Contents. Preparations for D-Day In June 1940, Germany's leader had triumphed in what he called 'the most famous victory in history'—the. British craft evacuated to England over 338,000 Allied troops trapped along the northern coast of France (including much of the (BEF)) in the (27 May to 4 June). British planners reported to on 4 October that even with the help of other countries and the United States, it would not be possible to regain a foothold in continental Europe in the near future. After the Axis in June 1941, Soviet leader began pressing for a in Western Europe. Churchill declined because he felt that even with American help the British did not have adequate forces for such a strike, and he wished to avoid costly frontal assaults such as those that had occurred at the and in. Two tentative plans code-named and were put forward for 1942–43, but neither was deemed by the British to be practical or likely to succeed.
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Instead, the expanded their activity in the Mediterranean, launching the of in November 1942, the in July 1943, and in September. These campaigns provided the troops with valuable experience in.
Attendees at the in Washington in May 1943 took the decision to launch a cross-Channel invasion within the next year. Churchill favoured making the main Allied thrust into Germany from the, but his American allies, who were providing the bulk of the men and equipment, over-ruled him. British Lieutenant-General was appointed Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC), to begin detailed planning. The initial plans were constrained by the number of available landing-craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean and in the Pacific. In part because of lessons learned in the of 19 August 1942, the Allies decided not to directly assault a heavily defended French seaport in their first landing. The failure at Dieppe also highlighted the need for adequate artillery and air support, particularly, and specialised ships able to travel extremely close to shore.
The short operating-range of British aircraft such as the and greatly limited the number of potential landing-sites, as comprehensive air-support depended upon having planes overhead for as long as possible. Morgan considered four sites for the landings:, the, Normandy, and the. As Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, the Germans could have cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected. US Army tanks loaded in a (LCT), ready for the invasion of France, c.
Late May or early June 1944 Pas de Calais, the closest point in continental Europe to Britain, was the location of launch sites for and, then still under development. The Germans regarded it as the most likely initial landing zone, and accordingly made it the most heavily fortified region. It offered the Allies few opportunities for expansion, however, as the area is bounded by numerous rivers and canals, whereas landings on a broad front in Normandy would permit simultaneous threats against the port of, coastal ports further west in Brittany, and an overland attack towards Paris and eventually into Germany. Normandy was therefore chosen as the landing site. The most serious drawback of the Normandy coast—the lack of port facilities—would be overcome through the development of artificial harbours.
The COSSAC staff planned to begin the invasion on 1 May 1944. The initial draft of the plan was accepted at the in August 1943.
General was appointed commander of. General was named commander of the, which comprised all of the land forces involved in the invasion.
On 31 December 1943, Eisenhower and Montgomery first saw the COSSAC plan, which proposed amphibious landings by three, with two more divisions in support. The two generals immediately insisted on expanding the scale of the initial invasion to five divisions, with airborne descents by three additional divisions, to allow operations on a wider front and to speed up the capture of the port at Cherbourg. The need to acquire or produce extra landing craft for the expanded operation meant delaying the invasion until June 1944. Eventually the Allies committed 39 divisions to the Battle of Normandy: 22 American, 12 British, three Canadian, one Polish, and one French, totalling over a million troops all under overall British command. Allied invasion plan. Assault routes into Normandy 'Overlord' was the name assigned to the establishment of a large-scale on the Continent. The first phase, the amphibious invasion and establishment of a secure foothold, was code-named.
To gain the required air superiority needed to ensure a successful invasion, the Allies launched a bombing campaign (codenamed ) to target German aircraft-production, fuel supplies, and airfields. Under the, communications infrastructure and road and rail links were bombed to cut off the north of France and to make it more difficult to bring up reinforcements. These attacks were widespread so as to avoid revealing the exact location of the invasion. Elaborate were planned to prevent the Germans from determining the timing and location of the invasion.
The coastline of Normandy was divided into seventeen sectors, with codenames using a —from Able, west of, to Roger on the east flank of. Eight further sectors were added when the invasion was extended to include on the Cotentin Peninsula.
Sectors were further subdivided into beaches identified by the colours Green, Red, and White. Allied planners envisaged preceding the sea-borne landings with airborne drops: near Caen on the eastern flank to secure the bridges, and north of on the western flank. The initial goal was to capture Carentan, and Caen. The Americans, assigned to land at Utah and Omaha, were to cut off the Cotentin Peninsula and capture the port facilities at Cherbourg. The British at Sword and, and the Canadians at, were to capture Caen and form a front line from to the south-east of Caen in order to protect the American flank, while establishing airfields near Caen.
