D-Day - Codename: Operation Overlord - The Invasion Begins

By June first we’d been bombing German occupied northern France unremittingly for over a month. Our targets were mostly railroad yards and fuel dumps near cities along the northern coast of France. Every time we flew a mission that first week in June we couldn’t help but notice the ships and boats that were gradually appearing in the English channel. We were usually flying 2 missions a day and the weather was pretty good those first few days.

Soon we were told that D-Day was June 5^th. We were restricted to the base, which was alive with preparations. They were painting all the planes with huge black and white stripes so we could tell our planes from the enemy’s.

       http://387bg.com/Aircraft/B-26%20Carolyn.htm

You could feel the excitement on the base. We’d been having good luck hitting our targets but nothing much was happening on the ground in terms of defeating Germany. We were all anxious to get the war over and had great expectations for the invasion. Almost as soon as we were told about the invasion it was cancelled due to high winds and rough seas, plus low clouds that grounded most planes. A heavy fog covered the channel. Late on the 5^th we were gathered for briefings and told the invasion was back on for the next day, June 6, 1944. We listened as General Eisenhower spoke to the troops via radio. All I remember is: the world would be watching and they expected Victory. Here's what he actually said:

Transcript of General Eisenhower’s Message to the Troops on the Eve of D-Day, 1944

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

-- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower photo info unknown, public information from http://www.army.mil/d-day/message.ht

After Eisenhower's message our COO unveiled the war map located on the front wall of the briefing hut and began going over the routes we would all take. We would start taking off just after midnight. We pilots each got our schedules and our Mission Sheet which told me that we wouldn’t be taking off until just before dawn, our usual time. I also knew what plane we’d be flying, that we’d be in #2 position in formation and flying at 4,000' altitude. The weather report listed clouds, fog, and the wind speed we could expect. We knew it was going to be a full moon. There were special code and color names and specific instructions on how we could communicate. Although we’d have a fighter escort, the fighters were also on a mission to seek out and attack the enemy. The briefing didn’t last more than 30 minutes but we were reminded of the importance of our mission and told that there would be as many as 2,000 planes in the air that day. Those of us who weren’t taking off in the first wave were told to head back to our barracks and get some sleep. But there wasn’t much sleeping that night.

Chapter 30 - May 1944 - Pre-Invasion Tactics

During the month preceding D-Day I think about 3 of our missions over coastal defenses were aborted because of fog, bad visibility and bad weather, sometimes lasting as long as five or six days. Although the weather caused a few cancellations, we (450^th BS, 322^nd BG) flew another twelve missions in May. This was all part of the pre-invasion offensive. Most of the targets were railroad yards, fuel dumps, and essential transportation routes and bridges near cities along the coast of France or industrial targets in German Occupied France and Belgium. Altogether the Ninth had over 450 B-26s and A-20s flying.

Our missions were not much over four hours long because even though we carried about the same bomb load as the 4 engine B-17’s we only had about four and a half or five hours of fuel. Sometimes we carried 2 one-ton bombs and sometimes we carried forty 100-pound bombs. We were flying medium range and very accurate at hitting our targets. In May our accuracy was 90% on target. The RAF, which shared our base at Andrews Air Field, now had Mustang P-51 fighters and were again escorting us on some missions.

                                     Two Engine B-26

               P-51 Fighters

About the middle of May there was a full-scale practice for the coming Invasion. It involved paratroopers, gliders, medical evacs and all 450 bombers (about 16-18 groups) targeting bridges, railroads, German landing fields and fuel dumps, known sites of V-weapons, ports, and coastal enclaves. Many of the total 9^th AF missions had to be aborted because of heavy clouds and poor visibility throughout the month.

It was also during May that we finally flew our first Night Flight. If you remember, I was made Captain of our crew a few months earlier because our then Captain refused to fly at night. Then, the Command had second thoughts on the safety of flying at night. This was the first time we’d ever been assigned a night flight. In fact, we were part of the first night bomber mission ever flown in Europe by the US AAF. During the day we flew in box formation but at night each plane flew by instrument on a specific course and at different elevations – 500 feet apart. We took off every 30 seconds and went straight to our assigned altitudes. We weren’t in formation but you still couldn’t vary from your orders or you would risk colliding with another plane. It was surprising how black the night was. All of Europe was in “blackout” so there were no lights from the cities. The heavy cloud cover prevented star or moonlight. Although I think we were all more comfortable flying in the daytime, it was a successful mission and we hit our target.  

Chapter 29 Operation Overlord

Chapter 29 – Operation Overlord

Although there were rumors of a large scale attack ever since Eisenhower took over, we had first heard about Operation Overload (D-Day) in early May. The original date for OO had been cancelled because Germany still had some air power left and the command had decided to bring in more troops.

The Germans were working on installing huge guns on the north coast of France that could shoot “Buzz Bombs” (V-1s) with the ability to reach England. What we didn’t know was they also had a V-2 gun and a V-3 Rocket that could launch bombs from France that would reach the city of London. Reconnaissance had seen the German installations along the northern coast and that made the invasion even more urgent.

We’d all been on pins and needles waiting for the invasion operations to start. In the meantime all bomb groups were concentrating on keeping the Luftwaffe out of the air, out of crews, out of fuel, out of replacement parts and hitting any other target that would be useful. No one knew exactly where the invasion would take place either. We never knew where we were bombing until our briefing sessions before the day’s mission. There were lots of rumors about where it would be and some plans to trick the Germans into thinking it would be somewhere else. In the meantime, hundreds of ships were gathering along the southern coast of England. We'd see them every time we took off over the English channel.