But above all, it must generate an overwhelming and sustained momentum by pouring endless quantities of men and their paraphernalia across the Channel onto the tide-washed sands. It must be massive, to force an ample beachhead. It must be fierce, to sweep aside the formidable defenses known to exist. The thrust must be sudden to confuse the enemy. Two peoples, related by blood and tradition whose histories had been shaped by the oceans which guarded their shores, were united in a mighty effort to span the "Narrow Sea" from crowded bases in the British Isles. Now, the attempt was to be reversed, against a fortressed Europe lying in the chains of the Nazis. Sailors are seldom heard in the higher councils of land-bound soldiers. The Spain of the Armada the France of Napoleon the Germany of Hitler - all these knew the arts of the soldier but failed in perception of the unique influence of wide waters upon the course of history. More than one fine general who had dreamed of subjugating Britain in the past had achieved only frustration through failure to propitiate the God of the Sea.
It was not inappropriate that its secret code name was NEPTUNE. For size, complexity and intricacy of planning, it was without peer. But there the numbers were so great and the approach of the event had been so long heralded, it seemed that the world could not release its breath until the fate of 60 miles of tide-washed sand on France's shore had been determined.ĭ Day saw the greatest amphibious operation in military history. Tragic experience like this is an integral part of war, for friend and foe alike. Many of those tormented women still bear the scars - ten years afterward. For agonizing weeks they could not learn when or where their men would enter the conflict. The women who prayed for them at home knew something of these dangers and imagined more. But they were aware of the perils awaiting them, from overhead, from under the sea from the powerful guns, obstacles and alerted enemy of Hitler's boasted "Atlantic Wall." These men were fit and confident from many months of sound training. Embarked, or waiting their turn, were two million young men and they were but the vanguard of the ultimate strength of the Invasion. Out of every port and shelter indenting the Southern coast of England, from Bristol to the Thames, had emerged, or were emerging nearly 5,000 ships and craft. It gave new life to the men who fought and sweat in the far-spread theatres of the war and to those unhappy ones who starved in the slave labor camps of the enemy.
Conviction and resolve were hardened in the minds of free peoples and of those who longed to be free. The news of it brought real, if fearful, hope to unhappy millions under the heel of the "Axis", from Europe's western border to Cathay and the scattered islands of the Pacific. The Allies had landed upon the captive shores of France. On a Tuesday morning ten years ago, a world already too accustomed to thrills, turned on its radio and stood transfixed.