June 6, 1944, order of the day
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.
[6] At the time of the invasion Eisenhower's order was widely distributed outside of the armed forces—it was read out to 50,000 people assembled in New York's Central Park on the evening of June 6—and has been reproduced since in books and films about the war.
This event began with the American landings at around 6:30 a.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST) and was confirmed to SHAEF headquarters by a radioman transmitting the codeword TOPFLIGHT.
[8] German radio stations in Berlin had been broadcasting the news of the invasion since 6:33 a.m. CEST (12:33 a.m. Eastern War Time in New York) but American media could not confirm this and warned that the messages could be false.
[9][10]: 198 In the United Kingdom the first official confirmation of the invasion was broadcast on the BBC by John Snagge, who announced that Allied Armies had started landing "on the northern coast of France" at 9.32 am in British Double Summer Time (equivalent to CEST).
[9][10]: 198 : 201 The order was followed, at 3:48 a.m. Eastern War Time by recorded messages from the leaders of the governments-in-exile of Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands (in their native languages and in English) and then Eisenhower's People of Western Europe speech.
[10]: 203 Amid last minute delays caused by weather and disagreements over strategy and timing, Eisenhower wrote a short message to be issued in case the invasion was repulsed.
