The Evening Express was the first media outlet to bring the news of the D-Day landings to the people of Aberdeen.
Given that the Press and Journal went to print the previous evening, people of the Granite City relied on the EE for the most up-to-date news throughout the day.
Earlier editions reported smatterings of information about the invasions at Normandy, with the final edition declaring: “Allies establish beachheads”.
In the same paper, the reaction of the people of Aberdeen to the most momentous news of the Second World War was laid bare.
A story on the inside pages of the paper said: “Aberdeen takes D-Day calmly” – telling how residents swarmed paper vendors before huddled masses gathered to read of the invasion.
Under the sub-headline “Confidence in great new operations”, the reporter proclaimed: “Aberdeen received with its customary calm the news that the liberation of Europe had started.”
In comment, the paper’s leader writer said: “D-Day has come at last.
“The re-invasion of Europe has now started in earnest. For the British it is Dunkirk in reverse.
“Beneath that observation lies a welter of emotions on the part of all in this once beleaguered island of Great Britain.”
The front page of the paper was adorned by updated news of the invasion for weeks following the landings, many sent back by intrepid journalist Leonard Mosley.
Mosley was one of the few reporters of the age who also trained as a paratrooper.
On the day of the landings, Mosley dropped into France with his typewriter strapped to his body – although the contraption went on to suffer catastrophic damage during the jump.
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