At the invasion of Normandy, he killed two snipers and successfully led his men through a mine field. He was also shot four times in the leg, once in the finger, and once in the chest - but a cigarette case his brother gave him was in his front pocket, and it saved his life.
The attack began when Allied planes and warships bombarded German positions along the coastline. This was to damage the defences making it easier for the troops to get ashore. At the same time, planes and gliders dropped tens of thousands of allied soldiers behind the German defences. They took control of important roads and bridges. This made it harder for the German army to rush extra men towards areas where the troops were landing. Thousands of ships had set out from the south coast of England to help. In all, over 6,000 vessels joined the attack. They were supported by over 11,000 planes. The naval force crossed the English channel overnight. At 6.30am on 6 June, troops started to land on the beaches of Normandy in France. By the end of D-Day, the Allies had put 156,000 troops ashore. Portsmouth’s D-Day Museum says an estimated 2,500 Allied troops died on the day of the invasion. — Source: BBC
* Europe is in debt to the millions of soldiers from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean who fought alongside Britain, France and other European nations as part of their ‘empires’ in WWI and WWII.
70 years ago, Canadian bicycled troops arrived in Normandy to release France. As a french citizen I’d like to thanks these people who gave their life for it.
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