The First Communique
This terse teletype message was sent from
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary
Forces (SHAEF)
to
The Office Of War Information
in
Washington, DC
For release to the public.
This was the original message.
It was no sooner sent than the typo in the
last line was noted and a corrected copy was sent to Washington.
Lewis Birt was in SHAEF Headquarters when
the message was sent. He salvaged
the copy containing the typo and kept it as
a memento of the occasion.
We are grateful to Cliff Birt for permission
to display this document.
Visit
these D-Day Websites
National
D-Day Museum, New Orleans
National
D-Day Memorial, Bedford. Va.
(Bedford,Va.
lost 21 of its young men on D-Day,
the highest
per capita loss on any U.S. community,
making it a
fitting location for the final tribute.)