National Archives Remembers 'The Great Crusade'
By Pete Lewis | National Archives News
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2024 – In the spring of 1944, the Allied Forces were ready to finally deliver a killing blow to their Axis enemies. Moving south from Britain by sea and air, and into Nazi-occupied northern France, “Operation Overlord,” more commonly known as D-Day, was the largest amphibious assault in history. More than 150,000 soldiers from the United States, Great Britain, and Canada, along with nearly 7,000 surface watercraft and nearly 3,000 aircraft, invaded Europe to crush the German army and end World War II. However, the battle was not won in a single day. The training and plans made prior to the invasion, and the tactics used during the prolonged battle, were also critical to “The Great Crusade.”
Hattie Hearn, curator with Imperial War Museums in England, gives a presentation, May 22, during an online discussion in recognition of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, hosted by the National Archives in Washington, DC. (National Archives photo)
In recognition of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the National Archives in Washington, DC, hosted an online discussion, May 22, with panelists Chris Carey, a documentary filmmaker with Army University Press; Hattie Hearn, curator with Imperial War Museums in England; and Allen Knechtmann, an archivist with the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. The discussion was moderated by Chris Mason of the U.S. Army War College.
The talk began with discussion of the “Friendly Invasion,” a term used to describe the vast number of Americans stationed in England leading up to D-Day.
“In all, close to 2 million Americans are estimated to have passed through Britain during the Second World War. In a country with a population estimated to be around 48 million in 1944, the presence of so many Americans couldn’t have been missed,” Hearn said. “For most Britons, this would have been their first time encountering an American. Likewise for many Americans, this would have been the first time leaving home, and wartime England would have been unlike any other place they had visited before. It was a period of huge cultural and social change for the country.”
Hearn also touched on the fact that many of the first American service members to arrive in England were members of the Black Aviation Engineering Battalions. Though mainly consigned to service roles, their work building airfields was essential to the war effort.
“In all, around 150,000 of the U.S. troops stationed [in Britain] were Black, and unlike their White comrades, Black personnel were largely consigned to service and supply roles. Their work was characterized by long hours of physical labor and uncomfortable accommodation. But their importance in facilitating the American war effort cannot be overstated,” Hearn added. “And for the rural population of England, the arrival of Black Americans led to their first encounters, not only with an American, but also with a Black person. At this time, the Black population of Britain was relatively small, and mainly concentrated in urban areas. But, for the most part, Black troops were warmly received by the British people.”
As part of the build up to D-Day, training exercises were taking place throughout the United Kingdom. In one instance in 1943, rehearsals for the invasion were conducted in South Devon, England. To facilitate this massive exercise, around 3,000 residents were evacuated from their homes.
“These local people, some of whom had never left their local villages before, had just six weeks to pack up everything and move away. And many never actually returned to their villages,” Hearn said. “In April 1944, this training culminated in a dress rehearsal for the planned landings on Utah Beach, known as Exercise Tiger. However, the exercise would end in disaster when a combination of a German U-boat attack and friendly fire led to enormous casualties.”
Carey discussed the deception operations, such as Operation Fortitude, undertaken by the Allies, who were wary of military plans being leaked by spies, as well as German air, land, and sea firepower.
“[One] of the largest factors that will really play a role in this [deception is] the Double Cross, which is the turning of German spies operating in the UK or creating fake spies that could feed information back to Germany,” Carey said.
He also discussed how the planning and execution of D-Day operations are still relevant to the militaries of the present, even though the event took place 80 years ago.
“Militaries today are very interested in large-scale combat operations, and D-Day is a perfect example of [this]. Particularly, it has airborne units and an amphibious landing, which I think are going to be important for future operations that are large scale. There are still valuable lessons from D-Day that militaries can glean,” Carey said. “It was Allied-planned and it was an Allied success.”
The final presentation discussed Ultra, which was the designation for Allied intelligence gained through the decryption of German radiographic transmissions that had been encoded using the Enigma system. Enigma coding was based on a cipher substitution of characters.
“Timely receipt of operational intelligence was critical in stabilizing the situation at Omaha Beach immediately after the landing. It’s very likely that if [General Omar] Bradley had not gotten that information through Ultra, the German counterattack may very well have succeeded in preventing the linking up of [Allied forces at] Utah and Omaha beachheads,” Knechtmann said. “The overall strengths of Ultra and signals intelligence in general were proven during World War II. It contributed directly to the establishment of the National Security Agency in 1947 as well as the establishment of the current intelligence-sharing arrangements between the United States and its allies, the so-called Five Eyes.”
Following the discussion, the panelists responded to questions from viewers.
View the discussion on the National Archives YouTube Channel.
Browse the National Archives Catalog or visit the National Archives online for Records Relating to D-Day
Follow this link to learn how the National Archives promotes teaching D-Day using primary sources.
Join the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas, for their Symphony at Sunset Annual D-Day Commemoration Concert on Saturday, June 1, from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. CT.
On June 6, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
View the National Archives Calendar of Events for information on future events.