Despite being neutral at the start of World War I, Belgium its colonial possessions found themselves at war after the country was invaded by German forces, Operation Yellow, on 10 May 1940. After 18 days of fighting in which Belgian forces were pushed back into a small pocket in the north-east of the country, the… Read more »
America’s first military stealth aircraft – the Waco CG-4A combat glider – silently soared into World War II history 70 years ago, powered only by the prevailing winds and the guts of the men who flew them. Under veil of darkness on D-Day and other major Allied airborne assaults, the Waco glider carried troops and… Read more »
Utah Beach was the furthest west of the five beaches designated for the D-Day landings in June 1944. Located at the base of the Cotentin Peninsula, it was added by General Dwight “Ike”Eisenhower commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, SHAEF to the original D-Day plan to ensure the early capture of the vital port of… Read more »
The landing area code-named Gold Beach was more than 8 km (5 miles) wide and included the coastal towns of La Rivière and Le Hamel. On the western end of the beach was the small port of Arromanches , and slightly west of that port was the town of Longues-sur-Mer. The defending German forces consisted… Read more »
The assault on Sword Beach was assigned to the British 3rd Infantry Division, nicknamed “Iron Sides” placed under Major General Thomas “Tom” Rennie British 2nd Army commanded by General Miles Dempsey and to French and British Commandos placed under the command of Lord Lovat, and supported by armour regiments. The 3rd Division’s objective was to take… Read more »