D-Day Operation Overlord Long-sleeved shirt

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Our new D-Day long-sleeved shirt is packed with historical references.

Over the left chest, a tattered US flag that was on Landing craft Control 60, which landed men on Omaha Beach on D-Day, along with two "Czech hedgehogs," which were some of the many barriers that men had to overcome when they landed.

On the back . . .
  • A C-47, with “Invasion stripes,” along with other planes that were used to transport paratroopers and to tow gliders
  • Paratroopers and the drop zones, which were identified by letters
  • Barrage balloons that were set up to protect the landing area from enemy planes
  • The beaches and nations assigned to each, listed in the order in which the men landing on the beaches saw them.
  • The flags of the major allied nations involved in the landing, including the Red Ensign for Canadian troops and the 48-star flag for US troops.
  • The sectors for each beach—Starting under Omaha, they are in alphabetic order
  • Troops of Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One), wading onto the Easy Red section of Omaha Beach from the USS Samuel Chase
  • Text from the order of the day, which was distributed on the evening before as a printed leaflet to 175,000 members of the Allied forces
  • The immense number of troops, planes, and ships involved in D-Day

Notes on the design:

  • This design brings together several different elements from D-Day; it's not meant to be a photographic representation of one specific view or scene.
  • While "D-Day" was a term used with all operations, not just the landing on Normandy Beach, I chose to use it here because it's become widely identified with this operation.
  • "Operation Overlord" was the name of the entire operation to invade Northern Europe, not just the landing. It began on June 6 and ended on August 30, 1944.
  • "Operation Neptune" was the name of the operation to transport and land men and materiel on the beach. It ended on June 30.

The shirt:

  • Military green — 100% cotton shirt. 4.3 oz. Sizes: S - 3XL.

All shirts are printed in New England.

This design is also available in a crewneck shirt for men and women, women's v-neck shirt, and a hooded sweatshirt.

Included with every shirt: A 3" x 4.75" card with the "Orders of the Day" that went to the troops that morning on one side and, on the other side, the handwritten message that General Eisenhower drafted the night before in the event that the operation was not successful. Read more here.


Our WWII Collection

Browse through all our original designs in our WWII collection, including Pearl Harbor, Midway, The Battle of the Bulge, "V" for Victory with all of the battles listed, History Nerd paratrooper / Operation Overlord, Operation Market Garden, She's a W.O.W., a print with more than 100 posters from the homefront, our Victory pin, and more.

About the flag on the front of the shirt

From a news story when the flag was accepted by the President on behalf of the American people in July 2019:

"On June 6, 1944, the flag flew aboard the landing craft Control 60. Commanding the ship was a young Navy lieutenant, Howard Vander Beek, who was two days shy of his 27th birthday, Trump said.

"'Amid treacherous German minefields, raging winds and rough seas, Lt. Vander Beek and his crew led an astonishing 19 waves of American troops and equipment to those very dangerous beaches,' the president recounted. 'Through it all, this flag soared proudly above the waters of the English Channel, announcing the arrival of our American warriors.'
"After completing his mission on D-Day, Vander Beek took the flag — by then bearing the scars of German machine-gun fire and stains from dirt, diesel fuel and blood — and carried it with him in his backpack for the remainder of the war. He kept the flag until his death in 2014, Trump said.
"'Soon after, the flag was purchased at auction by Mr. Kreuk and Mr. Schols, whose relatives were among the hundreds of Dutch who perished in the German bombings of Rotterdam in 1940,' the president said. 'These two gentlemen paid half a million dollars to obtain the flag, just so they could return it as a gift to the American people and to the United States of America.’"

Source: U.S. Department of Defense new story at Defense.gov.

How were the beaches named?

"On the American side, the names chosen correspond to a state, Utah, and to a city Nebraska, Omaha. They were selected at random : At the moment when the operations were being named, a general asked two NCOs where they were from. For British and Canadians, the names correspond to the abbreviations for certain types fish : goldfish, swordfish and jellyfish. Jelly was changed to Juno in honour of the wife of one of the officers.”

Source: Ouest-France.

Comment: My guess is that the fellow from Utah was from Salt Lake City, making the single word name of the state a better choice.

About the photo of men walking through the waves to the beach on D-Day

"Into the Jaws of Death - U.S. Troops wading through water and Nazi gunfire" A LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel) from the U.S. Coast Guard-manned USS Samuel Chase disembarks troops of Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One) wading onto the Easy Red section of Omaha Beach (Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France) on the morning of June 6, 1944. American soldiers encountered the newly formed German 352nd Division when landing. During the initial landing two-thirds of Company E became casualties. Photographer: Chief Photographer's Mate (CPHoM) Robert F. Sargent.

Sources: National Archives and Records Administration and Wikipedia.

A final note: Thanks to Larisa for the suggestion of a D-Day shirt back when we were coming up on the 75th anniversary. It became one of our most successful designs ever.

I had always wanted to create another design that took a different approach, and after the very positive response to our Battle of the Bulge design, I began work with the same designer to develop what you see here. Thanks to the folks who reviewed this design and provided feedback, and to everyone who has supported our WWII designs and told us how much they mean to them.

— Lee Wright | Founder | The History List | History Camp | The Pursuit of History

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