D-Day in doubt

3rd June 1944: Tens of thousands of men are crammed onto ships ready to go - as the weather worsens

Ten of thousands of men moved from their camps to ships in a matter of days.

Most of the embarkation proceeded smoothly in good weather.

Ports all along the south coast were crammed with the many variants of Landing Craft and Landing Ships

Once on board there was still a long period of uncertainty.

The tightly choreographed Operation Neptune, the naval plan for Operation Overlord, was already underway. Over five thousand warships, support ships, Landing Ships, Landing Craft and many smaller craft had to be marshalled into a strict order, ready to sail for Normandy in the sequence that would take them to the beaches on time. Some had been harboured as far away as Scotland and would take over a day to reach the English Channel.

The most propitious day for D-Day was 5th June, when the preceding night would have the moonlight necessary for the paratroopers and gliders, while the tides would reveal beach obstacles as the amphibious assault began at dawn. The 6th June was possible, but the 7th June was a stretch. If these were not possible, the same conditions would not reappear for another month.

The complicating factor was the weather outlook, shrouded in uncertainty. Cloud cover or, even worse, poor visibility with rain would affect everything from the pre-assault bombing and bombardment to the airborne attack. High winds would disperse paratroopers. High seas would hinder everyone in the invasion fleet but especially the Landing Craft carrying the main attack. Suddenly, all of these conditions looked likely as the weather forecasts came in.