Vintage
75th Anniversary of D-Day: 6 June, 1944
Vintage
75th Anniversary of D-Day: 6 June, 1944
Today, we take a moment to remember D-Day, the invasion of Normandy by Allied Forces on 6 June 1944, and the timepieces worn on the battlefield. It’s been 75 years and while there have been many milestones in history before and since, its significance is undiminished as one of the most momentous days in the 20th century, of a war that has no equal in the annals of military history. The world is a better place for it, to say the least.
World War II was:
• Fought by modern powers at the peak of their technological development, utilizing modern technologies from machine guns, combustion engine, communications, to air power, and nuclear arms.
• Some 60 to 65 million died; some 27 thousand killed every day, for six years.
• This carnage is unmatched by wars in the last 300 years prior, combined.
• Some 80 percent of those killed were civilians, non-combatants.
On D-Day 6 June 1944:
• German casualties numbered 4,000 to 9,000. Allied casualties numbered at least 10,000 men, with more than 4,400 confirmed dead.
• Equipment specially developed for the operation were deployed for the first time, including portable habors and amphibious (within limits) armored vehicles.
• The Allies committed 39 divisions to battle at Normandy, comprising 1 million troops. The initial plan called for three divisions with two additional divisions in support.
• The Luftwaffe had 815 aircraft; the Allies had more than 9,500.
Timepieces: “Dirty Dozen”
During the Second World War, the British Ministry of Defence commissioned 12 watchmaking companies to manufacture the WWW (“Wrist Watch Waterproof”) issued to its troops.