Possession of Caen and its surroundings would give the Anglo-Canadian forces a suitable staging area for a push south to capture the town of. A secure lodgement would be established and an attempt made to hold all territory captured north of the -Falaise line during the first three weeks. The Allied armies would then swing left to advance towards the. The invasion fleet, led by Admiral Sir, was split into the Western Naval Task Force (under Admiral ) supporting the American sectors and the Eastern Naval Task Force (under Admiral Sir ) in the British and Canadian sectors. The American forces of the, led by Lieutenant General, comprised (Utah) and (Omaha). On the British side, Lieutenant-General commanded the, under which was assigned to Gold and to Juno and Sword. Land forces were under the overall command of Montgomery, and air command was assigned to Sir.
The included personnel and units from, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Other Allied nations also participated. Reconnaissance. Map of the air plan for the Allied landing in Normandy The undertook over 3,200 photo-reconnaissance sorties from April 1944 until the start of the invasion.
Photos of the coastline were taken at extremely low altitude to show the invaders the terrain, obstacles on the beach, and defensive structures such as bunkers and gun emplacements. To avoid alerting the Germans as to the location of the invasion, this work had to be undertaken over the entire European coastline.
Inland terrain, bridges, troop emplacements, and buildings were also photographed, in many cases from several angles, to give the Allies as much information as possible. Members of clandestinely prepared detailed harbour maps, including. An appeal for holiday pictures and postcards of Europe announced on the produced over ten million items, some of which proved useful. Information collected by the helped provide details on Axis troop movements and on construction techniques used by the Germans for bunkers and other defensive installations. Many German radio messages were encoded using the and other enciphering techniques and the codes were changed frequently. A team of code breakers stationed at worked to break codes as quickly as possible to provide advance information on German plans and troop movements.
British military intelligence code-named this information intelligence as it could only be provided to the top level of commanders. The Enigma code used by Field Marshal, Oberbefehlshaber West (Supreme Commander West; ), commander of the, was broken by the end of March. German intelligence changed the Enigma codes right after the Allied landings of 6 June but by 17 June the Allies were again consistently able to read them. Technology. Remains of B at (Gold) as seen in 1990 In response to the lessons learned at the disastrous Dieppe Raid, the Allies developed new technologies to help ensure the success of Overlord. To supplement the preliminary offshore bombardment and aerial assaults, some of the landing craft were equipped with artillery and anti-tank guns to provide close supporting fire.
The Allies had decided not to immediately attack any of the heavily protected French ports and two artificial ports, called, were designed by COSSAC planners. Each assembly consisted of a floating outer, inner concrete (called ) and several floating piers. The Mulberry harbours were supplemented by shelters (codenamed 'Gooseberries'). With the expectation that fuel would be difficult or impossible to obtain on the continent, the Allies built a 'Pipe-Line Under The Ocean'. Specially developed pipes 3 inches (7.6 cm) in diameter were to be laid under the Channel from the to Cherbourg by D-Day plus 18. Technical problems and the delay in capturing Cherbourg meant the pipeline was not operational until 22 September. A second line was laid from to Boulogne in late October.
The British military built a series of specialised tanks, nicknamed, to deal with conditions expected during the Normandy campaign. Developed under the supervision of Major-General, these were specially modified.
Examples include the tank (equipped with a mine flail), the (a flame-throwing tank), and the, which other tanks could use as a bridge to scale sea-walls or to overcome other obstacles. In some areas, the beaches consisted of a soft clay that could not support the weight of tanks.
The ' tank would overcome this problem by deploying a roll of matting over the soft surface and leaving the material in place as a route for more conventional tanks. The (AVREs) were modified for many tasks, including laying bridges and firing large charges into. The Duplex-Drive tank , another design developed by Hobart's group, was a self-propelled amphibious tank kept afloat using a waterproof canvas screen inflated with compressed air. These tanks were easily swamped, and on D-Day many sank before reaching the shore, especially at Omaha. Deception. See also: In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted, the overall strategy designed to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings.
