d-day

[mike gooch]

what does the d stand for in d-day?

[andy hughes]

In order to maintain for the invading forces, each day of the proposed landings was given a code - 'A day', 'B day, 'C Day', and the day when it was deemed appropriate to carry out the operation - 'D Day'.

[andy hughes]

Sorry, that should have read "in order to maintain secrecy for the invading forces ..." - I haven't had breakfast yet!

[Cetti]

As odd as it sounds, the "D" in D-Day is merely meant to designate the "day" of the invasion. It is used in combat operations where the day needs to be secret (as in the most famous D-Day, the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944) or when the day has not yet been determined.

http:www.ipl.org/div/farq/militaryFARQ.html

[Toglet]

Cetti is right - 'D' just stands for 'day'. There was NO A-Day, B-Day or C-Day, despite urban myth!

[Quizmonster]

Cetti is absolutely correct, nutty though 'Day-Day' might sound. As a matter of interest, the French refer to it as 'J-Jour' on precisely the same basis, 'jour' of course being their word for 'day'. The earliest record of the phrase comes from a World War I Field Order - a whole generation before the D-Day of 6th June 1944 in Normandy. The reason for the code was so that planners could say 'D-Day minus one' to mean the day before the off or 'D-Day plus two' to mean 'Two days after the start' etc. Also, of course, it concealed the actual date from the enemy, as earlier answers say. All-in-all, D-Day both is and means 'Day with a capital D'. It's what we might call today 'The big one!'

[andy hughes]

I supplied the answer that my dad gave to me years and years ago - happy to stand corrected, thanks.

[Malandro]

Am I correct in thinking that along with D-Day, there was also H-Hour to represent the time that the invasion took place

[Quizmonster]

Yes, Malandro. If you saw the reference to a World War I Field Order in my earlier answer, this is what that order - issued on 7th September 1918 - actually said:-

"The First Army will attack at H-hour on D-Day with the object of forcing the evacuation of the St Mihiel salient."

[melandraf]

My Grandmother once told me D - Day stands for Doomsday.