how many people die in d-day?
In April and May 1944, the Allied air forces lost nearly 12,000 men and over 2,000 aircraft in operations which paved the way for D-Day. Total Allied casualties on D-Day are estimated at 10,000, including 2500 dead. British casualties on D-Day have been estimated at approximately 2700. The Canadians lost 946 casualties. The US forces lost 6603 men. Note that the casualty figures for smaller units do not always add up to equal these overall figures exactly, however (this simply reflects the problems of obtaining accurate casualty statistics). Casualties on the British beaches were roughly 1000 on Gold Beach and the same number on Sword Beach. The remainder of the British losses were amongst the airborne troops: some 600 were killed or wounded, and 600 more were missing; 100 glider pilots also became casualties. The losses of 3rd Canadian Division at Juno Beach have been given as 340 killed, 574 wounded and 47 taken prisoner. The breakdown of US casualties was 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 19
The exploits of D-Day have long been legend: the storming of the beaches, parachute drops into enemy territory. But 60 years later, the number of dead is still unclear. The chaos of battle and the vast scale of the assault thwarted attempts then — and now — to tally how many thousands were killed in the June 6, 1944, landings that sped Nazi Germany’s defeat. Bodies disintegrated under bombs and shells. Soldiers drowned and disappeared. Company clerks who tallied casualties were killed. Records were lost. “Landing crafts were hit,” said Ivy Agee, an 81-year-old from Gordonsville, Tenn., who fought on Omaha Beach. “Bodies were flying everywhere. There was blood on the edge of the water, the beach was just running with pure blood.” Historians say a definitive death toll will likely never be known. Even now, the Normandy soil for which soldiers fought so bitterly offers up new bodies. “Now and then, construction work unearths bones and skeletons from soldiers. This happens fairly often,”
