A-Z of the Second World War

D

D-Day. The successful landing of allied troops at Normandy in Northern France. 6th June 1944. Made up of American, Canadian and British troops the landing were largely unexpected by the Germans who had expected an attempt at Calais, which is a much closer crossing. The losses on these landings varied. On some beaches it was very stiff indeed, while on others it was fairly light.

Doodlebug. A common name given to the German V1 and V2 rockets used against London and many areas of England. They were unmanned and would simply fall wherever they ran out of fuel. Because of their erratic and unpredictable nature they were very scary indeed. By the end of 1944 they were less of a concern as the bases where they were fired from were captured by the allies.

A doodlebug lands over London

Dunkirk. (Operation Dynamo) As France fell to the Germans in 1940 so the British Army (BEF) were forced back to the tiny port of Dunkirk. It was a very tense time and it looked like the entire British army could be lost and the war doomed almost as quickly as it had started. Churchill ordered the Royal Navy to organise a rescue evacuation from the port of as many allied soldiers as possible. Other boats from ordinary civilians came to help and between them over 330,000 soldiers were evacuated. It became known as the miracle of Dunkirk. However, the way it was actually a success has been more recently seen as a propaganda exercise.