Bomber Command on D-Day

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The catalyst for this particular research, apart from the broader interest, was a conversation a few years ago with my friend Nigel about some graves in the Commonwealth cemetery in Bayeux. There are two Australian airmen laying side by side, both killed on 6th June and next to them is the grave of Stoker 1st Class Donald J. Harris, one of the crew from LCA 914. A brief investigation into these men led to a wider examination of the role of Bomber Command on D-Day.

Whilst it's fair to say that the role of the Allied air forces over Normandy in the summer of 1944 is not the most neglected in terms of study (that dubious honour going to the navies' role) within the popular narrative the efforts of RAF Bomber Command on the morning of D-day itself are frequently overlooked.

​There were three main roles performed by these men on the 6th of June, 1944:

1. DIVERSIONARY
   This incorporated Operation Titanic (the dropping of dummy and real parachutists) and the
   use of Window to confuse Germans monitoring radar screens.

2. SUPPORT
   The jamming of German radio networks and the use of German speakers on aircraft who would communicate and interfere with the enemy night-fighter controllers.
   
   

3. BOMBING
   Ten German coastal batteries had been singled out for attention, each of which was deemed to be ofsignificant threat to the seaborne forces.