Included Fortitude North, a misinformation campaign using fake radio-traffic to lead the Germans into expecting an attack on Norway, and Fortitude South, a major deception designed to fool the Germans into believing that the landings would take place at Pas de Calais in July. A fictitious was invented, supposedly located in and under the command of Lieutenant General. The Allies constructed dummy tanks, trucks, and landing craft, and positioned them near the coast. Several military units, including and, moved into the area to bolster the illusion that a large force was gathering there. As well as the broadcast of fake radio-traffic, genuine radio messages from 21st Army Group were first routed to Kent via landline and then broadcast, to give the Germans the impression that most of the Allied troops were stationed there. Patton remained stationed in England until 6 July, thus continuing to deceive the Germans into believing a second attack would take place at Calais.
Military and civilian personnel alike were aware of the need for secrecy, and the invasion troops were as much as possible kept isolated, especially in the period immediately before the invasion. One American general was sent back to the United States in disgrace after revealing the invasion date at a party. The Germans thought they had an extensive network of spies operating in the UK, but in fact all their agents had been captured, and some had become working for the Allies as part of the. The double agent, a Spanish opponent of the Nazis known by the code name 'Garbo', developed over the two years leading up to D-Day a fake network of informants that the Germans believed were collecting intelligence on their behalf. In the months preceding D-Day, Pujol sent hundreds of messages to his superiors in Madrid, messages specially prepared by the British intelligence service to convince the Germans that the attack would come in July at Calais. Many of the German radar stations on the French coast were destroyed by the RAF in preparation for the landings.
On the night before the invasion, in, dropped strips of 'window', that caused a radar return mistakenly interpreted by German radar operators as a naval convoy. The illusion was bolstered by a group of small vessels towing. Also dropped 'window' near in. On the same night, a small group of (SAS) operators deployed dummy paratroopers over and Isigny. These dummies led the Germans to believe an additional airborne assault had occurred.
Rehearsals and security. Training exercise with Training exercises for the Overlord landings took place as early as July 1943. As the nearby beach resembled the planned Normandy landing-site, the town of, was evacuated in December 1943, and taken over by the armed forces as a site for training exercises that included the use of landing craft and the management of beach obstacles.
A incident there on 27 April 1944 resulted in as many as 450 deaths. The following day, an additional estimated 749 American soldiers and sailors died when surprised members of Assault Force 'U' conducting. Exercises with landing craft and live ammunition also took place at the Combined Training Centre in in Scotland.
Naval exercises took place in Northern Ireland, and medical teams in London and elsewhere rehearsed how they would handle the expected waves of casualties. Paratroopers conducted exercises, including a huge demonstration drop on 23 March 1944 observed by Churchill, Eisenhower, and other top officials. Allied planners considered tactical surprise to be a necessary element of the plan for the landings. Information on the exact date and location of the landings was provided only to the topmost levels of the armed forces. Men were sealed into their marshalling areas at the end of May, with no further communication with the outside world.
Troops were briefed using maps that were correct in every detail except for the place names, and most were not told their actual destination until they were already at sea. A news blackout in Britain increased the effectiveness of the deception operations. Travel to and from the was banned, and movement within several kilometres of the coast of England restricted.
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Weather forecasting. Men of the British 22nd Independent Parachute Company, being briefed for the invasion, 4–5 June 1944 The invasion planners specified a set of conditions regarding the timing of the invasion, deeming only a few days in each month suitable. A full moon was desirable, as it would provide illumination for aircraft pilots and have the. The Allies wanted to schedule the landings for shortly before dawn, midway between low and high tide, with the tide coming in. This would improve the visibility of obstacles the enemy had placed on the beach while minimising the amount of time the men had to spend exposed in the open. Specific criteria were also set for wind speed, visibility, and cloud cover.
Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault. However, on 4 June, conditions were clearly unsuitable for a landing; high winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft, and low clouds would prevent aircraft from finding their targets. By the evening of 4 June, the Allied meteorological team, headed by Group Captain of the, predicted that the weather would improve sufficiently so that the invasion could go ahead on 6 June. He met Eisenhower and other senior commanders at their headquarters at in Hampshire to discuss the situation. General Montgomery and Major General, Eisenhower's chief of staff, were eager to launch the invasion. Admiral Bertram Ramsay was prepared to commit his ships, while Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory expressed concern that the conditions would be unfavourable for Allied aircraft. After much discussion, Eisenhower decided that the invasion should go ahead.
Allied control of the Atlantic meant that German meteorologists did not have access to as much information as the Allies on incoming weather patterns. As the Luftwaffe meteorological centre in Paris predicted two weeks of stormy weather, many commanders left their posts to attend war games in, and men in many units were given leave.
