Amid the withering fire and chaos of the early hours of the D-Day invasion, Col. George A. Taylor, 16th Infantry Regiment commander exhorted the soldiers on Omaha Beach, “There are two kinds of people who are staying on this beach: those who are dead and those who are going to die. Now let's get the hell out of here."

Operation Overlord, a huge gamble that if it failed, would push back a renewed invasion and allow Germany to refocus its defense on the Soviet Union. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the Normandy invasion “the greatest thing we have ever attempted.”

The M1 Garand and M1 Carbine, two of the most fielded American weapons during D-Day.

Three million fighting men were amassed in Britain, training and waiting. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, looked toward  June 5-7, 1944 when the landing site would be at low tide and a late moon would protect airborne operations. The weather was lousy on June 5, but the order went out on June 6. Eisenhower’s order of the day message to soldiers, sailors and airmen read in part:  “You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.”

Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. Gen. Omar Bradley take a turn with M1 Carbines on a pre-invasion inspection.

Because of the expected poor weather a number of German officers in the high command were on leave at the start of the invasion. Hitler at Berchtesgaden went to bed shortly before the invasion began with orders not to be disturbed until mid-afternoon. The landing on the five beaches of Normandy -- Utah, Omaha, Juno, Sword and Gold -- was initially considered a feint, with the real invasion expected near the Pas de Calais, the closest point in France to England. The Allies had a strategic surprise.

The 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, when the sacrifices of what has become known as “the Greatest Generation” and the Allied military might started to push back the Germans from tenuous beachheads, through the hedgerows, back across the Rhine and finally to victory. Rock Island Auction’s June 21-23 Sporting & Collector Auction has guns that reflect the firepower of both sides in that conflict as well as others that have a connection to this legendary military feat.

General Erwin Rommel, charged by Adolph Hitler to fortify defenses on the French coast, once said of an Allied invasion of Europe, “The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive … for the Allies, as well as Germany, it will be the longest day,”

D-Day Guns: Colt M1911A1

John Moses Browning’s legendary pistol was made by five different companies during World War 2: Remington Rand, Colt, Ithaca, Union Switch & Signal, and Singer. Singer produced about 500 before halting further production. Remington Rand, the gunmaking company’s typewriter manufacturing subsidiary produced the most, slightly less than 878,000.

Small refinements to the pistol were made after World War 1 that included a shortened trigger, extended hammer spurs, simplified checkered grips, arched mainspring housing, a thicker front sight and angled clearance cutouts to earn it the M1911A1 designation.

Manufactured in late 1944, this M1911 A1 pistol was issued to Capt. Eugene M. Long as his backup pistol. Long served with the 4th Infantry Division’s 20th Artillery, landing at Utah Beach, one of the first units ashore on D-Day. Utah Beach, the furthest west of the five landing zones, was part of the operation because it put the U.S. Army within 60 km of Cherbourg, a deep water port. Slowed by German resistance, flooded fields and difficult terrain, it took the Allies until July 1 to capture the city. Long remained in continuous combat until the end of the war, earning the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and the Croix de Guerre.

The M1911A1 is seen with several officers in “The Longest Day,” and carried by NCOs as well Tom Hanks’ Captain Miller in “Saving Private Ryan.”

One of nearly 878,000 M1911A1 pistols manufactured by Remington Rand, this pistol was produced in late 1944 and made it into the war in January 1945, carried by D-Day veteran Capt. Eugene M. Long. He died in 1999 at the age of 84.

D-Day Guns: Luger

First adopted by the German military in 1908, the Luger is one of the most recognizable handguns in the world. By World War 2, it was no longer standard issue for the German military after the adoption of the Walther P38 shortly before the start of the conflict. Nevertheless, the Luger remained popular with German troops.

The Germans used code to identify the manufacturer and the year so foreign intelligence wouldn’t be able to determine how many guns were being made. About 3 million were produced between 1900 and 1945. Lugers were popular war trophies for GIs, and could be booby trapped. A February 1945 U.S. Intelligence bulletin warned: “Charges Concealed in Weapons. The Germans sometimes conceal a small charge in the mechanism of a rifle or Luger pistol that they plan to leave behind in a fairly obvious place, to attract the attention of Allied soldiers. The charge, which is sufficiently powerful to injure a man severely, is detonated if the trigger of the weapon is pressed.”

Mauser took over Luger manufacturing in 1934. This gun bears the code “byf 41.” It also has the acceptance stamp and Army test proof marks on the barrel and receiver.

D-Day Guns: M1 Garand

After World War 1, the United States military wanted a self-loading rifle to replace the bolt action Springfield 1903. John Garand submitted an entry through Springfield Armory where he designed firearms. After honing his design for several years to design a semi-automatic platform robust enough to handle the .30-06 cartridge, the Army finally adopted the M1 Garand as its service rifle in 1936. It proved to be rugged and reliable and still worked well in terrible conditions. In the civilian world, the Garand’s accuracy made it popular with match shooters.

The Garand went into full production in 1939, and by the end of World War 2 Springfield Armory and Winchester combined to manufacture just over 4 million. Production resumed during the Korean War when about 1.5 million were made from 1952 to 1957 before the M14 was introduced.

A WW2 U.S. Springfield Armory M1 Garand rifle, manufactured in September 1942.

