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The D-Day view (dashboard page internal name 079fe9cf444d83b290a8, display name DIA-D) focuses on June 6, 1944 — the date of one of the largest single-day aerial operations in recorded military history. Backed by adi_dataset_master.csv and the adi_dataset_master table in the semantic model, it documents every recorded Allied bombing mission on D-Day drawn from the THOR archive, enriched with A.D.I.’s own weapon_type classification field derived from the ordnance tonnage data. The page renders at 1280×720 in Fit to Page display mode.

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Historical Context

On June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied aircraft flew sorties in direct support of Operation Overlord across the full spectrum of air power — from pre-dawn tactical bomber strikes aimed at neutralising coastal batteries and beach defences, to fighter-bomber close air support missions flown throughout the day as ground troops pushed inland. The breadth of that effort means the adi_dataset_master.csv records span multiple air forces and aircraft types. Notably, the 15th Air Force, operating from bases in southern Italy, contributed B-24 Liberators striking tactical targets in France — a long-range contribution that underscores the truly intercontinental scale of the D-Day air operation. The full THOR record for each mission (60+ fields) is preserved in adi_dataset_master.csv and enriched with A.D.I.’s weapon_type label, making this the most analytically complete of the three A.D.I. datasets.

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The weapon_type Field

A.D.I. derived the weapon_type categorical label directly from the existing THOR high-explosive and fragmentation tonnage fields (he_tons, frag_tons) for each mission record. The classification currently present in the D-Day dataset is:
  • Ataque Combinado (HE + Fragmentación) — Combined attack using both high-explosive and fragmentation ordnance in the same mission. This is the dominant profile in the D-Day dataset, reflecting the tactical requirement on June 6 to simultaneously destroy hardened structures (HE) and suppress exposed infantry and vehicle concentrations (fragmentation).
This field bridges the gap between the raw numerical tonnage columns and the interpretive destruction-profile analysis that A.D.I. provides to excavation directors. Knowing that a target received a combined HE + fragmentation load allows field teams to predict what categories of physical evidence they should expect to encounter underground.

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Mission Data Sample

The first record in adi_dataset_master.csv illustrates the full field structure including the A.D.I.-added columns: 
Mission ID,Mission Date,Theater of Operations,Country,Air Force,Aircraft Series,...,weapon_type
125300,6/6/1944,ETO,USA,15 AF,B24,...,Ataque Combinado (HE + Fragmentación)
Key fields for this record: Mission ID 125300, flown on 6/6/1944 in the ETO by the US 15th Air Force in a B-24 Liberator, targeting Target ID 44333 in France (Target City: UNKNOWN), Target Type: TACTICAL TARGET, Target Industry: TACTICAL TARGETS: (UNIDENTIFIED OR NOT LISTED BELOW), altitude 180 hundreds of feet (18,000 ft), with a combined ordnance load of 36.0 HE tons and 24.0 fragmentation tons totalling 60.0 tons — classified by A.D.I. as Ataque Combinado (HE + Fragmentación).

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Reading D-Day Data for Archaeology

The dominant pattern in the D-Day dataset is Target Type = TACTICAL TARGET paired with Target Industry = TACTICAL TARGETS: (UNIDENTIFIED OR NOT LISTED BELOW). A large proportion of records also carry Target City = UNKNOWN. This pattern directly reflects the fluid, fast-moving nature of June 6 operations: Allied aircraft were tasked against improvised defensive positions, road junctions occupied by German armour, artillery emplacements, and field command posts — none of which appeared on pre-invasion formal target lists and many of which were identified only hours before the sorties were flown.For A.D.I.’s archaeological prospection work, UNKNOWN tactical targets are among the most promising discovery prospects. Because they were never catalogued in German or Allied documentation, the physical remains of these positions — field gun emplacements, vehicle fighting positions, ammunition dumps — may survive essentially undisturbed in the Normandy landscape, awaiting identification through systematic geophysical survey.
The D-Day dataset shows substantial participation by the 15th Air Force (Italy-based), operating B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. These missions were flown at altitudes recorded as 180 hundreds of feet (18,000 ft), delivering combined HE and fragmentation ordnance loads. Based on the sample records in adi_dataset_master.csv, individual 15th AF formations averaged approximately 60 tons of total ordnance per mission.The Italy-to-Normandy range made precise targeting challenging — a factor that contributes to the high proportion of UNKNOWN target designations in the 15th AF records and increases the likelihood that some impact points fall outside catalogued defensive lines, making them candidate sites for previously unrecorded buried remains.
The Ataque Combinado (HE + Fragmentación) profile that characterises the D-Day dataset creates a distinctive and archaeologically identifiable pattern of ground disturbance:
  • HE component generates large primary craters (typically 3–8 metres diameter depending on bomb size) with compressed soil displacement and structural collapse of any hardened target.
  • Fragmentation component distributes dense shrapnel across a wide perimeter around each HE crater, typically detectable to depths of 0.3–1.0 metres.
This combined signature is well suited to non-invasive prospection methods: ground-penetrating radar (GPR) detects the compacted crater floor and displaced fill layers, while metal detection survey maps the shrapnel halo around each impact point. Target coordinates from the D-Day dataset with confirmed combined-ordnance loads should be treated as high-confidence starting points for GPR transect planning.
D-Day target coordinates for UNKNOWN tactical targets carry high positional uncertainty — many THOR records for June 6 lack precise latitude/longitude values, and the “UNKNOWN” city designation indicates the target was not formally pre-registered. Before planning any field operations based on these coordinates, cross-reference with contemporary military maps, aerial reconnaissance photographs held at the Imperial War Museum (London), and French departmental archives (Archives départementales du Calvados and de la Manche). Do not enter any field identified as a potential impact zone without prior UXO risk assessment by qualified Département du Déminage personnel.

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