Marshal returned to Germany for his wife's birthday and to meet Hitler to try to get more Panzers. Had Eisenhower postponed the invasion, the next available period with the right combination of tides (but without the desirable full moon) was two weeks later, from 18 to 20 June. As it happened, during this period the invaders would have encountered a major storm lasting four days, between 19 and 22 June, that would have made the initial landings impossible.
German preparations and defences. German troops of the on the in France, 21 March 1944 Nazi Germany had at its disposal 50 divisions in France and the Low Countries, with another 18 stationed in Denmark and Norway. Fifteen divisions were in the process of formation in Germany, but there was no strategic reserve. The Calais region was defended by the under (Colonel General), and Normandy by the commanded. Combat losses throughout the war, particularly on the, meant the Germans no longer had a pool of able young men from which to draw. German soldiers were now on average six years older than their Allied counterparts. Many in the Normandy area were (eastern legions)—conscripts and 'volunteers' from, Russia, Mongolia, and elsewhere.
The Wehrmacht had provided them mainly with unreliable captured equipment; they lacked motorised transport. Formations that arrived later, such as the, were for the most part younger and far better equipped and trained than the static troops stationed along the coast. Atlantic Wall. Alarmed by the raids on and Dieppe in 1942, Hitler ordered the construction of fortifications all along the Atlantic coast, from Spain to Norway, to protect against an expected Allied invasion. He envisioned 15,000 emplacements manned by 300,000 troops, but due to shortages, particularly of concrete and manpower, most of the were never built.
As the expected site of an Allied invasion, Pas de Calais was heavily defended. In the Normandy area the best fortifications were concentrated at the port facilities at Cherbourg. A report by Rundstedt to Hitler in October 1943 regarding the weak defences in France led to the appointment of Rommel to oversee the construction of further fortifications along the expected invasion-front, which stretched from the Netherlands to Cherbourg.
Rommel was given command of the newly re-formed, which included the 7th Army, the 15th Army, and the forces guarding the Netherlands. Nazi Germany's tangled command structure made it difficult for Rommel to achieve his task. He was not allowed to give orders to the, which was commanded by armaments minister, so in some places he had to assign soldiers to do construction work.
Beach obstacles at, 18 April 1944 Rommel believed that the Normandy coast could be a possible landing point for the invasion, so he ordered the construction of extensive defensive works along that shore. In addition to concrete gun-emplacements at strategic points along the coast, he ordered wooden stakes, metal tripods, mines, and large anti-tank obstacles to be placed on the beach to delay the approach of landing craft and to impede the movement of tanks. Expecting the Allies to land at high tide so that the infantry would spend less time exposed on the beach, he ordered many of these obstacles to be placed at the high-tide mark. Tangles of barbed wire, booby traps, and the removal of ground cover made the approach hazardous for infantry. On Rommel's order, the number of mines along the coast was tripled. Given the Allied air supremacy (4,029 Allied aircraft assigned to operations in Normandy plus 5,514 aircraft assigned to bombing and defence, versus 570 Luftwaffe planes stationed in France and the Low Countries ), booby-trapped stakes known as Rommelspargel were set up in meadows and fields to deter airborne landings.
Mobile reserves Rommel, believing that the Germans' best chance was to stop the invasion at the shore, requested that mobile reserves—especially tanks—be stationed as close to the coast as possible. Rundstedt, General (commander of ), and other senior commanders believed that the invasion could not be stopped on the beaches. Geyr argued for a conventional doctrine: keeping the Panzer formations concentrated in a central position around Paris and Rouen and deploying them only when the main Allied beachhead had been identified. Geyr also noted that in the the armour stationed near the coast had been damaged by naval bombardment.
Rommel's opinion was that because of the overwhelming Allied air superiority, large-scale movement of tanks would not be possible once the invasion was underway. Hitler made the final decision: he left three divisions under Geyr's command and gave Rommel operational control of three tank-divisions as reserves. Hitler took personal control of four divisions as strategic reserves, not to be used without his direct orders.
Invasion. British synchronise their watches in front of an. By May 1944, 1.5 million American troops had arrived in the United Kingdom. Most were housed in temporary camps in the south-west of England, ready to move across the Channel to the western section of the landing zone. British and Canadian troops were billeted in accommodation further east, spread from to, and even on the east coast for men who would be coming across in later waves.
