Victory In Europe Day

Today represents the 70th Anniversary of the day that Germans officially surrendered to the Allies.  However, depending on which ally you are, you celebrate it on a different day.

 Since I like aircraft, I will use a couple of my World War II aircraft in this post.  First up is the Supermarine Spitfire.  The Spitfire and Hurricane were best known as the aircraft used by the British during the Battle of Britain.  The Spitfire was the more famous of the two aircraft but the Hurricane was more of the workhorse.

 The Battle of Britain probably marked a turning point in the war of sorts.  The British had been forced back to the Island and were standing in the way of complete German dominance.  Hitler was looking to invade but prior to that, he had to destroy the Royal Air Force.  Had the Germans continued on their initial strategy, it probably would have happened.  Instead, they decided to concentrate on London.  The rest is history as they say.

 The Spitfire of course continued through the rest of the war with upgrades all along.

 The Commonwealth nations celebrate VE Day on May 7 because that was the first day the Germans surrendered in Reims.

 The P-47 Thunderbolt was the less glamorous of the main US Fighters in Europe.  However, it was a very capable aircraft.  It was particularly effective in the ground attack role.  Nicknamed the Jug by its pilots.

On May 8th, the formal surrender was accepted in Berlin, Germany.  Thus, May 8th is the day we celebrate VE Day in the United States.

Because the Soviet Union was to the east of Berlin, it was May 9th when the formal surrender documents were signed.  Therefore, the Russians celebrate VE Day on the 9th.

I'm hoping to catch a real B-17 and B-25 later but I'm not going to hold my breathe on that.

June 6, 1944

Today is the 70th Anniversary of the Allied Invasion of France.  The proper name of this invasion was Operation Overlord but in common vernacular, it has become known as D-Day.  D-day is simply the word the Army uses to indicate the planned day of attack.

Fairly extensive planning went into the Allied invasion.  They did not want to recreate the failures of the earlier Dieppe raid.  There were also extensive forces used in the operation.  This post is just about a part of that overall force.

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, US and British transport aircraft take off from various airfields around England.  They would be transporting elements of the British 6th Airborne Division, the US 82nd Airborne Division, and the US 101st Airborne Division.  These movements would signify the opening of one of the largest amphibious invasions ever taken.  The British division would land behind the British Beaches and the US divisions would land behind the US beaches.  It was the first time that a night-time Airborne assault was undertaken (and the last time I believe until one of the opening moves in the Iraq Invasion).

 The British Airborne objectives on D-day were to capture the two bridges across the River Orne and the Caen Canal.  The Allied forces wanted these bridges intact because otherwise efforts to break out of Normandy would be seriously hampered.

The British forces were successfully in capturing the bridges intact.  In fact, the Caen Canal Bridge was renamed the Pegasus Bridge in commemoration of the British Airborne Insignia and the other Bridge was renamed Horsa Bridge after the name of the gliders used by some of the troops.

In the overall scheme of the invasion, these were small actions but they were critical to the success of the operation.  I used the British example because we in the United States tend to focus on our efforts in World War II but it was truly an Allied effort.