Post-D-Day

Abstract

If all the British military casualties of the 20th century marched past the Cenotaph in columns it would take three days and three nights. In the First World War about three quarters of a million British deaths occurred.¹ In the Second World War that number decreased to around 145,000.² Including all the casualties in all the theatres of war between 1939 and 1945, over 23,000 people died every day. Overall, almost 7 per cent of US forces did not make it through the war unscathed. Two per cent died in action, 1 per cent died from wounds or disease and 4 per cent were wounded but lived. In contrast, by July 1944 over one third of the German army had been wounded once, 11 per cent had been wounded twice and 11 per cent had been wounded three times. The casualty rate amongst German officers was even greater: on average each officer’s position was refilled nine times.³ Most of these casualties had been incurred in the east not the west, indeed, 3 million of the 4 million German casualties had been inflicted by the Soviet Union.⁴