A complex system called Movement Control assured that the men and vehicles left on schedule from twenty departure points. Some men had to board their craft nearly a week before departure. The ships met at a rendezvous point (nicknamed 'Piccadilly Circus') south-east of the Isle of Wight to assemble into convoys to cross the Channel. Minesweepers began clearing lanes on the evening of 5 June, and a thousand bombers left before dawn to attack the coastal defences. Some 1,200 aircraft departed England just before midnight to transport three airborne divisions to their drop zones behind enemy lines several hours before the beach landings.
The American and were assigned objectives on the Cotentin Peninsula west of Utah. The was assigned to capture intact the bridges over the and River Orne. The 4th battalion of 538 men was assigned objectives in Brittany (, ). Some 132,000 men were transported by sea on D-Day, and a further 24,000 came by air. Preliminary naval bombardment commenced at 05:45 and continued until 06:25 from five battleships, twenty cruisers, sixty-five destroyers, and two monitors. Infantry began arriving on the beaches at around 06:30. Soldiers of the 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division advance over the sea-wall at Utah.
The craft bearing the assaulting were pushed by the current to a spot about 1,800 metres (2,000 yd) south of their intended landing zone. The troops met light resistance, suffering fewer than 200 casualties. Their efforts to push inland fell far short of their targets for the first day, but they were able to advance about 4 miles (6.4 km), making contact with the 101st Airborne Division. The airborne landings west of Utah were not very successful, as only ten per cent of the paratroopers landed in their drop zones. Gathering the men together into fighting units was made difficult by a shortage of radios and by the terrain, with its hedgerows, stone walls and marshes.
The 82nd Airborne Division captured its primary objective at and worked to protect the western flank. Its failure to capture the river crossings at the River resulted in a delay in sealing off the Cotentin Peninsula. The 101st Airborne Division helped protect the southern flank and captured the lock on the at La Barquette, but did not capture the assigned nearby bridges on the first day. At, the task for the two hundred men of the, commanded by, was to scale the 30 metres (98 ft) cliffs with ropes and ladders to destroy the gun battery located there. While under fire from above, the men scaled the cliff, only to discover that the guns had already been withdrawn.
The Rangers located the weapons, unguarded but ready to use, in an orchard some 550 metres (600 yd) south of the point, and disabled them. Under attack, the men at the point became isolated, and some were captured. By dawn on D+1, Rudder had only 90 men able to fight. Relief did not come until D+2, when members of the arrived.
The photograph shows American troops, part of the, leaving a on Omaha., the most heavily defended sector, was assigned to the, supplemented by troops from the. They faced the, rather than the expected single regiment.
Strong currents forced many landing craft east of their intended position or delayed them. Casualties were heavier than all the other landings combined, as the men were subjected to fire from the cliffs above. Problems clearing the beach of obstructions led to the beachmaster calling a halt to further landings of vehicles at 08:30. A group of destroyers arrived around this time to offer supporting artillery fire.
Exit from Omaha was possible only via five gullies, and by late morning barely six hundred men had reached the higher ground. By noon, as the artillery fire took its toll and the Germans started to run out of ammunition, the Americans were able to clear some lanes on the beaches. They also started clearing the draws of enemy defences so that vehicles could move off the beach. The tenuous beachhead was expanded over the following days, and the D-Day objectives were accomplished by D+3.
Gold, as of 7 June 1944. At, high winds made conditions difficult for the landing craft, and the amphibious DD tanks were landed close to shore or directly on the beach instead of further out as planned. Aerial attacks had failed to hit the Le Hamel strong point, and its 75 mm gun continued to do damage until 16:00. On the western flank, the 1st Battalion, captured (future site of Mulberry 'B'), and contact was made on the eastern flank with the Canadian forces at Juno.
Landings of infantry at were delayed because of rough seas, and the men arrived ahead of their supporting armour, suffering many casualties while disembarking. Most of the offshore bombardment had missed the German defences.
In spite of these difficulties, the Canadians quickly cleared the beach and created two exits to the villages above. Delays in taking led to congestion on the beach, but by nightfall the contiguous Juno and Gold beachheads covered an area 12 miles (19 km) wide and 7 miles (10 km) deep. Casualties at Juno were 961 men. On, 21 of 25 DD tanks succeeded in getting safely ashore to provide cover for the infantry, who began disembarking at 07:30. They quickly cleared the beach and created several exits for the tanks. In the windy conditions, the tide came in more quickly than expected, making manoeuvring the armour difficult. The 2nd Battalion, advanced on foot to within a few kilometres of Caen, but had to withdraw due to lack of armour support.
