Here is a letter written by Supreme Commander General Dwight D Eisenhower to the troops of the allied invasion force before Operation Overlord on June 6th, 1944.

Famously known as D-Day or the battle of Normandy, the allied operation was the largest seaborne invasion in history, intending to open a second front in the West. More than 150000 personnel, 6000 aircraft, 50000 vehicles, and 11000 planes were involved in the invasion.

This letter that was distributed to all troops as a formal order aimed to encourage and inspire them despite the adversity they would face, highlighting the valuable importance for the invasion to succeed.

It is also noted that on June 5th, one day before the landing, General Eisenhower, assuming that D-Day would fail due to uncertain weather conditions and other circumstances, drafted a message to accept full responsibly and blame for launching the attack. However, this document was later crumbled and thrown away when he received news of the invasion’s success. (message is below)

4441 Allied troops and 9000 German Wehrmacht troops lost their lives during the battle of Normandy.

General Dwight D Eisenhower served as the Allied Supreme commander in chief until the end of WW2 in May 1945. He also went on to become the 34th president of the United States of America from 1953 to 1961.

https://www.military.com/history/jacket-coin-letter-relics-of-omaha-beach-battle-tell-story-of-d-day-80-years-later.html

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/a-whos-who-of-d-day

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/general-eisenhowers-order-of-the-day

Click to access D-Day-75-Fact-Sheet_0.pdf

https://www.dday-overlord.com/en/d-day/files/eisenhower-drafted-message

https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/blog/d-day-casualties-in-numbers/#:~:text=How%20many%20soldiers%20died%20on%20D%2DDay%3F&text=The%20widest%20reported%20figure%20is,at%20up%20to%209%2C000%20killed.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dwight-D-Eisenhower