The Anglo-Americans launched an attack on Europe.

Source	"Le nouveau journal" n°134, the 7th of June 1944, pp. 1 and 3.
Event referred to	6th of June 1944 – D-Day
Technological characteristics	Type of file: Image Extension : pdf Characteristics Dimension of the file: <2000 Ko Availability proposed: pdf document with zoom options
Description of the source	Kind of source: daily newspaper Origin of the source: Archives of the National Library of Belgium, Brussels Language: French Copyright issues: full availability
Contextualisation of the source	« Le nouveau journal » is a daily newspaper of Brussels published from 1st October 1940 till 1st September 1944. It is a collaborator newspaper which openly displays its rexist* opinions, that will arouse difficulties within the editorial staff. The chief editor resigned in 1943 because of the Belgium submission to Germany. * Before the war, the nazi-inspired rexist movement had some 21 deputies at the parliament. During the conflict, numerous rexists served in the ranks of the Waffen SS.
Interpretation of the source	On 7th June 1944, « Le nouveau journal » titles on its first page : « The Anglo-Americans launched an attack on Europe” and dedicates the whole first page to the event. The journalist relates the landing operations laying stress on the importance of the means carried out. He speaks about “powerful naval formations supported by parachuted troops” and about “powerful air formations” made up of “numerous bombers”. Moreover, he recalls the weather problems (wind, rain and fog) that seriously bother allied operations. He affirms that the German reaction “has been very intense” and that mostly all the airborne troops (four divisions) “were already destroyed”. The naval forces would have suffered “very heavy losses” due to the German navy intervention. Under the title “Hunting the parachutists”, the journalist ironises about the prisoners’ morale which is “very low due to the quick failure of their attempt”. He uses Churchill and Eisenhower’s declarations to prove his allegations : they speak about 4000 ships and 11000 planes engaged, but also about the gliders that have seriously suffered, about the “violent reaction of the German DCA (anti-aircraft defense)” and the “new losses” that the French population will have to suffer. Commenting on the events, the newspaper expresses its relief to arrive at a deciding phase of the war. It shows that the Allies have their back to the wall… of the Atlantic” and that the outcome of the war is actually played on the Normandy beaches. It also warns the Belgian civil populations not to delude themselves about the outcome of the fight, because the Allies have decided to play there their last stake and on the other side, the German defense will hardly fight, bringing about important destructions. In the inner pages, the journalist echoes the declarations of the German staff which affirms « that the first day of the invasion ends by a complete success of the German defense ». The fights are “extremely violent” and “ the losses of the invasion troops increase hour by hour”. The newspaper also states the reactions all over Europe. For France, it repeats the messages of Marshal Pétain and Pierre Laval to the nation, advising the French citizens not to take part in the fights if they don’t want to suffer “tragic reprisals” from the German authorities. In Belgium, it speaks about the popular reaction expressed “without excessive passion”. The journalist states that the inhabitants of Brussels don’t want to be taken for “naive people” or “stupid people” and that it would be to early to get excited. Finally he reports the quiet of the German military authorities in Berlin who are conscious of the importance of the current events, but who consider that everything is ready to receive the allied landing forces. In short, using almost exclusively German sources, « Le nouveau journal » reports the events in a very well documented way, but by interpreting these ones in a suitable way for the occupation authorities, that is after 48 hours the landing ends by a total fiasco in spite of the importance of the means engaged in this operation.
Original Contents
Original Contents (English Translation)