I have also to announce to the House that during the night and the early hours of this morning the first of the series of landings in force upon the European Continent has taken place. In this case the liberating assault fell upon the coast of France. An immense armada of upwards of 4,000 ships, together with several thousand smaller craft, crossed the Channel. Massed airborne landings have been successfully effected behind the enemy lines, and landings on the beaches are proceeding at various points at the present time. The fire of the shore batteries has been largely quelled. The obstacles that were constructed in the sea have not proved so difficult as was apprehended. The Anglo-American Allies are sustained by about 11,000 firstline aircraft, which can be drawn upon as may be needed for the purposes of the battle. I cannot, of course, commit myself to any particular details. Reports are coming in in rapid succession. So far the Commanders who are engaged report that everything is proceeding according to plan. And what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever taken place. It involves tides, wind, waves, visibility, both from the air and the sea standpoint, and the combined employment of land, air and sea forces in the highest degree of intimacy and in contact with conditions which could not and cannot be fully foreseen.
There are already hopes that actual tactical surprise has been attained, and we hope to furnish the enemy with a succession of surprises during the course of the fighting. The battle that has now begun will grow constantly in scale and in intensity for many weeks to come, and I shall not attempt to speculate upon its course. This I may say, however. Complete unity prevails throughout the Allied Armies. There is a brotherhood in arms between us and our friends of the United States. There is complete confidence in the supreme commander, General Eisenhower, and his lieutenants, and also in the commander of the Expeditionary Force, General Montgomery. The ardour and spirit of the troops, as I saw myself, embarking in these last few days was splendid to witness. Nothing that equipment, science or forethought could do has been neglected, and the whole process of opening this great new front will be pursued with the utmost resolution both by the commanders and by the United States and British Governments whom they serve. I have been at the centres where the latest information is received, and I can state to the House that this operation is proceeding in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. Many dangers and difficulties which at this time last night appeared extremely formidable are behind us. The passage of the sea has been made with far less loss than we apprehended. The resistance of the batteries has been greatly weakened by the bombing of the Air Force, and the superior bombardment of our ships quickly reduced their fire to dimensions which did not affect the problem. The landings of the troops on a broad front, both British and American- -Allied troops, I will not give lists of all the different nationalities they represent-but the landings along the whole front have been effective, and our troops have penetrated, in some cases, several miles inland. Lodgments exist on a broad front.
Kendall–I am so glad you chose to remember D-Day in several postings today. In its current iteration, TEC has almost completely forgotten that in our fallen world there are evil people who can only be stopped by force of arms. God bless the American soldier, sailor, airman and Marine.
Umm … David, Churchill refers to Allies. As he makes clear, it was troops of many nations who landed on French soil. No one would deny, by the way, that the Americans at Omaha beach had the worst situation of all and the heaviest casualties.
We still are Allies – today’s newspaper gives the names of two UK solders killed in Afghanistan. I propose our thanks to all service personnel from coalition nations who are giving their all.
Terry Tee: As an American, I am very thankful for the long-standing links between US and British services – armed, intelligence and humanitarian.
I am currently reading “America Alone” by Mark Steyn and I cannot help but think how very sad that our grandparents and great grandparents sacrificed so much to liberate Europe and now it will be Islamic by the end of the century. What a tragic waste.
Terry–I have no disagreement with what you say. I salute them all. I will say this, though–our current president seems to have forgotten we are allies, and that, indeed, makes me sad.