What does the D in D-Day (world war 2) stand for?

Answer 1

In military parlance, any day, or hour that is the time of execution for a mission or maneuver is known as d-day, and h-hour. This is where we get the NASA countdown that we're all familiar with "T minus 30 seconds", because 'T' is the designation for the launch Time.
The D-day was just such a famous and successful mission, and so large, that it has become known by that designation alone, and tends to overshadow the fact that there are other d-days throughout military history.

Answer 2

D-Day, H-Hour, T-Time, etc...

The actual name of the operation was Operation Overlord. Within that Operation you had various smaller operations all apart of the larger Operation Overlord.

(All these smaller operations had names. Examples would be the Rangers attack on Pointe du Hoc, the British airborne attack on Pegesus Bridge, the VERY large deception operation of which Patton was apart)
However, due to it's enormous size and the ramifications of the invasion and the end-goal it is the best known operation in military history.

In planning the operation no one would have used the D-Day nomiker unless they were specifically speaking of the day the operation would begin. Even today in military parlance, you usually hear guys just ask something like, "When is this thing kicking off?" "When are we crossing the berm?" etc. And of course that is usually immediately followed by, "When is it over?" "How long is this stupid thing lasting?"

The military does nothing without an operational name attached to it. That's not to be confused with the taking of a small objective within a larger operation. A good definition of an operation is when it has a distinct objective to be secured. By the way, objectives have names in the military too. Everything actually has code names in the military. Phase lines, assembly areas, routes, maneuver corridors, etc... Some of them can be quite humorous.

Answer 3

D stands for Day, and actually means the specific Day of the invasion. It was a point of reference term.

For example the plan called for the City of St. Lo to captured by the 29th Infantry Division on "D +10", or the 10th day after the invasion. They did it this way because the actual day of the invasion would vary depending on the weather and other conditions. The actual plan called for the period June 5, 6, or 7.

So "D-Day" actually means "the day the invasion takes place." H-Hour means "the Hour the invasion begins."

Answer 4

Actually, while a lot of meanings have been attributed to it, the simple truth is that there is no meaning! D-Day and H-Hour mean: at exactly that day or hour, nothing more, nothing less.

It aids the planning, for instance a six days before D-Day would be D minus 6, so could plan everything without giving away the actual date, which usually was secret.

Answer 5

As others have said, D stands for day. The French call it J Jour.

Answer 6

Contrary to popular belief, it had no meaning, and neither was it similar to H-Hour.

There were several possible days for the invasion, A-day, B-day, C-day, etc. Unfortunately the weather was too poor to mount an invasion over seas for the first three days, so they went on D-Day.

Answer 7

The replies given by Gungnir and Jmskinny are correct and well defined.

Answer 8

the d in d day stands for day. so it is accually day day. had a trivia game with that same question.

Answer 9

Actually, it doesn't mean anything! And I mean that. It is similar to h-hour, contrary to what the person above me says.

Answer 10

Makes sense it would mean disembarcation, never knew that---I would have guessed Destroy/Destruction---as in Search and Destroy.