History

‘Days of doom’: The Irish Times editorial the day following D-Day

June, 1944: ‘The world is watching these prodigious events with bated breath’

The Irish Times D Day reporting 1944
A view of the front page of The Irish Times, published June 7th, 1944. Photograph: The Irish Times
Thu Jun 06 2024 - 11:39

Reporting on the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6th, 1944, began to appear in the pages of The Irish Times the following morning. Below, in full, is the editorial comment on the landings, printed on June 7th, 1944.

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Days of doom

The world is living through tremendous days. Almost immediately after the capture of Rome by the Allies – in itself an event of historic importance – Anglo-American forces have invaded the Northern coast of France.

The attack was scheduled to begin on Monday morning, but weather conditions were so unfavourable that it was delayed for twenty-four hours. The first news of the invasion was broadcast by the German Radio early yesterday morning, when a substantial force of British and American airborne troops landed behind the Germans’ Atlantic Wall near the mouth of the River Seine.

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As we write, the main thrust of the invasion seems to be between Cherbourg and Le Havre, but other centres on the French coast have been subjected to fierce bombardment from the sea as well as from the air, and the Germans state that they are expecting further landings between the estuaries of the Seine and the Somme, as well as on the St Malo Bight.

According to the British Prime Minister’s statement in the House of Commons last evening, the progress of these gigantic operations so far has been “thoroughly satisfactory” .

[ From 2014: Irish D-Day veteran remembers fateful day  ]

Along the whole front the landings have been effected, and in some cases Allied troops have penetrated to a distance of several miles inland. Fighting is taking place in the town of Caen, ten miles inland between the Cherbourg Peninsula and the mouth of the Seine. Mr Churchill stated that the beach landings were preceded by the biggest parachute descent in history.

Apparently, the allied losses were “very much less than expected.” Naval losses, on the whole, were small, and generally the German opposition to the invasion was not so formidable as the experts had anticipated.

By all accounts, the bombardment of the area chosen by the Anglo-American air forces, as well as by the British and American Fleets, was almost indescribably violent. The front which was selected for the first landing stretches for a distance of about seventy-five miles along the coast, beginning in the neighbourhood of Deauville, that luxurious resort of inter-war pleasure-seekers, and the Bay of Isigny, near Harfleur, a name that brings back memories of Henry V and Agincourt.

The Irish Times: front page June 7th, 1944
The Irish Times: front page June 7th, 1944

The landings were made in anything but ideal conditions – as we, who have been experiencing the rough winds of the last few days in our own little island, can appreciate. They were made at low tide, or thereabouts, and the reports so far available make it reasonably clear that, taken by and large, they were almost surprisingly successful. Evidently the Germans, so far at any rate, have not disclosed their full defensive strength. All the Allied reports agree that there has been a remarkable lack of activity on the part of the Luftwaffe, although it is well known that the Germans have a substantial number of fighting aircraft in readiness. Yesterday, it is stated, 31,000 Allied airmen, apart altogether from the parachute troops, were in action over France; and it would seem that the Anglo-American air forces have achieved at least temporary mastery in the air.

On land, the advancing Allies are meeting with resistance which is said to be stiffening hourly. Vicious fighting is reported to be in progress just north of Rouen, a town which is behind the Atlantic Wall; and it is obvious that the real struggle for control of Northern France is only beginning. Mr Churchill declared that the Allies were entering upon “a most serious time”.

[ How The Irish Times reported D-Day in 1944 ]

“We enter upon it,” he said, “with our great Allies all in good heart, and all in good friendship.” Broadcasting from London last night, King George solemnly called his people “to prayer and dedication”. He said that after nearly five years of toil and suffering, the British people now must renew that crusading impulse on which they entered the war, and met its darkest hour. They needed a revivalist spirit, a new unconquerable resolve. The Germans also are fully alive to the prodigious importance of the present operations. Dr Goebbels has declared that on this occasion Germany’s survival is at stake, and there can be no doubt that Marshal von Rundstedt will sell every inch of French territory dearly. So far, it is impossible to estimate how many troops are involved in this, the greatest military conflict of all time.

Furthermore, it is not yet known whether the invasion of Normandy represents the Allies’ final effort to bring the war to an end, or is only one of a series of projected assaults upon the Continent. Such figures as have been revealed are staggering. Already more than 4,000 ships, with several thousand smaller craft, have crossed the English Channel, and must constitute a kind of pontoon bridge between England and France.

Something like 11,000 first-line aircraft were used in the course of yesterday’s operations, and the weight of high explosives that fell upon the invasion area was stupendous. The world is watching these prodigious events with bated breath. It is far too soon yet even to guess at their outcome. One thing, however, is certain. Many thousands of gay young lives already have been lost and no man can tell how many others are committed to their doom.

This hour is one of the most solemn and tragic hours in human history. Mankind’s destiny has been flung upon a cruel hazard.