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THE INVASION OF EUROPE
D-Day - June 6, 1944 - The Allies launched the much-anticipated invasion of Europe. Allied troops landed on the coast of France at Normandy and began the push inland against German forces occupying much of Europe.
Meanwhile, back in the States, the June 12, 1944 issue of LIFE magazine had already gone to press. In order to reach subscribers by the cover date, the magazine had to be printed and mailed more than a week prior. The invasion was underway and LIFE presses were churning out pages of the magazine without a word about it.
The invasion of Europe was huge news and could not wait another week for the next issue of LIFE. Stop the presses! The layout of the issue was changed to fit stories and pictures from LIFE photographers and correspondents covering the invasion. Many of the original stories from the This Week's Events section were dropped to make room for invasion news and pictures.
The second version of the June 12th issue makes no mention of it being a modified version of the original and the "Invasion By Air" cover is the same on both versions. So, while most people were reading the story of the invasion and viewing the early pictures from the ships and beaches, a few were reading about "The Aerial Invasion of Burma," the lead story in the first version. Subscribers most likely received most of the first version while the second was sold at newsstands.
Below are the Table of Contents from both versions of the June 12th issue (the original is at left). While the cover of both versions was identical, you can see how much the magazine's content changed between the two. This Week's Events was completely changed, although the "Invasion By Air" cover story, a separate story in the first version, was included in the invasion section of the second version. Interestingly enough, the cover photo was not of France or Burma, but of bombs falling over Italy.
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The "casualties of war" (This Week's Events that were dropped from the original version) were: Airborne Raiders in Burma, Editorial: The Brewster Case, Brewster Workers Protest Canceled Navy Contracts, Governors Meet, A Soldier is Wounded on Wakde, Ghandi at Liberty, Gold Coast Doings, English Canals and Relics of Battle in Italy. The Article titled "An Italian Manifesto" also did not appear in the second version. A Close-Up of Humphrey Bogart appeared in both versions, while another of General "Beedle" Smith and invasion planning was added to the second.
The photograph below shows both versions of the June 12, 1944 issue open to page 27. The Invasion version is at top and the original below. Note the Chevrolet advertisement on the facing page which is identical in both versions.
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The change from the first to second version probably happened relatively early in the printing of the magazine as the early version is more rare and hard to find on the collector market. Over 13.5 million copies of LIFE were sold at its peak and many survive to this day, in relatively good condition.
Copyright © 2007 Carl Warren Weidenburner