Words in
bold are explained in the
D-Day Glossary.
How many casualties were there on D-Day?
The casualty figures below refer to troops killed, wounded or missing.
Utah Beach
23,250 men landed at a cost of under 250 casualties.
Omaha Beach
34,000 US troops landed on Omaha Beach, where the German resistance was strongest, and 2,000 casualties were suffered - a high proportion of the total for D-Day.
Gold, Juno and Sword beaches
75,000 men were landed on Gold, Juno and Sword, at a cost of around 3,000 casualties.
Total allied losses on D-Day
In all the Allies suffered approximately 10,200 casualties on 6 June 1944, including those landing on the beaches, and air and sea support.
This figure was lower than had been expected, but each death represented a sad loss for families and comrades.
Total losses in the Battle of Normandy
D-Day was the first day of the Battle of Normandy, which finished almost 11 weeks later on 20 August 1944.
- Of the approximately 2 million Allied forces involved in the Battle of Normandy 36,976 were killed, and 172,696 other casualties were sustained.
- Of the approximately 1 million German forces involved, 240,000 were killed or wounded, and a further 200,000 were missing or captured.
(Source: Martin M. Evans, Battles of World War II, Airlife: Shrewsbury, 2002)
How were the casualties looked after on D-Day?
Army medical personnel landed with the troops and treated the first casualties of D-Day. Wounded men were given first aid that would help them to survive the journey back across the Channel to Britain in returning landing ships.
Military hospitals around Britain were on standby to receive the wounded. Once the Normandy beachhead had been secured, field hospitals were set up in Normandy and the women’s nursing services crossed the Channel to care for the casualties in France. Some doctors and nurses worked on hospital ships that brought the wounded back to Britain.
Members of Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service, known as ‘Flying Nightingales’, were among the first medical staff to be flown out to Normandy. They specialised in nursing casualties being evacuated by air.
How is D-Day remembered today?
60 years after D-Day, many veterans who took part in the Normandy Landings returned to France for 6 June 2004 to mark the 60th Anniversary of D-Day. Most of them are now in their eighties but they all remember that day. There was a service attended by the Queen at Bayeux War Cemetery where many of the D-Day casualties are buried. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission runs the cemetery.
Q: What do you know about the role of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission – what can you discover about them on the internet? Click here for further information on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
In Normandy in June 2004 there was also be a march-past by veterans and a ceremony on the cliff tops at Arromanches. Many heads of state attended the event, including the President of the United States, Mr. George W. Bush and the Queen of England, and they all rose to stand as a mark of respect as the veterans marched by.
Similar events were held in Normandy for the 50th Anniversary of D-Day in 1994. Even more veterans were able to make the journey ten year ago.
Lots of other people in towns, cities and villages throughout the UK, and in other countries, also remembered the actions of those who fought on D-Day. There was a lot of media coverage about the events on television, radio and in the newspapers – do you recall seeing any of it? Look out for more Second World War related pieces in the newspapers and on television in the next few months, as yet more commemorative events will take place to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the war.
Q: Do you think we should continue to remember D-Day and the other events of the Second World War in years to come? If so, why should we? In what ways can we commemorate these events?
