page_title: People of Western Europe speech
section_title: D-Day
hierarchical_section_title: People of Western Europe speech / D-Day
caption_attribution_description: English: A LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel) from the U.S. Coast Guard-manned USS Samuel Chase disembarks troops of Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st&#160;Infantry Division (the Big Red One) wading onto the Fox Green section of Omaha Beach (Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France) on the morning of June 6, 1944. American soldiers encountered the newly formed German 352nd Division when landing. During the initial landing two-thirds of the Company E became casualties. Français&#160;: Un LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle &amp; Personnel&#160;: barge de débarquement de véhicules et de personnel) provenant de l’USS Samuel Chase piloté par l’US Coast Guard (corps des garde-côtes des États-Unis), débarque des troupes de la compagnie E du 16erégiment d’infantrie de la 1re&#160;division d’infanterie américaine (“Big Red One”), dans la matinée du 6 juin 1944 (le “D Day”, ou «&#160;Jour J&#160;», durant l’Opération Neptune) à Omaha Beach (Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France) dans le secteur Fox Green. Ces soldats affrontèrent la nouvellement formée 352e division d’infanterie de l’armée allemande. Durant le débarquement initial de cette compagnie, les deux tiers des soldats de la compagnie E furent perdus. Македонски: Десантно пловило на бродот „Семјуел Чејс“ на Крајбрежната стража на САД како ја истоварува Четата Е на XVI пешадиски полк во походот наречен „Омаха Бич“ на 6 јуни 1944. По истоварувањето, четата се соочува со силната одбрана на новоформираната германска CCCLII&#160;дивизија, при што загинуваат две третини од војниците на четата.
context_page_description: The "People of Western Europe" speech was made by Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the run-up to the invasion of Normandy in 1944. Addressed to the people of occupied Europe it informed them of the start of the invasion and advised them on the actions Eisenhower wanted them to take. It also addressed the Allies' plans for post-liberation government.
  Approximately 47 million copies of the speech were printed, in five languages, for distribution to the peoples of Western Europe. A recording for radio broadcast was made on May 28 but, due to one problematic sentence, had to be re-recorded in the following days. One commentator states that Eisenhower's frustration and fatigue is discernible in the recording, when compared to his June 6, 1944, order of the day recorded on May 28. The speech was broadcast over British and American radio on D-Day, June 6.
context_section_description: Airborne elements of the Allied Expeditionary Force landed in Normandy from around midnight on 5/6 June.  The official notification of the invasion was withheld until the main landings could be confirmed to have commenced.  This event began with the American landings at around 6.30am Central European Summer Time (CEST) and was confirmed to SHAEF headquarters by a radioman broadcasting the codeword "TOPFLIGHT".  The British and Canadian landings happened around an hour later.
  German radio stations in Berlin had been broadcasting the news of the invasion since 6.33 am (12.33 am Eastern War Time in New York) but American media could not confirm this and warned that the messages could be false.  In the United Kingdom the first news of the invasion was broadcast at around 9.30 am British Double Summer Time (equivalent to CEST) and Eisenhower's speech and his order of the day, received on disc via military courier, were broadcast soon afterwards.  The American broadcast of the speech followed the  3.48 am (Eastern War Time) broadcasts from the leaders of the governments-in-exile of Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands (in their native languages and in English).
caption: Omaha beach, 8.30am June 6, 1944
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