What was the impact on armed forces and civilians during/after d-day?
Civilians If you mean those living in and around Normandy, D-Day was catastrophic. The immediate impact was a huge increase in numbers of troops, air raids, artillery strikes, and traffic. The civilians, mostly farmers, cowered in their cellars for the six weeks while the fighting raged. Their livestock were unable to take shelter and most died in bombing raids. The rest of their livestock were taken by the soldiers on both sides and butchered and eaten. Their wine and food stores were also looted. In some cases the civilians were compensated for their losses, but most often they were not. There was personal danger, too. While the troops on both sides were relatively disciplined, women and girls were in danger of being raped and valuables were pillaged. When the actual fighting came to the homes of the civilians, it was best to be out. Many evacuated to safer areas. After the battle, they returned to find their homes damaged or burnt to the ground, their crops ruined, and their livesto
The armed forces got busy…more people were recruited and that left jobs available for civilians to fill, even those that supported the war with manufacturing and services that were vacated by people leaving for the war effort. For the countries being freed from oppression, many more things changed. We could write a book if we were to detail everyone that was affected by the D-Day invasion.