At 16:00, the mounted a counterattack between Sword and Juno and nearly succeeded in reaching the coast. They met stiff resistance from the and were soon recalled to assist in the area between Caen and Bayeux. The build-up at Omaha Beach: troops and equipment moving inland toward on D+1, 7 June 1944. The first components of the Mulberry harbours were brought across on D+1 and the structures were in use for unloading by mid-June. One was constructed at Arromanches by the British, the other at Omaha by the Americans. Severe storms on 19 June interrupted the landing of supplies and destroyed the Omaha harbour.
The repaired Arromanches harbour was able to receive around 6,000 tons of daily and was in continuous use for the next ten months, but most shipments were brought in over the beaches until the port of Cherbourg was cleared of mines and obstructions on 16 July. Allied casualties on the first day were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. The Germans lost 1,000 men. The Allied invasion plans had called for the capture of Carentan, Caen, and Bayeux on the first day, with all the beaches (other than Utah), linked with a front line 10 to 16 kilometres (6 to 10 mi) from the beaches; none of these objectives were achieved. The five bridgeheads were not connected until 12 June, by which time the Allies held a front around 97 kilometres (60 mi) long and 24 kilometres (15 mi) deep. Caen, a major objective, was still in German hands at the end of D-Day and would not be completely captured until 21 July.
Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August. Cherbourg. Main articles: and In the western part of the lodgement, US troops were to occupy the Cotentin Peninsula, especially Cherbourg, which would provide the Allies with a deep water harbour. The terrain behind Utah and Omaha was characterised by, with thorny hedgerows on embankments 3 to 4 feet (0.91 to 1.2 m) high with a ditch on either side. Many areas were additionally protected by rifle pits and machine-gun emplacements. Most of the roads were too narrow for tanks.
The Germans had flooded the fields behind Utah with sea water for up to 2 miles (3.2 km) from the coast. German forces on the peninsula included the and the. By D+3 the Allied commanders realised that Cherbourg would not quickly be taken, and decided to cut off the peninsula to prevent any further reinforcements from being brought in. After failed attempts by the inexperienced, Major General, the commander, assigned the veteran to the task.
They reached the west coast of the Cotentin on 17 June, cutting off Cherbourg. The 9th Division, joined by the 4th and, took control of the peninsula in fierce fighting from 19 June; Cherbourg was captured on 26 June. By this time, the Germans had destroyed the port facilities, which were not brought back into full operation until September. British infantry aboard Sherman tanks wait for the order to advance, near, 21 August 1944. The French Resistance in Paris rose against the Germans on 19 August. Eisenhower initially wanted to bypass the city to pursue other targets, but amid reports that the citizens were going hungry and Hitler's stated intention to destroy it, de Gaulle insisted that it should be taken immediately. French forces of the under General arrived from the west on 24 August, while the U.S.
4th Infantry Division pressed up from the south. Scattered fighting continued throughout the night, and by the morning of 25 August.
Operations continued in the British and Canadian sectors until the end of the month. On 25 August, the U.S. Fought its way into, making contact with British and Canadian armoured divisions. The advanced into the on the morning of 27 August.
The area was strongly held; the 4th and 6th Canadian brigades suffered many casualties over the course of three days as the Germans fought a delaying action in terrain well suited to defence. The Germans pulled back on 29 August, withdrawing over the Seine the next day. On the afternoon of 30 August, the crossed the Seine near Elbeuf and entered to a jubilant welcome. Campaign close Eisenhower took direct command of all Allied ground forces on 1 September.
Concerned about German counter-attacks and the limited materiel arriving in France, he decided to continue operations on a broad front rather than attempting narrow thrusts. The linkup of the Normandy forces with the Allied forces in southern France occurred on 12 September as part of the. On 17 September, Montgomery launched, an unsuccessful attempt by Anglo-American airborne troops to capture bridges in the Netherlands to allow ground forces to cross the into Germany.
The Allied advance slowed due to German resistance and the lack of supplies (especially fuel). On 16 December the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive, also known as the, their last major offensive of the war on the Western Front.
