Normandy will forever be marked by the D-Day Landings and the Battle of Normandy that led to the liberation of France and Europe. 2024 will mark the 80th Anniversary of this historic event, and with it, a momentous occasion to celebrate peace, liberty, and reconciliation. A rich and unprecedented programme of events has been put together to bring the memory of this tragic period of world history to life, all while emphasising the spirit of hope.
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune).
A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.
The decision to undertake cross-channel landings in 1944 was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, and General Bernard Montgomery was named commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all the land forces involved in the operation.
The coast of Normandy of northwestern France was chosen as the site of the landings, with the Americans assigned to land at sectors codenamed Utah and Omaha, the British at Sword and Gold, and the Canadians at Juno. To meet the conditions expected on the Normandy beachhead, special technology was developed, including two artificial ports called Mulberry harbours and an array of specialised tanks nicknamed Hobart’s Funnies.
In the months leading up to the landings, the Allies conducted Operation Bodyguard, a substantial military deception that used electronic and visual misinformation to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of developing fortifications all along Hitler’s proclaimed Atlantic Wall in anticipation of landings in France.
THE MEMORY LIVES ON
Normandy will bear the scars of the moment in history forever, and every year we remember and pay tribute to the veterans from America, Britain, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Norway, Poland, Australia, France and their brothers in arms, to those many heroes who lost their lives here during that summer, and are at rest in the cemeteries to be found throughout the area. It is often forgotten that the people of Normandy also paid a heavy price in those terrible battles. Each anniversary year is the occasion to pay tribute to the fallen and to the veterans who will come to attend the commemorative events and celebrations organized in Normandy. Lest we forget.
A UNIQUE EVENT
For this very special occasion, Normandy’s ambition is to offer a major family-friendly event, aimed at Normans and visitors alike, who have little or no access to official ceremonies. The date of Saturday 1st June, at nightfall, has been chosen for this event, on the weekend ahead of 6th June. Over 20 huge firework displays light-up the sky simultaneously over the 5 Landing Beaches. A beautiful family-friendly and free event.
THE INTERNATIONAL CEREMONY
It’s official:
The official international ceremony will take place on Thursday 6 June 2024 on Omaha Beach. Many heads of state, veterans and officials will commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day (by invitation only) with no access to visitors, vehicles etc.
Other ceremonies include the following:
5th June: International Ceremony in tribute to the civilian victims, Saint-Lô
6th June: Franco-American Ceremony in Colleville-sur-Mer, before the official International Ceremony
6th June: Franco-Canadian Ceremony in Courseulles-sur-Mer, after the official International Ceremony
7th June: Ceremony with American President Joe Biden in Cherbourg
7th June: Bayeux Liberation Ceremony with President Macron in Bayeux
Our D-Day Hero’s
I was delighted to read a piece in the Daily Telegraph this morning by Mathew Benns. Mr Purdy is the father of one of my oldest mate’s. He is a to a modest self-effacing senior gentleman as it comes across in this article.
Eighty years ago today Australian bomber pilot Bill Purdy turned his Lancaster towards home to be greeted by the breathtaking sight of thousands of allied ships heading towards France.
D-Day on 6th June 1944 marked the beginning of the Allied invasion of Europe and 21-year-old Bill Purdy was one of more than 3000 Aussies doing their bit.
“The weather was terrible but we had to fly to take out the German guns at Point du Hoc,” Mr Purdy recalls. “When we turned for home the sight was incredible.
“There were so many ships we could have put our wheels down and taxied across the water to England.”
The world’s largest ever invasion fleet landed 156,000 allied troops on five beachheads in Normandy in Northern France to begin the liberation of Europe and defeat of Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
“When we flew over we knew the invasion had started and were just glad we were not down there on the ground,” recalled Mr Purdy, who flew back to the base of No 463 Squadron and went to bed.
“I was woken up again at midday to attack a column of German tanks at a rail siding at Argentan,” Mr Purdy said.
His Lancaster was third in the queue to take off. “Number one did not get off the ground and rolled into the village, number two did a ground loop and so that left me,” Mr Purdy said.
He led the squadron into the air and headed 70 miles into occupied territory to tackle the tanks. “We had to take them out or it would have been bad for our boys on the ground,” he said.
Mr Purdy went on to fly a remarkable 37 missions, surviving in a squadron that lost 78 aircraft and 546 aircrew of which 225 were Aussies, and returned home to become the chairman of Arnott’s biscuits.
Australian War Memorial senior historian Dr Lachlan Grant said Mr Purdy was one of 3,300 Australians who took part in the attack on D Day.
“There were 3300 Australians involved on the actual day,” Dr Grant said. “Five hundred were sailors attached to the Royal Navy and in all sorts of vessels. Another 2500 were flying bombers, spitfires and towing gliders carrying the British 6th Airborne Division.”
There were also 12 Australian soldiers on the beaches as observers to take lessons learned from the assault back to the Pacific theatre.
“One of those was Major Joe Gullett who ended up taking command of a British unit and went on to be shot by a German machine gun as he led his men across a field,” Dr Grant said.
“It is very important to remember Australia’s part in D Day,” he said. “It marked the liberation of Nazi Europe. When it fell in 1940 Australia was one of a very few liberal democracies left in the world.”
RSL NSW President Mick Bainbridge said the anniversary was a reminder of the sacrifice made by so many to give us the freedoms we enjoy today.
“The sacrifice on the beaches of Normandy is echoed in the lives of all veterans who have fought for our freedoms. We owe every Australian and allied forces who have served their country our deepest gratitude and unwavering support” he said.
Mr Purdy will be watching the D Day anniversary events on the television at his home in Mosman on Sydney’s north shore. “I cannot take part in anything unfortunately because I have got Covid,” he said.
