Remembering D-Day

Tomorrow, June 6th, is the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, so today I poked around Footnote to see what kinds of related things I could find.

I didn't get too far because after looking at photos from the WWII Air Force Photos...

Delivering "waterproofed vehicles"


A downed P-47 on a beach in Normandy

...I found some documents in the World War II Foreign Military Studies collection that were so interesting I got stuck reading them. The Foreign Military Studies include reports and other documents from German sources that provide a unique perspective.

Here's a translation of a page from "telephone diary of the 352 infantry division." It begins with early reports of paratroopers and personnel carrying gliders and then continues through the invasion by sea.

If you click through to the image you can get to the other pages
of the diary using the filmstrip at the bottom of the viewer

And here's page one of a translation of Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter's account of "The Battle of the 716th Infantry Division in Normandy." He describes German preparations, the weather and the events of the initial invasion and the days following.

Again, you can use the filmstrip to see the rest of the report.

You'll find these images and more about D-Day on this Footnote Page. The page is open for contributions, so if you have something you'd like to share about D-Day, you can add to the page too.