A series of successful Soviet actions began with the on 12 January. On 30 April as Soviet troops neared his in Berlin, and Germany surrendered on 7 May 1945. Canadian soldiers with a captured The Normandy landings were the largest seaborne invasion in history, with nearly 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277 minesweepers. They hastened the end of the war in Europe, drawing large forces away from the Eastern Front that might otherwise have slowed the Soviet advance. The opening of another front in western Europe was a tremendous psychological blow for Germany's military, who feared a repetition of the two-front war of World War I. The Normandy landings also heralded the start of the 'race for Europe' between the Soviet forces and the Western powers, which some historians consider to be the. Victory in Normandy stemmed from several factors.
German preparations along the Atlantic Wall were only partially finished; shortly before D-Day Rommel reported that construction was only 18 per cent complete in some areas as resources were diverted elsewhere. The deceptions undertaken in Operation Fortitude were successful, leaving the Germans obliged to defend a huge stretch of coastline. The Allies achieved and maintained air superiority, which meant that the Germans were unable to make observations of the preparations underway in Britain and were unable to interfere via bomber attacks. Transport infrastructure in France was severely disrupted by Allied bombers and the French Resistance, making it difficult for the Germans to bring up reinforcements and supplies.
Much of the opening artillery barrage was off-target or not concentrated enough to have any impact, but the specialised armour worked well except on Omaha, providing close artillery support for the troops as they disembarked onto the beaches. The indecisiveness and overly complicated command structure of the German high command was also a factor in the Allied success. Casualties Allies. American assault troops injured while storming Omaha From D-Day to 21 August, the Allies landed 2,052,299 men in northern France. The cost of the Normandy campaign was high for both sides. Between 6 June and the end of August, the American armies suffered 124,394 casualties, of whom 20,668 were killed. Casualties within the First Canadian and Second British Armies are placed at 83,045: 15,995 killed, 57,996 wounded, and 9,054 missing.
Of these, Canadian losses amounted to 18,444, with 5,021 killed in action. The Allied air forces, having flown 480,317 sorties in support of the invasion, lost 4,101 aircraft and 16,714 airmen (8,536 members of the USAAF, and 8,178 flying under the command of the RAF). The Free French SAS paratroopers suffered 77 killed, with 197 wounded and missing.
Allied tank losses have been estimated at around 4,000, with losses split evenly between the American and British/Canadian armies. Historians slightly differ on overall casualties during the campaign, with the lowest losses totaling 225,606 and the highest at 226,386. German forces surrender in, 21 August 1944 German forces in France reported losses of 158,930 men between D-Day and 14 August, just before the start of Operation Dragoon in Southern France. In action at the Falaise pocket, 50,000 men were lost, of whom 10,000 were killed and 40,000 captured. Sources vary on the total German casualties. Niklas Zetterling, on examining German records, places the total German casualties suffered in Normandy and facing the Dragoon landings to be 290,000. Other sources arrive at higher estimates: 400,000 (200,000 killed or wounded and a further 200,000 captured), 500,000 (290,000 killed or wounded, 210,000 captured), to 530,000 in total.
There are no exact figures regarding German tank losses in Normandy. Approximately 2,300 tanks and assault guns were committed to the battle, of which only 100 to 120 crossed the Seine at the end of the campaign. While German forces reported only 481 tanks destroyed between D-day and 31 July, research conducted by of 21st Army Group indicates that the Allies destroyed around 550 tanks in June and July and another 500 in August, for a total of 1,050 tanks destroyed, including 100 destroyed by aircraft. Luftwaffe losses amounted to 2,127 aircraft. By the end of the Normandy campaign, 55 German divisions (42 infantry and 13 panzer) had been rendered combat ineffective; seven of these were disbanded. By September, OB West had only 13 infantry divisions, 3 panzer divisions, and 2 panzer brigades rated as combat effective.
Civilians and French heritage buildings During the liberation of Normandy, between 13,632 and 19,890 French civilians were killed, and more were seriously wounded. In addition to those who died during the campaign, 11,000 to 19,000 Normans are estimated to have been killed during pre-invasion bombing. A total of 70,000 French civilians were killed throughout the course of the war.
And continued to inflict casualties upon the Norman population following the end of the campaign. Around 812,000 were American and 640,000 were British and Canadian (, p. 408). In addition, the Allied air forces made 480,317 sorties directly connected to the operation, with the loss of 4,101 planes and 16,714 lives., p. 341.
