury)
  • DZ: Dropping Zone, area where the airborne troops would jump by parachute
  • LZ: Landing Zone, area where the gliders had their landing grounds
  • PASSWORD: Call with 'Flash', Password; 'Thunder', Answer; 'Welcome'
    (Changed D+1: 'Thirsty'/'Victory')
  • 'CRICKET': A 'click-clack' toy that was used by airborne paratroopers as recognition item (one click as 'call', two clicks as 'answer')
  • 'RUPERT': (the para-doll) Behind German position dropped dolls that detonated fireworks when they hid the ground and would mislead the German defence.

    Men of the 82nd Airborne Division in a Horsa glider

  • 82nd AIRBORNE DIVISION: Sleeve insignia 'AA' (All American)
  • 101st AIRBORNE DIVISION: Sleeve insignia 'Screaming Eagles'
  • 6th AIRBORNE DIVISION: Sleeve insignia 'Pegasus'

  • LCA: Landing Craft, Assault
  • LCI: Landing Craft, Infantry
  • LCT: Landing Craft, Tank (3 to 6 tanks)
  • LST: Landing Ship, Tank (± 60 tanks)

    LCA's and LCT's in the British sectors

  • X-20 and X-23: Two, 22 metre long, submarines that marked the outer borders for the British sectors
  • DUKW: Amphibious vehicle, D (fourth year of the war), U (utility), K (front-wheel drive), W (six-wheeled) (popular known as 'DUCK')
  • HOW MANY MINES: The Germans placed until May 1944 over 4 million mines around the Channel coast
  • FRUSTRATING LANGUAGE: SNAFU; Situation Normal All Fucked Up
    FUBAR; Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition

    This page is far from complete. I will update as much as I can regularly. Pieter, Januari-2007.

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