June-July-August 2019 issue small revised

45
THE 75th ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY — JUNE 6, 1944
Submitted by Leah Broadhurst Batty ex WAAF
Our recent weather has been ever-changing and surprising, oft times very inconveniently.
Imagine then, the predicament of the Allied Commanders in 1944 wrestling with
pinpointing the right date to start the Second Front, soon to be known as D- Day. May
had been experiencing a heatwave and the British public were determined to holiday at
the seaside, somewhere. Few trains were available and the coasts were restricted areas,
especially on the south coasts. The military might of the Allies was all ready and waiting
for the word ‘Go!’
At SHAEF HQ north of Southampton, the military commanders were meeting regularly,
watching the weather through the eyes of Group Captain Stagg, a dour 6 ft 3in Scot, a
skilled meteorologist. His early predictions in June were depressing with gale force
winds, low clouds and continuing depressions. On the 5th of June at 3:30 a.m., Eisenhower
got up and made his way to HQ. Stagg was already working the scrambler phones
to get the latest weather reports. All the group of commanders settled and Stagg put them
out of their misery. “Gentlemen,” he began, “no substantial change has taken place since
last time but as I see it, the little that has changed is in the direction of optimism.” The
Commander-in-chief, now completely relaxed, expressed his appreciation and uttered the
historic words, “Now we’ll go.” It was 5 a.m.
The irrevocable decision had been made…tomorrow, June the 6 th , would be D-Day.
Now we would become aware of the Allies might and ingenuity and the thousands of
men who would be involved in this great armada! The costs would be enormous and
grievous. Knowing this, the Order of the Day from the Allied Commander, D. D. Eisenhower,
to all Allied troops was as follows: “Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Expeditionary
Forces! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, towards we have striven
these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of
liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our Allies and brothers-in-arms
on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the Germans’ war
machine, elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed people of Europe, and security for
ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well
equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944! Much
has happened since the triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the
Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced
their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home
Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and
placed at our disposal, great reserves of fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men
of the world are marching together to Victory! I have full confidence in your courage,
devotion to duty and skill in battle! We will accept nothing less than full victory! Good
Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble
undertaking.”
The secrecy of this event was so great that mostly the public were carrying out whatever
their daily routine demanded. I was ambling down Exhibition Road in South Kensington
with a fellow Airwoman to our Mess for breakfast in the basement of the Victoria
and Albert Museum. We were very tired as there was a lot of air activity from early
morning, which we thought was a massive air raid. Looking up, we saw big planes towing
gliders, which were all painted with wide white stripes, not the usual roundels or
stars. How odd! On arriving at the mess, the place was in an uproar with excitement. So
this is D-Day!! We ambled to our classroom in the Science Museum, although we didn’t
feel like pondering over the theories of wireless circuits, and the operations of transmitters
and receivers, and we noticed our neighbours in the next classroom out in the yard
and very excited. We left and joined them and, as they were Free French sailors, also on
a radio course. They were dancing and singing with joy, ending with a rousing Marseillaise!
The recollection of an heroic episode in our recent past should be remembered with
awe and appreciation, but also with gratitude and sadness, for the loss of the many who
did not survive.
After the war, Eisenhower worked in many leadership roles, notably as the 34th President
of the US in 1953 for two terms. He was succeeded by John F. Kennedy, himself
another Second World War veteran. Kennedy once asked Eisenhower what gave him the
edge over the Germans on D-Day. “I think we had better weather forecasters,” Eisenhower
replied.
T S - J/J/A 2019