Dwight D. Eisenhower Hand-Corrected Typed Manuscript on D-Day
“Originally we had selected June 5th as the day to launch the assault,” the general recalls planning his D-Day attack: “Success could be achieved only with the proper timing of the tides”
Page from a typed manuscript draft copiously revised in pencil by Eisenhower, unsigned, one page, 8.5 x 14, no date but circa 1964. Part of a draft for an article published in Paris Match in honor of the 20th anniversary of D-Day, explaining the grounds for the last-minute postponement of the landings. In part (as corrected): "Originally we had selected June 5th as the day to launch the assault…Success could be achieved only with the proper timing of the tides-a half-tide at dawn to permit the clearing of obstacles and high tide soon thereafter to allow landing craft to come in-a good moon to aid in an air drop of men, and at least half an hour of daylight before the touchdown of our first landing craft to allow for final bombardment." Nearly every line has multiple corrections in Eisenhower's hand, most making significant corrections, emendations, and additions. In very good condition, with heavy toning to borders and a small stain to the top edge.
Written two decades after D-Day, this heavily revised manuscript page shows Eisenhower revisiting one of the most consequential command decisions of World War II: the postponement of the Normandy invasion from June 5 to June 6, 1944. His extensive corrections emphasize the narrow combination of tides, moonlight, daylight, and weather required for success, offering a revealing glimpse of how the Supreme Allied Commander remembered and explained the immense operational risks behind the landings.
“Originally we had selected June 5th as the day to launch the assault,” the general recalls planning his D-Day attack: “Success could be achieved only with the proper timing of the tides”
Page from a typed manuscript draft copiously revised in pencil by Eisenhower, unsigned, one page, 8.5 x 14, no date but circa 1964. Part of a draft for an article published in Paris Match in honor of the 20th anniversary of D-Day, explaining the grounds for the last-minute postponement of the landings. In part (as corrected): "Originally we had selected June 5th as the day to launch the assault…Success could be achieved only with the proper timing of the tides-a half-tide at dawn to permit the clearing of obstacles and high tide soon thereafter to allow landing craft to come in-a good moon to aid in an air drop of men, and at least half an hour of daylight before the touchdown of our first landing craft to allow for final bombardment." Nearly every line has multiple corrections in Eisenhower's hand, most making significant corrections, emendations, and additions. In very good condition, with heavy toning to borders and a small stain to the top edge.
Written two decades after D-Day, this heavily revised manuscript page shows Eisenhower revisiting one of the most consequential command decisions of World War II: the postponement of the Normandy invasion from June 5 to June 6, 1944. His extensive corrections emphasize the narrow combination of tides, moonlight, daylight, and weather required for success, offering a revealing glimpse of how the Supreme Allied Commander remembered and explained the immense operational risks behind the landings.