As GIs prepared for the invasion, one of the things some did was to put condoms over the muzzles of their rifles to protect them from seawater and sand. They didn’t have to be removed before firing, according to Stephen E. Ambrose in “D-Day, The Climactic Battle of World War 2.”

Several actors, including John Wayne carried the M1 Garand in “The Longest Day,” as did several actors in “Saving Private Ryan,” including Vin Diesel, Tom Hanks, and Matt Damon. Dick Winters, portrayed by Damian Lewis, carried one in “Band of Brothers.”

This M1 Garand was manufactured in July 1941 and has a set of early pattern adjustment drums marked “BATTLE RANGE” windage and “LEFT/LEFT” elevation with closed arrows. It also is accompanied by a bayonet with scabbard.

D-Day Guns: M1 Carbine

The M1 Carbine was designed in fast turnaround on the eve of World War 2. The U.S. military, seeing the fluidity of frontlines wanted a weapon that was shorter and lighter than the M1 Garand that could be issued to officers, crew-served weapons teams, ammunition bearers and forward artillery observers. The weapon was required to fire semi-auto, weigh less than 5 lbs. and be effective to up to 300 yards.

The M1 Carbine, America’s most produced gun model of WW2.

Nine designs were initially received. Winchester was encouraged to participate with a prototype based on David “Carbine” Williams’ short stroke gas piston. Also among those who submitted designs were John Garand from Springfield Armory. The final two designs were between Garand and Winchester, and Winchester’s model, weighing in at just over 5 lbs., was adopted with six requested modifications.

A U.S. Inland M1 carbine with an M1A1 paratrooper stock. The first M1 carbines were delivered in June 1942. The more compact version of the gun with a folding stock was designed for paratroops.

Inland Manufacturing of General Motors was one of the first – along with Winchester – to receive a contract, producing 2.63 million carbines by the time the contract ended in 1945. Of the approximately 6 million M1 Carbines produced by 10 contractors, Inland produced about 43 percent of total production. The carbine used .30 caliber ammunition, smaller than the .30-06 fired by the Garand.

Famously, during a pre-invasion inspection tour, Churchill, Eisenhower and U.S. Gen. Omar Bradley took time for target practice using the M1. Tom Sizemore’s Sgt. Horvath carried an M1 carbine in “Saving Private Ryan,” as did Roddy McDowell’s Pvt. Morris, a paratrooper, in “The Longest Day.”

Based on the M1 semi-automatic carbine, Inland also produced the M2 Carbine, a full-auto version. The M2, capable of 750-770 rounds, didn’t get issued until mid-1945 and saw more action in the Pacific theatre and the Korean War.

D-Day Guns: German Walther Gewehr 43 Rifle

The Gewehr 43 was a German semi-automatic rifle based on the Soviet SVT-40. The Germans developed a semi-automatic rifle, the Gewehr 41, in 1941 without gas ports drilled into the barrels but found the gun was unreliable in combat.

During the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Germans captured some of the Russian SVT-40 rifles with their simple gas mechanism powered by a port cut into the barrel and a modern box magazine. Walther, utilizing the G41 design developed the G43 using the Soviet gas mechanism. The G43 served as a lighter, sturdier and easier to make gun.

The G43 was better received than its predecessor but still had reliability issues. Just over 400,000 were made, including 53,000 sniper rifles after going into production in 1943. The rifle didn’t get widely issued to troops because of the Allied invasions of the European continent, with the Allies landing in Italy in September, 1943 and the Normandy landing the following June.

Walther’s Gewehr 43, chambered in 7.92mm, would be renamed the K43 in 1944 after recognizing the rifle’s barrel was 2 centimeters shorter than the K98 German carbine.

D-Day Guns: MP40

Another German gun that evolved from an earlier model is the MP40 maschinenpistole, a full-auto mainstay of the Axis forces during World War 2. The gun was a simplification of the MP38, using stamped metal rather than machined parts.

The Germans sub-contracted out parts manufacture for the MP40 of which about 1.1. million were made between 1940 and 1945. The gun was mostly reliable but feed issues could occur with the magazine.

The MP40 utilized 32-round magazines for a rate of fire of 500 to 550 rounds per minute. This example is a MP40 pattern barreled receiver installed on an “MP.38” marked frame/trigger housing.

German “Deckungszielgerӓt” Indirect Fire Trench Device

This descendent of the “periscope sniper” weapon of the World War 1 trenches was likely not used at D-Day, but is unusual enough to share. This deckungszielgerat is a simplified version because it utilizes semi-automatic rifles rather than the bolt action rifles of World War 1. The shooter used a telescope to aim the device that clamped to a gun’s buttstock.

This German deckungszielgerat could adjust to a gun’s length of pull by adjusting a chain connected to the trigger. Not very accurate, it was best at likely providing harassing fire. It is unclear how many were manufactured or even made it to the front lines during World War 2, but a manual was published in 1943.

D-Day Guns Available

One of the greatest accomplishments in the annals of modern warfare is the D-Day invasion of France that launched the Allies on their way to European victory a year later. The guns of D-Day were concentrated on the beaches of Normandy that day and serve as a reminder to the heroics of the Allied invaders and what they faced as they fought for a toehold on the Atlantic Wall. These firearms are available in Rock Island Auction Company’s June 21-32 Sporting & Collector Auction, with a Preview Day on June 20.