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D-Day's Order of the Day

Eisenhower Encouraging the Soldiers
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June 6, 1944: This order was issued by GA Eisenhower to encourage the Allied soldiers taking part in the D-Day invasion. The order was distributed to the 175,000 - member expeditionary force on the eve of the invasion.

Updated October 2024
Posted December 2023

WWII D-Day Signed Order of the Day
GA Dwight D. Eisenhower Signed Order of the Day
June 6, 1944
This order was issued by GA Eisenhower to encourage the Allied soldiers taking part in the D-Day invasion.

WWII Order of the Day
Supreme Headquarters
Allied Expeditionary Force

Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

WWII Eisenhower Portrait

June 6, 1944, Order of the Day

WikipediaThe June 6, 1944, order of the day was issued by Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force General Dwight D. Eisenhower to Allied forces on the eve of D-Day, the first day of the invasion of Normandy. The message was intended to impress upon the troops the importance of their mission which Eisenhower called a "Great Crusade". Eisenhower had been drafting the order since February 1944 and recorded a spoken version on May 28, that was broadcast on British and American radio on D-Day.

The invasion of Normandy and Operation Overlord as a whole was a significant moment in World War II. A British, American and Canadian Allied Expeditionary Force landed in northern France on June 6, 1944, (D-Day) to begin the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany. Millions of troops were massed in England under the command of Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Normandy landings were the largest amphibious warfare operation ever launched, with more than 166,000 crossing the English Channel to Normandy. As part of the planning, Eisenhower began drafting an order of the day, to be distributed to the invading troops, in February 1944.

The order is addressed to the "soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force ... about to embark upon the Great Crusade". It reminds the men that "the eyes of the world are upon you" and that the "hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you" before recognizing the contributions made by those fighting the Germans on other fronts. Eisenhower warns the men that the enemy is expected to "fight savagely" but that the "United Nations" have defeated German armies elsewhere and that the Allied air offensive has inflicted great damage; he also notes the Allied superiority in men, weaponry and munitions. He concludes by asking his men to pray for God to bless "this great and noble undertaking".

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