Why is the invasion of Normandy called D-DAY?

[Shc]

I never understood as to why the invasion of Normandy was also called D-DAY. I mean, isin't D-day a day chosen for the beginning of a military operation ?

Why do most people call it D-DAY instead of the invasion of Normandy?


Just a question out of curiosity
Thx...
Jose

[Tom Houlihan]

D-Day was a common designator for any operation. Originally, there was no specific connection to Normandy. It just stuck in the history books that way.

[Dessek Warrior]

It was originally D-Day, Operation Overlord. But the last part was somehow lost over time... Indeed it is NOT the name for the invasion of North West Europe.

[Barrett]

H-Hour and D-Day were generic terms that applied to many Allied operations, dating from WW I. It's among the FAQs found on many Overlord/Neptune sites.

Note: D-Day for Southern France (Anvil-Dragoon) was 15 August. D-Day at Saipan was 15 June.

For additional Overlord info, check an extraordinarily fine book, Brassey's D-Day Encyclopedia.

[e.polis]

D-Day stands for disembarkation day

[Dessek Warrior]

D-Day stands for disembarkation day

No, it doesn't. It stands for the first day of any operation, in this case operation Overlord. June 7th was D+1, and so forth.

[Shc]

D-Day stands for disembarkation day

If D-day stands for disembarkation day, that probably mean H-hour stands for Happy hour right?!
hehehe..

[e.polis]

Ok .........well D-Day actually stands for the un-named date on which an opperation is to take place, usually the dis-embarkation of an invading force and H-Hour stands for the time of that day a particular phase of the opperation is to occur. Such as 0200 Hrs for airbourne opps, 0630 Hrs for naval bombardment and 0800 Hrs for amphibious assult, many H-Hrs for a D-Day as can be planned for.

To take it one stage further M-Day is the unamed day on which full mobilization commences or is due to commence

N-Day is the un-named day an active duty unit is notified for deployment or re-deployment

R-Day is the-un named date for actual redeployment

And so on and so on.............there are days such as C-Day, S-Day, T-Day, W-Day, F-Hour and L-hour, with many more designations as well.

[StigRoadie]

Hey! Dont forget H-hour, he gets lonely. Was it not said 'this is the day and this is the hour'?

[ChristopherPerrien]

D-day is of course the date of the start of a military operation, sometimes referred to as D+ 0,
although in the context of D-Day ( Normandy) it seems to mean a little more. I think Patton mentions D-day in "War as I knew it" as meaning literally "Departure day". Perhaps this comes from barracks talk in 42-44 of the US Army in England for D-day as the day they would leave England (de-part) to invade Europe.

Of course nothing is comparable to another way I have heard the term "D-day" used by US soldiers, which is short also for Departure Date or "THE DAY", the day you leave a place, a unit or especially, to "end term of service" , i.e. Get out the army.
"YO' MAN, TODAY IS D! DAY!, C'YA!"

[Montys Foxhounds]

In England we knew D-Day as Deliverence Day. But it is quite correct that D-Day is the un-named day of a planned operation.

Cheers.

[Richard Hedlund]

I have heard or read somewhere that in the case of Normandy some people referred D-day as the Day of Days. As they put a lot at stake it was indeed an important day. Can someone verify this?

/Richard