If VE day is victory in europe, what is D-Day?

Question

What does the "D" stand for. Although I know what in effect it was, I cannot remember what the "D" actually signified.

Answer 1

The matter about D Day is mostly settled. Just to clarify other point mentioned. The US troops saw first action at Dieppe on Aug. 19, 1942. Those participating were US Army Rangers attached to the British Commandos. True, the greater contingent and losses were Canadian. The next American participation were the landings in North Africa, Nov. 8, 1942.

Answer 2

Axe-muppet is correct.

The “D” does not stand for "Deliverance", "Doom", "Debarkation" or similar words. In fact, it does not stand for anything. The “D” is derived from the word "Day". “D-Day” means the day on which a military operation begins. The term "D-Day" has been used for many different operations, but it is now generally only used to refer to the Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944.



When a military operation is being planned, its actual date and time is not always known exactly. The term "D-Day" was therefore used to mean the date on which operations would begin, whenever that was to be. The day before D-Day was known as "D-1", while the day after D-Day was "D+1", and so on. This meant that if the projected date of an operation changed, all the dates in the plan did not also need to be changed. This actually happened in the case of the Normandy Landings. D-Day in Normandy was originally intended to be on 5 June 1944, but at the last minute bad weather delayed it until the following day. The armed forces also used the expression "H-Hour" for the time during the day at which operations were to begin.



Steve-g, Axe-muppet didn't say 'four years', he said 'for years'.

Answer 3

D-Day is 6 June 1945 . The day that the Invasion of Normandy by the western Allies took place.

It was the largest seaborne invasion in history.



Stephen g -- I think you will find that the Dieppe raid in 1942 was carried out solely by Canadian troops. The US army was not involved in any hostilities in Europe until the invasion of Sicily in August 1943 nearly four years after the start of the war

Answer 4

D Day was the name given by Americans to any zero day for invasions, the D is Departure Day (from Safety) the most famous of course being the Invasion of Northern Europe by Allied Forces along the Normandy Coast (Operation Neptune (Sea part) and Overlord (Land Part))

D-Day is still used by forces controlled by American Generals as far as I know.

Answer 5

Mostly commonly D Day is used to refer to 6 June 1944 when the Allied powers began Operation Overlord which was the big counter offensive to push the Axis powers from Northern France back in to Europe.



Deployment Day, Disembark Day, Decisive Day.



All are backronyms though...



It didn't originally have a meaning i.e. it didn't stand for anything at all.



It's common millitary slang for the day when something will happen.



Like the lesser known H-Hour.



EDIT: Jenn - The US invaded Germany all on their own did they? I must be mistaken. It seems that the French, English, Welsh, Scottish, Polish, Soviets, etc, etc, etc just sat around and watched as Patton took them on single handedly. I'll stop here because you probably haven't heard of any of these oh so minor countries that fought the Axis for years BEFORE the US got moving and then fought alongside the US so that you don't have to speak German.

Answer 6

Unfortunately, Axe_muppet is not correct in the additional info posted in the edit. The invasion of Poland was on September 1, 1939, and the first combat by US troops was at Dieppe on August 19, 1942. The Allies did not fight germany for FOUR years before the US joined, it was not even THREE full years yet.

Answer 7

It was the Invasion Day in Europe when we went to Normandy, the German occupied section of France. From there, the US went to invade Germany.

Answer 8

OPERATION OVERLORD D-DAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvZCDfhoNxA&feature=related

. . . .rare color film. . .



The letter 'D' in the case of D-Day is simply a random letter from the alphabet. In the military phonetic aphabet of the time the word for D=dog.



D-Day was actually "Operation Overlord" an allied armada invasion of Europe via Normandy (Normandee) in France.



General Omah Bradly USA - United States Army

"Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death." -



Operation Overlord (Normandy Invasion).

http://www.internet-esq.com/ussaugusta/overlord/



D-Day Fact Sheet, 6 June 1944 Normandy, France: Ike: General ... D-Day, The 6th of June, Center of Military History Map Guide, Washington, D.C. 1994. Normandy, U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II pamphlet, ...

http://www.kansasheritage.org/abilene/ikedday.html



D-Day Maps - Perry-Castañeda Map Collection - Historical - UT ... Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection. D-Day (June 6, 1944) - Maps ... Omaha Beach - East (Colleville-sur-Mer), Reverse (730K) ...

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/dday.html



The History Guy: World War 2: The Invasion of Normandy (1944) --The D-Day Museum in Portsmouth, England claims a total of 2500 Allied .... A map of the invasion at Normandy, with the landing beach in the background. ...

http://www.historyguy.com/normandy_links.html - Cached



Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Normandy 1944

Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Normandy 1944 ... Map of the British and Canadian beaches on D-Day, June 6, 1944, showing the planned amphibious … ...

http://www.britannica.com/dday/article-9389940 - Cached



Invasion of Normandy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

a b c d Map 81, The Oxford Companion to World War II. (2005). Ed. M.R.D. Foot, I.C.B. Dear. ... D-Day 1944 (3): Sword Beach & the British Airborne Landings. ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Normandy



CCNY Reference Resources:Government Views of D-Day 1944 Intelligence officers used rubber relief maps of the Normandy Beaches to brief ..... Animated Map of the D-Day Landings The British Broadcasting System ...

http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/library/Divisions/Government/DDay.html



Operation Overlord - Normandy Invasion

Overlord Area Map - 1944 (click on the thumbnails to display enlarged versions) .... D-Day Plus Fifty Years : The Normandy Beaches Revisted - by Henry ...

http://www.internet-esq.com/ussaugusta/overlord/ - Cached



1944 MAP OF NORMANDY COAST: D-DAY PLANS

1944 MAP OF NORMANDY COAST: D-DAY PLANS from Olive-Drab.com. ... map shows the zones of the American landings at Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. ...

http://www.olive-drab.com/gallery/description_0170.php - Cached



WarMuseum.ca - Democracy at War - D-Day and the Normandy Campaign ... The invasion of Normandy had begun. Animated Map of D-Day Showing the Allied ...

Back Stiff Hun Resistance on Beaches The Hamilton Spectator, 07/06/1944 ...

http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/newspapers/operations/ddaynormandy_e.html





After Normandee - the race to Paris





Liberation of Paris by the Armee Secret, Commander Colonel Rol.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oawZEYXICbs&feature=related



The first allied troops to arrive in Paris were the Americans. They were greeted as heroes by the People of Paris.



Arc de Triumph Victory Parade

Mission Europe Hostilities. TOP SECRET. Arc de Triumph Victory Parade ... Allied Troops in a parade through Paris liberation. August 1944 ...

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212881/arcpar.html - Cached



BBC NEWS | Europe | Eyewitness: How Paris was liberated

General Charles de Gaulle led a huge victory parade in the city ... After the Allied victory in Normandy, the showdown in Paris was approaching. ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3590542.stm



Later in the war: . . . . .



Nazi Murder Mills - CONTAINS DISTBURBING IMAGES -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3GkRHYvnaE



RED ARMY VICTORY PARADE RED SQUARE MOCBA



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soAHzsIQc3o&feature=related



.....HURRAH!

Answer 9

When we landed in Normandy



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_day



read about it

Answer 10

they were delayed by 4 days, day 1 being A-day and so on, on the forth day we kicked ***, and that was D-Day :)



LOl, not really, i aint got a clue.