Of course, most on here know this, but the focus shouldn't just be on those on the beaches, there were many airborne involved before the beach assault even began.
Obviously most focus in the media is on the 101st and 82nd Airborne, but there were also many on the other beaches too - in particular, for me at least, was those from the 7th Battalion who landed at Pegasus Bridge, as my great-grandfather was amongst those first who landed on that night.
Don’t know why the focus should be on them. Extract from an article by Janes Holland an historian often on the history channel. As I said previously a generation brought up on Saving Private Ryan, Band Of Brothers have the impression the Americans more or less did it single handed.
“For many people, D-Day is defined by the bloodshed at Omaha -- the codename for one of the five beaches where Allied forces landed -- and the American airborne drops. Even in Germany, the perception is still that D-Day was a largely American show; in a German TV mini-series shown in recent years, "Generation War," there was a reference to the "American landings" in France.
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D-Day Fast Facts
But despite "Band of Brothers," despite "Saving Private Ryan," despite those 11 photographs taken by Robert Capa in the swell on that morning of June 6 1944, D-Day was not a predominantly American effort. Rather, it was an Allied effort with, if anything, Britain taking the lead. Yes, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, was American, but his deputy, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder was British, as were all three service chiefs. Air Marshal Sir Arthur "Mary" Coningham, commander of the tactical air forces, was also British.
The plan for Operation Overlord -- as D-Day was codenamed -- was largely that of Gen. Bernard Montgomery, the land force commander. The Royal Navy had overall responsibility for Operation Neptune, the naval plan. Of the 1,213 warships involved, 200 were American and 892 were British; of the 4,126 landing craft involved, 805 were American and 3,261 were British.
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When World War II brought women to battlefield
Indeed, 31% of all U.S. supplies used during D-Day came directly from Britain, while two-thirds of the 12,000 aircraft involved were also British, as were two-thirds of those that landed in occupied France. Despite the initial slaughter at Omaha, casualties across the American and British beaches were much the same. This is not to belittle the U.S. effort but rather to add context and a wider, 360-degree view. History needs to teach as well as entertain.”
