What Does The D Stand For In D-Day ?
 

I have always wondered that and i have even searched and asked.. never got a positive answer, would any of you be able to fill me in? I know its not a name given after the war, it was used durning the war.

1000's of different storied behind the D

good reading

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...y+d+stands+for

Doom's day

but im not asking for 1000s of stories, i wanna know why it was given that name and what the D means

thats what i've always heard it called.

i heard that alot, but it was being used before D-Day happened... it was a code name for the date... but im just curious as to what the D ment, or was it just used as a code and really doesnt have a meaning?

I found this:

What does the "D" in D-Day Mean?
The "D" simply stands for "Day". The term was first used in WWI by the US Army. "We will attack on "H" hour of "D" Day.

Confirmed with US Army also see Ambrose, D-Day CBWII

but, still confused here

The terms D-Day and H-Hour are used for the day and hour on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. They designate day and hour for an operation when the actual day and hour have not yet been determined or announced. The letters are derived from the words for which they stand, "D" for the day of the invasion and "H" for the hour the operation actually begins.

When used in combination with figures and plus or minus signs, these terms indicate the length of time preceding or following a specific action. Thus, H-3 means 3 hours before H-hour, and D+3 means 3 days after D-day. H+75 minutes means H-hour plus 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Planning papers for large-scale operations are made up in detail long before, specific dates are set. Phased orders are planned for execution on D-Day or H-Hour minus or plus a certain number of days, hours, or minutes.

According to the U.S. Army's Center of Military History, the earliest known use of these terms is in Field Order Number 9, First Army, American Expeditionary Forces. It is dated September 7, 1918: "The first Army will attack at H hour on D day with the object of forcing the evacuation of the St. Mihiel Salient."

D-Day for the invasion of Normandy was set for June 5, 1944, but it actually occurred on June 6. Therefore, D-Day, as it applies to Overlord, is June 6, 1944.

The terms D-Day and H-Hour are used for the day and hour on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. They designate day and hour for an operation when the actual day and hour have not yet been determined or announced. The letters are derived from the words for which they stand, "D" for the day of the invasion and "H" for the hour the operation actually begins.

When used in combination with figures and plus or minus signs, these terms indicate the length of time preceding or following a specific action. Thus, H-3 means 3 hours before H-hour, and D+3 means 3 days after D-day. H+75 minutes means H-hour plus 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Planning papers for large-scale operations are made up in detail long before, specific dates are set. Phased orders are planned for execution on D-Day or H-Hour minus or plus a certain number of days, hours, or minutes.

According to the U.S. Army's Center of Military History, the earliest known use of these terms is in Field Order Number 9, First Army, American Expeditionary Forces. It is dated September 7, 1918: "The first Army will attack at H hour on D day with the object of forcing the evacuation of the St. Mihiel Salient."

D-Day for the invasion of Normandy was set for June 5, 1944, but it actually occurred on June 6. Therefore, D-Day, as it applies to Overlord, is June 6, 1944.

it stands for Deployment

i saw something yesterday on the History Channel and they mentioned this same thing. I dont think the "d" meant anything.. it was just a code referring to the day of attack... and it was used commonly, not just in referrence to the allied landing in France.

...just like SOS does not mean anything.

d-day, t-time, h-hour ,

damn some people just don't use their brains.

did some people really thought that it would stand for death, doom, debarquement etc etc ?


poor youth, they are so uneducated :(

that sounds like it would be right, but with what "Newton - XXXAmigoz" said, now we have H-Hour.... heh whats the H mean in H-Hour if the D in D-Day means Deployment?

:glugglug

D in D-Day stands for Deciding
it was the deciding day.

decision day

hahaha typically arrogant French.

wouldn't you think it to be a little redundant to say "day-day" if the "d" was a referrence to "day"?

exactly what i was thinking..

its not being french wich makes me arrogant, its your lack of education and brains:Graucho

correct answer :thumbsup

do you know that the ARS sigs are limited only to buttons on GFY?

you'd better remove the banner asap or you won't get paid for your sig whoring and insipide posts:1orglaugh

Oops posted the exact same page as Screaming did .. ah the wonders of google :thumbsup

how sure are you about that?
because it wont make sence to call it decision day being it wasnt the day we made the decision to go..

i think what ibuydomains said is alot more fitting, Deployment Day, the day we had our men deploy into the battle grounds

That's an arrogant thing to say.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

d stands for Day
Day Day
it was H - Hour
Hour - H

the d day was the longest day for the soldiers.. it had 26 hours coz they started in another timezone

I *make* you arrogant?

another typically arrogant French remark.

Accept the fact that France has lost almost all of the presitige and influence it once had... get off your ass... stop sitting on the sidewalk, sipping latte's and watching the world pass you by. stop striking and shutting do the transit system, metro and airport every other fucking week. give up your dumb ass quest for a 35hr work week and start producing something so that you are competitive in something other than wine tasting and poetry reading.

Then you can be arrogant because of your successes... not because i "make" you arrogant.

Cause thats the way I learned it in school :1orglaugh

Now you mention it...I do recall that answer:)

sorry to disapoint you, i'm born in france but i don't live in france .

did i destroy your theory? sorry

dumbass :321GFY

NB: who are you by the way? a notorious nobody apparently !

S = Save
O = Our
S= Ship

:)

nope.

its:

SAVE
OUR
SOULS

go back to grade 3,
thanks.

SOS was chosen for its simplicity in Morse Code. Not because it means something.

Funny huh ;)

:1orglaugh

Common belief is that SOS stands for "Save Our Ship" or "Save Our Souls" or "Stop Other Signals" In fact, SOS in not an acronym and it doesn't represent anything at all.

Samuel Morse devised his telegraph code in 1835, using combinations of dots and dashes that he thought would be easy to memorize. The first distress signal was CQD, the "CQ" for a general notice that a message is coming, and "D" for "danger" or "distress." However, this was cumbersome. In Morse Code, CQD was: -.-. --.- -..

So CQD was dropped.

In 1908, an international committee tried to come up with a distress signal that would be easy to remember during a crisis, and could be transmitted by an amateur with only rudimentary knowledge of Morse Code. They decided a simple combination of threes: three letters, each represented by three marks, since three is a universally favored number. Well, at least in Western cultures.

In Morse Code, the only letters represented by three identical marks are O (three dashes) and S (three dots). The committee toyed with OSO, but dashes are longer electrical signals to transmit than dots. An urgent message needed to be broadcast as quickly as possible and use as little power as possible, and so SOS became international standard.

During WWII, the signal "SSS" was adopted when the source of the emergency was a submarine attack, presumably so that potential rescue ships would know there was an enemy sub in the area.

In 1917, Edwin Cox of San Francisco dipped a small square steel-wool pad into a soap solution, and let it dry, and found this product sold well to housewives. His wife referred to the pads as "S.O.S" for "Save Our Saucepans" believing (incorrectly) that the universal distress signal SOS meant "Save Our Ships." Mr Cox took on S.O.S (with the periods) as the name of his new product. The distress signal SOS has no periods in it, for obvious telegraphic reasons.

--SDSTAFF Dex
Straight Dope Science Advisory Board

drug day

I vote for "Delivery Day" :1orglaugh