- The D-Day invasion fleet was the largest in history and one of the most audacious events of WWII. But landing was just the beginning, as rare footage reveals.
- D-Day is one of the most audacious events of WW II.
British were forced to retreat from Dunkirk in June 1940. To defeat Germany, a British and an American army has to get back into Europe. regaining a foothold in Nazi occupied Europe seems unthinkable. From end of 1941, Hitler had ordered the fortification of the entire Atlantic coast from the Spanish/French border to the Arctic in Norway. It was a system of interlocking bunkers, heavy naval guns and pillboxes. all manners of beach obstacles. This was Hitler's Atlantic wall. 2 yrs later Chruchill tries to attempt to land a force of 6000 troops on the French port of Dieppe. 900 Canadian troops are killed and over 2000 captured. The attempt is a fiasco. it was impossible to get the armor ashore. German intelligence knew that the raid was coming.
In the Pacific US are fighting the Japanese at Guadalcanal. In 1943, Germany lost the Battle of Stalingrad. At the Tehran conference in 1943, Stalin and Roosevelt pressure Churhill for a second front along the Atlantic wall. Churchill knew the Americans were determined to strike. But he protests that the Atlantic wall is too tough. He proposes to fight in areas where they can win, like North Africa and Italy. But Allies are bogged down in Italy and finally Churchill has to relent and Operation Overlord is green-lighted. The planners try to find the weak spots in the Atlantic wall.
Spring 1944, Germany retreats from Soviet Union. They anticipate an invasion from Britain and German intelligence even reports build up of troops opposite Calais. Calais is an obvious point for an invasion as it offers the shortest crossing. German defenses are strongest at Calais. Rommel is in charge of the Atlantic wall. He further fortifies it with millions of mines and thousands of miles of barbed wire. Allied planes take photos of Rommel's new defenses. French resistance sends precise info on troops at each fortified position. British commandos swim from midget submarines to collect samples of sand from French beaches. New weapons are developed to overcome Rommel's obstacles. Eg, swimming tank, flail tanks (to detonate the mines), flame thrower tanks, a ramp tank which would drive up against the sea wall and allow other tanks to drive over it. Engineers install an oil pipeline under the channel to provide fuel for the invading vehicles. They construct floating ports, to carry the supply vehicles and unload them in France.
1200 warships, 4000 landing craft, 12000 aircraft, 3000 tanks, 2 MM troops. General Dwight Eisenhower was the commander of the allied forces. British general Bernard Montgomery commands the land forces. The tides dictate that the invasion will be on 5th of June, but the location is a secret. The weather could also play spoilsport. Allied bombers take out German radar stations along the entire French coast. They also destroy supply routes further inland. The bridges, the railroad hubs, oil depots, railway lines.. This hampered German ability to bring reinforcement to the beaches quickly. Churchill protested as this would cause a high number of French casualties, but Eisenhower prevailed. The initial invasion launched on the 5th of June had to turn back due to bad weather. British run a false radio communication to confirm Calais as the landing point. But on D-Day, the invasion force heads for Normandy. General Patton was in charge of the deception campaign to fool the Germans into thinking that the invasion force has been assembled opposite Calais. Inflatable Jeeps, planes and tanks.
Due to allied air superiority of the allies, Germans had no planes in the air to see that the real invasion force was being assembled further along the coast, opposite Normany. The night before the invasion 8000 British and 13000 US paratroopers are dropped behind enemy lines to capture vital installations. But bad weather meant the troops landed all over the place. gliders bring in artillery and vehicles. The paratroopers also aim to confuse the only German Panzer division near the beaches. A third of the gliders are shot down. Still, enough made through and captured key bridges to delay the German reinforcements coming in. Germans don't know whether the allied target is Calais or Normandy, and they hold back committing the Panzer division. 4 Panzer divisions cant move without Hitler's direct orders and he is still asleep. Rommel was in Germany celebrating his wife's birthday.
On 6th of June, 1944, the weather shifts in Allied favor and the invasion is on. The Germans are stunned to see 6500 ships off the coast. Its an armada. There are 5 landing spots: US are in Utah and Omaha, Britsh in Gold and Sword, Canadians in Juno. Their objective is to secure the port at Cherbourg and to secure the city of Caen. Navy ships bombard the coastal defenses. 6 30 am, the first troops land on the beaches. Only 100 Germans man Utah. US lose 197 men. At Omaha, The defenses are manned by troops from the Soviet front. The submersible tanks sink and the landing craft snag on the beaches. US forces are sitting ducks. 3000 men die through the day. British land an hour later at 7:25 am on Sword beach. Flail tanks clear the beach mines. The landing is successful, but is bogged down by a position of fortified guns further in from the beach. At Juno, Canadian hit the beach at 7 49 am. They also suffer heavy losses and lose 20 out of 24 landing craft.
At 9 am Hitler wakes up and assesses the news. He is told that Calais is the real target. This was made possible by another British deception where tin foil dropped from aircraft made it look like an invasion fleet to German radars. Germans are further confused by fake paratroopers dropped inland, called Ruperts. Allies lose 10,000 men on D-Day. 160,000 allied troops cross the channel. At 3 pm, Hitler realizes Allies are at Normandy and releases his SS Panzer division to join the one at Caen, to push the Allies back into the sea. SS troops are ferocious fighters. But some of the Panzers are diverted to intercept another paratrooper landing at a nearby town, which was another batch of Ruperts. Germans form a defensive line around Caen. Montgomery had the task to break through Caen, but Monty never got along with the Americans and insulted them at every turn.
The US are bogged down in Bocage country, where Germans hide behind the hedgerows with their tanks and artillery and prevent the breakout from the beachheads. Allied Sherman tanks are a poor match for the German Panthers. The Shermans caught fire very quickly. Germans also converted an 88 mm anti aircraft gun into an anti tank gun. They had much better range than the tanks. To break out, on 18th of July, allied planes drop 7000 tons of bombs on Caen. A brutal tank battle ensues. After 7 weeks of fighting, the allied forces have to flush out the German street by street. Thousands of civilians are killed. The German army is low on supplies as Allied planes are pounding their supply lines mercilessly. The German army needs 4500 tons of supplies each day, but are getting 25% of that. without spare parts, many tanks are abandoned. Germans resort to horses to supply their troops. This was a shock that German supply lines were still driven by horsepower. Germans were not mechanized. Germans are bombed into submission. 100,000 Germans are encircled in the Falaise pocket just outside Normandy. 10,000 are killed, 40,000 taken prisoner (50,000 escape Falaise). German army comes to an end in France.
So, by spring of 1944, Germany had suffered 2 massive defeats in Russia and in France. 25th of Aug 1944, Paris is liberated. 500,000 allied and German casualties in Normandy, and another 20,000 French civilian deaths. Dunkirk and defeat of France was avenged.
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