THE AIR FORCE STORY CHAPTER XIX D-DAY JUNE 6, 1944

Spring 1944, occupied France. Over fortress Europe standing silent sentry was the highly developed German radar system. By June, three-day strength in Holland, Belgium, and France had been increased to 60 divisions. German headquarters expected an invasion, but wasn't sure where. Quite accidentally, the crack 352nd Wehrmacht division was ordered on beach maneuvers to a sector in Normandy which the allies secretly picked as Omaha Beach. The Atlantic Wall was being reinforced. Thinking the allies intended to strike directly across the channel at its narrowest point, the enemy kept strong forces in the area and heavily fortified the Pas de Calais coastline. High German brass inspecting fortifications facing England ordered heavier defenses. Ever alert and expecting to drive the invaders back into the sea, the enemy hoped his fortress was impregnable. June 5th, London. The waking metropolis didn't know General Eisenhower had given us the final decision. The invasion of France would start this night. All southern England was a military camp. For days our troops had been boarding invasion transports. If ever there was a German bombers paradise, it was a harbor like Portsmouth. What sitting ducks we could have been. But our air forces had cleared the way for invasion. Late in the afternoon before D-Day, Eisenhower, Spaatz, and Bradley and came to Newbury. At headquarters of the 101st Airborne, they visited with a pair of troopers who were getting ready to embark on their hazardous mission. Many of them told their supreme commander that as soon as they dropped in France, everything would be taken care of. But the general and the private weren't kidding each other. As spearhead of the invasion, thousands of airborne troops were going to drop behind enemy lines. Before the first assault take off, in each man's ears rang Eisenhower's inspiring order of the day. Soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force, you are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. 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. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. The tide has turned. 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 blessing of almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking. This was really it. Here we were, the ninth troop carriers vaulting the channel, the vanguard of the second front, one British and two American divisions. Our mission, to drop them behind German fortifications to flank and secure the invasion zone. Tough young men making history, which some of them would never get a chance to read. Historic France with memories of ancient invaders was being invaded again. This time airplanes had ferried hosts of Allied warriors to the Normandy battleground. The element of surprise was effective as airborne troops, some led by General Matthew Ridgway, dropped in the appointed areas behind the proposed landing beaches. Now the battle to control the gateway to France. Men we had delivered from the skies were launching the liberation of Europe. All this time, hundreds of troop-laden invasion craft were leaving England. June saw the highest winds and roughest seas experienced in the English Channel for 20 years. D-Day was no picnic. At busy airfields ranging from Devon to Lincolnshire, we marked our aircraft with D-Day stripes and loaded them with reinforcements. Everything from motorcycles to howitzers and armies of men. Last-minute hookups were ordered. Almost a year ago we had run a similar glider operation to Sicily. Then as now, under the watchful eye of men like General Hoyt Vandenberg, we prepared for the big show. The plan, after a night drop, now called for reinforcements. These slow-moving unarmed gliders lumbered off and headed for Normandy to accomplish a miracle. We were engaged in more than airlifting troops and weapons. Air power, leading actor in the prelude to invasion, now played another important role in the unfolding drama that was D-Day. Airplanes commanded by Generals Kepner, Anderson, Quesada, and Weyland rolled off British fields to cover and directly support the Allied armies about to hit the beach. The pre-D-Day timetable also called for our planes to warn the French. Planes to divert the enemy. Planes to smash German radar and communications. Planes to attack rail centers, bridges, and airfields. 8,000 planes dispatched to isolate the battle area from the rest of France and help the allies grab a foothold on Western Europe. As we left England, all of us felt the high drama of armies of men joined in the historic flight across the channel. Bearing witness to the mighty spectacle were the Allied seaborn forces escorting the US First Army and the British Second Army for the great assault. The invasion schedule now called for a tremendous naval overture. Climaxing the attack, we went in to demolish critical bridges, key roads, and rail arteries leading into the battle area, as well as German radar and fortifications along the coast. By D-Day, 74 tunnels and bridges leading to Normandy were put out of business. No one would have given our reinforcements in wooden gliders better than an even chance of living through the next hour, much less the next day. They were wrong. We had a lot in our favor. We had mastery of the air. We achieved complete surprise. And we had guys with guts and faith in freedom on our side. Flying cover over the invasion armada, we watched our guys get ready to hit the beach. Even the Germans didn't interrupt the show. No U-boats, practically no Luftwaffe. Freedom was on the march. Not realizing the extent of the force opposing them, the Germans tried to stop the invasion. General Ike had promised his assault troops, "If you see any airplanes, don't worry. They'll be ours." He was right. We were there with a vengeance. We flew in at right angles to the British assault points on the American beaches we called Omaha and Utah. Paving the way, we bombed continuously until minutes before the landing. Then, racing toward the beach, the assault force opened up. H-hour, and waves of free men hit the beach. Normandy, from the Cherbourg Peninsula eastward to the mouth of the Seine, shook with a tremendous roar of battle. The hard crust of the German West Wall was broken. The landing stuck. Unceasingly, the Allies poured men and material into the flame-swept rim of France. Try as he would, the enemy could not push the Allies into the sea. Our planes hunted the German Air Force. Where were they? The crippled Luftwaffe had been pulled back to defend their fatherland. Protected by Allied air power, the road to final victory was open. That moment in history called D-Day will never die. It spelled life to those who were enslaved. A time of greatness to those who battled. A lesson to would-be aggressors. D-Day, climax of many forces, was spearheaded by the United States Air Force.