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“We train the world’s greatest fighter pilots and combat ready Airmen”                                                                     June 2019
                                                                                                                                         Vol. 18, No. 6
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 FEAtUrE

                            Eisenhower Library                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Courtesy photo

EYES OF THE WORLD                               June 6, 1944, Allied forces launched Operation Overlord, the code name for the Allied invasion of Normandy, France. Those who
                                                took part witnessed one of the most pivotal battles against Axis forces, and the beginning of a successful campaign to liberate
                                See Page 8      northwest Europe.

                                                Epic 1944 invasion changes course of WWII

Continue to get Luke’s latest                      The 75th anniversary of D-Day was         target. By late August 1944, all of north-  conducted a disastrous dress rehearsal
 news and information from                      June 6, 2019. D-Day commemorates the         ern France had been liberated, and by the   of the Normandy invasion on an evacu-
  these sources: http://www.                    tremendous human cost of the first inva-     following spring the Allies had defeated    ated English beach called Slapton Sands.
 aerotechnews.com/lukeafb/                      sion of the Battle of Normandy, which        the Germans. The Normandy landings          Known as “Exercise Tiger,” 749 U.S. troops
                                                ultimately liberated Western Europe from     have been called the beginning of the end   lost their lives after a fleet of German E-
     http://www.luke.af.mil                     Nazi control.                                of war in Europe.                           boats caught wind of the mock invasion
         and social media                       Operation Overlord commences                                                             and torpedoed American tank landing
                                                                                                The invasion combined the forces of      ships. Survivors described the Exercise
Luke56thFW  @LukeAFB                               During World War II (1939-1945), the      156,115 U.S., British and Canadian          Tiger fiasco as more terrifying than the
                                                Battle of Normandy, which lasted from        troops, 6,939 ships and landing vessels,    D-Day landing on Omaha Beach.
Date of publication                             June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in        and 2,395 aircraft and 867 gliders that     Germany had fortified France’s coast
                                                the Allied liberation of Western Europe      delivered airborne troops.
      First Friday                              from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed       Allied forces carried out a massive de-        Anticipating an Allied invasion some-
                                                Operation Overlord, the battle began on      ception campaign in advance of D-Day        where along the French coast, Adolf Hitler
           of the month                         June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when                                                  charged Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
                                                forces landed on five beaches along a 50-       The idea behind the ruse was to trick    with fortifying Nazi defenses in France.
    Submission deadline                         mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast  the Nazis into thinking that the invasion   In 1943, Rommel completed construction
                                                of France’s Normandy region.                 would occur at Pas-de-Calais, the closest   of the “Atlantic Wall,” Germany’s 2,400-
15th day of the month                                                                        French coastline to England. The Allies     mile line of bunkers, landmines, beach
                                                   The invasion was one of the largest       used fake radio transmissions, double       and water obstacles. It’s estimated that
prior to date of publication                    amphibious military assaults in history      agents, and even a “phantom army,” com-     the Nazis planted 4 million landmines
                                                and required extensive planning. Prior to    manded by American Gen. George Patton,      along Normandy’s beaches.
  Veterans                                      D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale    to throw Germany off the scent.
                                                deception campaign designed to mislead       A D-Day dress rehearsal was a fiasco                                                See WWII Page 10
            Tell us Your Story                  the Germans about the intended invasion
  Active-duty, Reserve, Retirees                                                                Two months before D-Day, Allied forces
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