Remembering D-Day: 80 years
80 years ago today, the second world war had one of its biggest and most important moments.
In the early hours of the morning, five Normandy beaches were stormed by allied forces, in an enormous amphibious assault.
US rangers, among the first to go into action, scaled the sheer cliff at Pointe du Hoc and destroyed the German battery. Then, they secured the area.
The liberation of Europe had begun! Or had it?
Kutuzov
Well, some would argue that the liberation had already begun about a year prior.
On July 12th, 1943, the red army launched “Operation Kutuzov”, which put an end to German offensive ambitions at Kursk. This battle saw the Soviets taking the initiative from the Germans on the eastern front, and it would remain this way until the very end.
By the time D-Day started, the Soviets had already pushed hundreds of miles westward, liberating Smolensk, Odessa and Tarnopol.
As agreed by the allied leaders during one of their conferences, the Soviets launched “Operation Bagration” shortly after D-Day.
So, how does D-Day mark the beginning of the end? Well, mainly because another new front was simply too much for the Germans to handle. This invasion suddenly and significantly accelerated the collapse of the Reich, and the days of Nazi terror were numbered.
Normandy
We visited Normandy and Pointe du Hoc last year on the 6th of june, and were left in awe. Standing at the top of that sheer cliff, looking down, one can imagine how hard it must have been to scale the cliff, especially under fire.
While we were there, the whole region was bristling with re- enactors and vintage vehicles, which made driving around an absolute joy. We visited all of the significant battlegrounds including the Crisbecq battery, Carentan, Pegasus bridge, and a number of museums. Of course we photographed literally everything, as we were still modeling our “Liberation” assets. That's why the color of the flowers at the foot of a Gates of Hell hedgerow is exactly like the real thing in Normandy.
What matters
Does it matter a lot which date actually marks the start of the liberation of Europe? No. What matters is that the allies worked closely together - successfully - to end an era of terror and fascism, and D-Day was one of those days that were instrumental and significant in the defeat of the axis powers.
What matters is that we remember and honor those that risked or lost their lives for our freedom.
Lest we forget.