Allied Expeditionary Press Corps Report – June 2, 1944

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Waiting, waiting, waiting. Soldiers were all in camps, waiting to GO!
Waiting, waiting, waiting. Soldiers were all in camps, waiting to GO!

Filed by: Staff Correspondent, Allied Press Pool

The Longest Wait – Allied Troops Poised for History’s Greatest Assault

Southern England is a hive of activity and anticipation as Allied forces prepare for what promises to be the largest amphibious invasion in the annals of military history. Around Britain, America, Canada, France, and all the allied countries people are anxious for the invasion of Nazi-occupied Western Europe.

Troops are massed in sprawling encampments stretching from Portsmouth to Devon, readying themselves for the fateful crossing of the English Channel.

While the invasion date is not known, probably the tightest kept secret in the world right now, there is a sense that the invasion is going to be happening sooner rather than later.

The countryside is brimming with soldiers — British Tommies, American GIs, Canadian infantrymen, and units from Free France, Poland, Norway, and other nations under Hitler’s shadow. Despite the weight of what lies ahead, morale among the men is resolutely high. Soldiers know they stand on the precipice of a mission that could crack Hitler’s Atlantic Wall and turn the tide of the war in Europe.

The camps resound with the clink of gear, the low thrum of aircraft engines, and the distant thunder of artillery practice. Troops are undergoing final briefings, checking equipment, writing last letters home, and engaging in moments of prayer and reflection. Chaplains circulate frequently, as do commanding officers offering steady words of encouragement.

In these last days of preparation, secrecy remains paramount. Details of the operation’s timing and location are closely guarded. Not even all of the troops know exactly where they will land. The weather, too, plays its fickle hand.

Rough seas and low clouds threaten to delay the operation, though planners, under General Eisenhower’s supreme command, are watching forecasts hour by hour.

Our soldiers, seamen and airmen are well-supplied, outfitted with the latest in wartime equipment. Tanks, landing craft, and airborne gliders are amassed in formidable numbers. The Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces have spent months softening German defences in Northern France. Bridges, railroads, and coastal fortifications have been battered from the sky in preparation for the ground assault to come.

Behind the front lines, Allied planners have meticulously studied every inch of the Normandy coast. Intelligence gleaned from the French Resistance and aerial reconnaissance suggests the enemy is alert but spread thin. Yet no one underestimates the danger. The German Wehrmacht, led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in the West, has had years to prepare. The beaches of France will be heavily fortified and fiercely defended.

Still, among the men there is a grim confidence. They know they are part of something greater than themselves — a crusade against tyranny. As one young private from Ohio said to this reporter: “We’ve trained, we’re ready, and we know what’s at stake. The world’s counting on us.”

As the hour draws near, all eyes turn toward the Channel and the stormy coast beyond. The waiting is nearly over. Soon, the fate of Europe will hang on the courage of the men ready to leap into the jaws of war.

Godspeed to them all.


Filed under War Correspondence, June 1944

This story is a part of NetNewsLedger’s coverage of the anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy France on June 6 1944,

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James Murray
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