The GZG Digest V2 #2043

Thanks,

Best answer yet..

Have a Good One,

DOC Agren

(Lurker on the Digest)

In a message dated 6/5/04 1:00:56 AM,
> owner-gzg-digest@lists.CSUA.Berkeley.EDU writes:

<< Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 13:08:44 +0000
From: agoodall@att.net
Subject: Re: A question on terms

From: DOCAgren@aol.com

> What does the D in D-Day stand for? Was in asked this in game tonight,

As a lot of things of this nature, there is no real consensus on what it

means. There are four main answers: D stood for day, as in D-Day,
H-Hour, etc.; D
stood for Debarkation; D stood for Disembarkation; D stood for Decision (this
latter one apparently even made it into a school textbook).

Here's what the National D-Day Museum's web site has to say about it
(found
at http://www.ddaymuseum.org/education_studentsfactd.html and if you
ever find
yourself in New Orleans, I _strongly_ advise you to visit it).

"In Stephen Ambrose's D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World
War II, he writes, Time magazine reported on June 12 [1944] that "as far as
the U.S. Army can determine, the first use of D for Day, H for Hour was in
Field Order No. 8, of the First Army, A.E.F., issued on Sept. 20, 1918, which
read,
'The First Army will attack at H-Hour on D-Day with the object of
forcing the evacuation of the St.Mihiel salient.'" (p. 491) In other words,
the D
in D-Day
merely stands for Day. This coded designation was used for the day of any
important invasion or military operation. For military planners (and later
historians), the days before and after a D-Day were indicated using plus
and minus
signs: D-4 meant four days before a D-Day, while D+7 meant seven days
after a
D-Day.

"In Paul Dickson's War Slang, he quotes Robert Hendrickson's Encyclopedia of
Word and Phrase Origins. Many explanations have been given for the meaning of
D-Day, June 6, 1944, the day the Allies invaded Normandy from England
during World War II. The Army has said that it is "simply an alliteration, as
in
H-Hour." Others say the first D in the word also stands for "day," the
term a code designation. The French maintain the D means "disembarkation,"
still others
say "debarkation," and the more poetic insist D-Day is short for "day of

decision." When someone wrote to General Eisenhower in 1964 asking for an
explanation, his executive assistant Brigadier General Robert Schultz
answered: "General Eisenhower asked me to respond to your letter. Be advised
that any amphibious
operation has a 'departed date'; therefore the shortened term 'D-Day' is

used." (p.146)"

Thats as close to an official answer as you'll get.

Note that "D-Day" was used for every amphibious operation involving
Americans, including the landings in Italy and in the Pacific. We just think
of June 6,
1944 as "D-Day" because of the importance and scale of that operation.

- --
Allan Goodall