Personal accounts from the beaches that changed the world
For those who walked these shores, and those who remember
Sergeant Major Pat Porteous of No. 4 Commando described a "small, scrappy French boy" who emerged from the seawall at Sword Beach, carrying a rifle nearly as tall as himself. The boy, whose name was r...
Sergeant Major Pat Porteous of No. 4 Commando described a "small, scrappy French boy" who emerged from the seawall at Sword Beach, carrying a rifle nearly as tall as himself. The boy, whose name was r...
Private First Class Preston Niland and Sergeant Robert Niland were brothers from Tonawanda, New York. Preston landed with the 22nd Infantry Regiment on the eastern end of Omaha Beach. Robert was a par...
Father Francis Sampson was a Catholic chaplain with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne. He landed near Sainte-Mère-Église on D-Day and spent the next three days moving betwe...
The first wave of the 4th Infantry Division at Utah Beach landed 2,000 yards south of their intended zone due to strong currents and obscured landmarks. Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt III person...
Father Francis Sampson was a Catholic chaplain with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne. He landed near Sainte-Mère-Église on D-Day and spent the next three days moving betwe...
The first wave of the 4th Infantry Division at Utah Beach landed 2,000 yards south of their intended zone due to strong currents and obscured landmarks. Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt III person...
Private First Class Waverly B. Woodson Jr. was an African-American medic with the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion attached to the 1st Infantry Division. When his landing craft from the 629th Tank Dest...
Georges Gondrée was 17 years old on D-Day, the son of Thérèse and Georges Gondrée Sr., who ran the Café Gondrée beside the Bénouville Bridge (later Pegasus Bridge). His family had been passing ...
Major John "Jack" Churchill, "Mad Jack," was famous for carrying a longbow, bagpipes, and a Scottish broadsword into battle. On D-Day, he was attached to the Commandos at Sword Beach. After landing un...
Operation Fortitude's success at Gold Beach was largely due to a deception operation known as "Operation Copperhead." Leslie Howard, a British actor who resembled General Montgomery, was used to convi...
Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt III, son of President Teddy Roosevelt, was the only general who landed with the first wave on D-Day. He was 56 years old, using a cane due to arthritis and heart c...
Father Ignatius Maternowski was one of only four Catholic chaplains killed on D-Day. With the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne, he landed by glider in the early hours. Despite th...
Bill Millin was Lord Lovat's personal piper with the 1st Special Service Brigade. Under heavy fire on Sword Beach (later moving to support operations near Omaha), Lovat ordered him to pipe the troops ...
The 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions were tasked with scaling the 100-foot cliffs at Pointe du Hoc to destroy six 155mm guns that threatened both Omaha and Utah beaches. The climb was made with rocket-fi...
Private John Steele of the 82nd Airborne Division was one of many paratroopers whose planes were hit by flak and forced to drop at low altitude over Sainte-Mère-Église. As he descended, he was hit b...