Churchill's Signal to Mountbatten on D Day + 6.

A Nation's Gratitude

Background

There were many small scale raids organised and undertaken by the joint forces (including Commandos) of Combined Operations in the 4 years after the evacuation at Dunkirk. There were also larger landings in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Holland but the D-Day landings were of an entirely different magnitude to anything that had gone before. They were the culmination of 4 years of meticulous planning and training. 

[Photo; Winston Churchill flanked by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke and General Sir Bernard Montgomery, commanding 21st Army Group at Monty's mobile headquarters in Normandy, 12 June 1944. © IWM (TR 1838].

The map shows the positions of destroyers, battleships, cruisers etc and their designated targets on the coastal strip of Normandy. It also shows the position of the 5 HQ ships (one for each landing beach) and the two Flag Ships (one for each sector). It does not show the thousands of landing craft and support vessels.

Normandy Visit

Churchill had maintained a close interest and involvement in the preparations and appreciated the enormity and complexity of the task. On June 12, 1944, just 6 days after D-Day, he visited the beaches of Normandy. On return to London that evening, he and his military chiefs sent a signal to Mountbatten, by then in Burma, who had been in charge of Combined Operations from October 1941 to October 1943.

"Today we visited the British and American Armies on the soil of France. We sailed through vast fleets of ships with landing-craft of many types pouring more men, vehicles and stores ashore. We saw clearly the manoeuver in progress of rapid development. We have shared our secrets in common and helped each other all we could. We wish to tell you at this moment in your arduous campaign that we realise how much of this remarkable technique and therefore the success of the venture has its origin in developments effected by you and your staff of Combined Operations."

Arnold, King, Brooke, Marshall, Churchill, Smuts.

Further Reading

There are around 300 books listed on our 'Combined Operations Books' page. They, or any other books you know about, can be purchased on-line from the Advanced Book Exchange (ABE). Their search banner link, on our 'Books' page, checks the shelves of thousands of book shops world-wide. Just type in, or copy and paste the title of your choice, or use the 'keyword' box for book suggestions. There's no obligation to buy, no registration and no passwords.