My dad very likely survived the war because the coxwain on his invasion landing craft made a mistake. On D Day Dad's squad was supposed to land adjacent to a point of land sticking out off the beach. Fortunately, the boat went to the wrong point. The spot they were supposed to have gone in was heavily defended, and those men took very heavy casualties. Dad's unit was to take an airfield inland from the beach, but they went in several miles from their point of debarkation. They found the airfield when they saw British aircraft landing on it.
