“D-Day” Invasion (June 6, 1944)

The History

Dwight D. Eisenhower chose Monday, June 5 1944, as D-Day, the date for invading Europe. The success of the invasion depended heavily on calm seas and clear skies. On Saturday, June 3, the weather turned bad. Weather experts reported that gusty winds and high waves would make it impossible for landing craft to cross the English Channel on Monday. Eisenhower ordered a 24-hour delay until Tuesday, June 6. On Sunday, the weatherman predicted calmer weather for the next 48 hours, but poor conditions after that.

Eisenhower faced one of the gravest decisions of the entire war. He could send the first wave of troops across the channel as planned. Or he could postpone the entire operation for two weeks, until the channel would have low tides again. But, by then, the closely guarded invasion secret would probably have leaked out.

At 4 a.m. on June 5, Eisenhower held a final staff meeting. This chief of staff, Brigadier General Walter Bedell Smith, later wrote: “…He sat there…tense, weighing every consideration…Finally, he looked up, and the tension was gone from his face. He said briskly, ‘Well, we’ll go.’”

The first wave of troops crossed the choppy channel at 6:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944. By nightfall, the Allies had a firm hold on a long area of beach. After 11 months of bloody fighting, Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945.

Miller, Christopher. At This Point in Time: Charting the History of the Human Spirit (p. 10). BookBaby. Kindle Edition.

The Human Spirit

There are a couple of features about this chart which first caught my eye. For instance, there is a Sun, Venus and Uranus conjunction opposed by the Moon. At a harmonious angle to this opposition is a powerful Pluto-Mars conjunction. And conjunct to the Ascendant is that old task-master Saturn.

To me, the most significant of these aspects is the one which is the conjunction between Pluto and Mars. In March of 1987, the Townsend Thoresen ferry, Herald of Free Enterprise capsized outside Zeebrugge during a very violent storm. This storm happened during the time of a Mars-Pluto opposition. That same evening, Friday the 6th, I was on an Intercity train bound for Newton Abbot at the height of the storm. The train was delayed at Dawlish due to huge waves lapping the tracks. Somehow, the Mars-Pluto connection causes ‘bad weather’ and all anyone can do is sit out the storm. So, too, with the Mars-Pluto conjunction in 1944: the weather was stormy on the day of the exact alignment, the 3rd of June, but cleared when this aspect became sextile (60°) to the Sun-Venus-Uranus conjunction and trine (120°) to the Moon on the 6th. At the same time, Saturn, the timekeeper, came to the horizon (i.e. conjunct to the Ascendant) and said, “Now!”

If Operation Overlord were a person, I would have shared this analysis with him about his Sun (analyses based on Robert Hand’s Planets in Youth): You enjoy games, especially ones that require you to match wits with someone else. A very playful person, you sometimes like to play tricks on other people. (Sun in Gemini)

A shy person, you prefer to stay in the background if possible; in fact, you like to hide. It’s hard for you to be open and direct, even when you know there is nothing to be afraid of. (Sun in 12th House).

You will learn to understand yourself through opposition to the world and other people, perhaps through fighting. You always fight for what you believe to be right. You respect people who make solid worldly achievements that have concrete, observable results, people who complete large-scale projects that everyone can point to. (Sun Opposition Moon)

You tend to compromise to keep the peace, even when there is a serious issue to be worked out. At times it is necessary to confront people directly and forcefully; otherwise people may not take you seriously, or they may try to walk all over you. (Sun Conjunct Venus)

You may act as a goad to others, because you like to rile people up a bit and make them see the world differently. You are very annoyed by people who seem to be stuck in the mud, and you want to do something to change them. (Sun Conjunct Uranus)

Quite literally, the choice of “D-Day” must have been inspired. But by whom? Was someone in the War Office consulting an Astrologer? Or was Dwight D. Eisenhower ‘tuned-in’ to the Cosmos? Whatever the answers are to these questions, there can be no doubt that the outcome of World War II hinged on the timing of the Normandy landings. It must have been at such a time as this that the leaders of the Allied forces thanked their lucky stars!