‘Monday, June 5, 1944. Thus has been made the vital and crucial decision to stage the great enterprise which [shall?], I hope, be the immediate means of bringing about the downfall of Germany’s fighting power & Nazi oppression & an early cessation of hostilities.

‘I am not under [any] delusions as to the risks involved in this most difficult of all operations . . . Success will be in the balance. We must trust in our invisible assets to tip the balance in our favor.

‘We shall require all the help that God can give us & I cannot believe that this will not be forthcoming.’