June 9, 1944

Dear Mother,
      Just a short note tonight to tell you I received
your letter of May 30. I am glad to hear your are
feeling better and hope by the time you get this
letter you will be much better. Just three
more days and you have a birthday. Sure
wish I could be home with you. But at present
it will have to go as it is. I hope to go to
London next week so I can have a little rest.
Our work is keeping us rather busy. I finally
received some mail. Yesterday I received seven
letters. I really don't have much to write about
so I think I will let you tell the others that
I am ok. I will try to drop the rest of them a
note when I can find time to write, but I present
sleep is what I am looking for. I suppose by
the time you receive this Glenn will be
married. Tell them I wish them all the happiness
in the world. Sure wish I could attend.
                                                     Love Ralph.


The next letter will be posted on June 11th.

Background Information (and comments):

• If you're wondering, as I am, what happened after D-Day (June 6th) and the day this was written (June 9th) here are some details from the website 
• http://www.dday-overlord.com

Wednesday, June 7, 1944

• The days that marked the Battle of Normandy

  For the time being, the landing of Normandy is a success even if all the initially planned objectives are not reached. To the west of the invasion beaches, the American sector is held by the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions parachuted on the night of June 6th (these two divisions suffered a lot of casualties) and by the 4th Infantry Division having landed at Utah Beach at dawn (without encountering any major problems). The American parachute troops have a 15-kilometer bridgehead on the evening of June 7th. In Omaha Beach, the situation of the 1st and 29th American infantry divisions landed at dawn is more critical. Only a small part of the soil of France is under their control. The Commonwealth landings on the eastern flank (on Gold, Juno and Sword beaches) have encountered difficulties but it is generally a great success. The paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division seized the bridges over the Orne and made their junction with the troops disembarked at Sword Beach.
  On the German side, the surprise is total. The storm which reigned the day before in the English Channel did not trouble the sentries on the coasts, nor the officers in their staffs. Allied air superiority prevents any movement and for the time being no Panzer division was fully engaged to push back the attackers to the sea. Hitler was not informed of the allied invasion until nine o’clock on the morning of June 6 : having gone to bed late, he fell asleep with sleeping pills and gave as instructions that no one wakes him up. Meanwhile, Rommel is in Germany and celebrates the anniversary of his wife. The same day, he rode towards Normandy to take matters into his own hands.
  The Germans launched their first counter-offensive towards Port-en-Bessin north of Bayeux, where US and British troops tried to join their bridgeheads. The 716th German Infantry Division and the 21st Panzer Division are designated to counter-attack.
  Allied fighter aircraft flying over Normandy saw German armored movements and destroyed a large number of tanks and vehicles. They abandon the counter-attack and decide to move at night. The paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division, located to the east of the landing beaches in the vicinity of the village of Ranville, cling to them and defend their positions with the newly disembarked anti-tank guns. Reinforced by the British 3rd Division, they rejected the advanced elements of the 21st Panzer Division, which retreated to the defensive line of Caen. In order to seize the latter, General Montgomery ordered the launch of operation Perch, which begins the same day.
  Meanwhile, hundreds of American and British gliders landed in Normandy, often behind the lines of German forces, forcing the latter to retreat.

• Thursday, June 8, 1944

  The days that marked the Battle of Normandy

  The two bridgeheads of Omaha Beach and Gold Beach are gathered on June 8 in Port-en-Bessin. To the south, the commune of Bayeux is liberated that same day by the British troops.
  US forces, reinforced by new divisions (such as the 2nd Infantry Division), are on the offensive. The 1st and 29th infantry divisions, which have had very heavy losses since the landing on Omaha Beach, are continuing to advance.The 29th Infantry, on its way to Isigny-sur-Mer, which was to be under control on June 6th, makes its junction en route with the 90 survivors of the Rangers battalions at Pointe du Hoc, isolated on a thin strip of Land for three days since D-Day.It seizes the village of Grandcamp, thanks in particular to the courage of Sergeant Frank Peregory who won for her heroic action the Medal of Honor. Indeed, he forced to surrender several dozen German soldiers and captured a machine-gun all by himself. In Maisy, the battery is still in the hands of its defenders while advanced elements of the 29th division reach the south of the village.
  The 4th American infantry division, disembarked at Utah Beach on June 6, attacked the city of Montebourg, as part of the offensive for the capture of Cherbourg in the north of Cotentin Peninsula.
  The junction between troops disembarked at Utah and Omaha is still not realized. In the hours that followed, it is one of the proratory objectives for the American land forces.
  On the British front, the 346th German infantry division counter-attacks in the vicinity of Bréville. The fighting is extremely violent and is similar to those of the First World War, with opponents burying themselves in trenches.
  The achievements of the allied military engineers begin: the first elements of the two artificial ports of Saint-Laurent and Arromanches are being installed as of June 8 (these were old ships that were sunk to serve as breakwaters) and an aviation runway is built on the plateau of Omaha Beach to the east of Colleville-sur-Mer. The planes taking off from this runway evacuate the wounded as a matter of priority to hospitals in England.
  Allied aviation remains master of the sky and attacks the German elements without interruption, while for its part, the artillery embarked on the warships bombards relentlessly the opposing positions.

• Friday, June 9, 1944

  The days that marked the Battle of Normandy

  Allied forces continue to land a considerable number of men and equipment in Normandy. Facing them, in the British area of ​​responsibility, the Germans position three divisions northwest of Caen: the 21st Panzer Division, the 12th Panzer Division and the Panzer-Lehr. These divisions are in contact with the British soldiers of the 2nd Army who are supported on the ground by anti-tank guns and in the sky by a particularly effective allied aviation which worries the German generals.
  Luftwaffe counter-attacks are rare and doomed to failure in Normandy: on June 9, German Bf 109 fighter-bombers are reported near the village of Lion-sur-Mer. Immediately, American P-51 Mustang aircraft repulsed them.
  The American troops of the 7th Corps continue to attack the village of Montebourg in the Cotentin, fiercely defended by the German soldiers. The losses are significant. Other units seized the locality of Azeville and silenced the German battery that fired on the area of ​​Utah Beach since D-Day. The 1st American infantry division, disembarked on June 6 in Omaha Beach, launched an offensive west of Bayeux: the villages of Tour-en-Bessin, Etreham and Blay were freed. The 29th American infantry division is on its way to Carentan and seizes, after a long day of fighting, the city of Isigny-sur-Mer. South-west of Isigny, the command post of the 2nd American infantry division settles in the village of Formigny. Its forces advance in the south towards the localities of Trévières and Rubercy which are reached in the evening.
  
  
  Three companies of the 5th Battalion of Rangers, reinforced by fourteen Rangers and two half tracks belonging to the 2nd Battalion, attacked in the morning the complex of the German Maisy battery (composed of the Wn 83 and Wn 84 strongpoints) by the south, east and the north. After five long hours of furious fighting (sometimes hand-to-hand combat) during which several Americans are killed, Rangers blow up the field hospital where German defenders have taken refuge. The battery falls into the hands of the Americans in the late morning.