V-weapons were first launched against the UK on 12 June (, p. 316). The British 79th Armoured Division never operated as a single formation (, p. 13), and thus has been excluded from the total. In addition, a combined total of 16 (three from the 79th Armoured Division) British, Belgian, Canadian, and Dutch independent brigades were committed to the operation, along with four battalions of the Special Air Service (, pp. 521–523, 524). As of November 1943. They also had 206 divisions on the Eastern Front, 24 in the Balkans, and 22 in Italy., p. 144. American casualties are sourced from the G-3 War Room Summary 91, dated 5 September 1944, covering the campaign (, Chapter XIV, footnote 10).
In 1953, the US Statistical and Accounting Branch, Office of the Adjutant General issued a final report on US casualties (excluding Air Force losses) for the period from 6 June to 14 September 1944. This source shows the number killed in action during the Battle of Normandy (6 June – 24 July 1944) as 13,959 and Northern France (25 July to 14 September 1944) as 15,239 for a total of 29,198.
Total deaths among battle casualties (including accidental deaths, disease, etc) for Normandy (6 June – 24 July 1944) were 16,293 and in Northern France (25 July – 14 September 1944) were 17,844, for a total of 34,137 (, p. 92). British casualties are sourced from 'War Diary, 21st Army Group, 'A' Section, SITEP' dated 29 August 1944 (, pp. 517–518). The most common tank/assault gun deployed at Normandy by the Germans was by far the Panzer IV, followed by the Panther (650) and Stug III (550). Also present were 120–130 Tiger Is, 20 Tiger 2s, and smaller numbers of other types, including Marders and Jagdpanthers., pp. 117–120.
Citations., pp. 117–120. ^, pp. 342–343. ^, pp. 336–337., pp. 21–22., pp. 10–11., pp. 177–178, chart p., pp. 397, 478., pp. 13–14., pp. 33–34., pp. 73–74. ^, pp. 12–13., pp. 521–533., pp. 592–593. ^, Map, inside front cover., pp. 78, 81., pp. 27–28., pp. 89–90., pp. 42–43., pp. 71–72., pp. 19–21., pp. 50–51, 54–57., pp. 59, 61., pp. 61–62., pp. 30, 36., pp. 224–226., pp. 42–43., pp. 58–59., pp. 16–19.
^, pp. 54–56., pp. 157–161., pp. 64–79., pp. 166–167., pp. 95–104., pp. 64–65, 334., pp. 76–77, 334., pp. 90–91., pp. 56, 83., pp. 281–282., pp. 270–273., pp. 275–276., pp. 277–278., pp. 143, 148., pp. 326–327., pp. 215–216., pp. 627–630., pp. 118–120., pp. 185–193., pp. 247–254., pp. 36, 97., pp. 232–237., pp. 340–341., pp. 332–333., pp. 366–367., pp. 398–400., pp. 399–400., pp. 434–435., pp. 416–417., pp. 439–440., pp. 421, 444., pp. 445, 447., pp. 481, 483, 494. ^, pp. 341–342., pp. 487–488., pp. 288–289., pp. 488, 493., pp. 341–342., pp. 399–400., pp. 345–354. References. The Supreme Commander: The War Years of General Dwight D. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.
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Lewis, Nigel (1990). Exercise Tiger: The Dramatic True Story of a Hidden Tragedy of World War II. New York: Prentice-Hall. Normandy to the Baltic. London: Hutchinson. The Battle of Normandy, 1944. London: Cassell.
'Chapter XIV: The Pursuit Stops Short of the Rhine'. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army.
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19 September 2003.
A similar pattern to the 1934-35 summer is shown in this map of the marine heatwave during the 2017-18 summer, with sea-surface temperatures up to 2C above normal. Last summer's heat was due to an unusual concatenation of phenomena – the marine heatwave, a La Nina event, and the warm northerly winds that predominated. The nationwide average temperature last summer was 18.8C, 0.3C above the previous heatwave record of 18.5C in the 1934-35 summer and 2.1C above the 1981-2010 normals. Fifty-four climate stations across the country had their hottest summer temperatures, with Alexandra reaching 38.7C on January 30 this year. The 'marine heatwave' summers of 1934-35 and 2017-18 stand out in this graph of New Zealand's seven-station summer temperatures minus their 1981-2010 averages.
The scale on the left runs up on 0.5 degree Celsius increments, from -2.5C on the bottom line to +2.5C at the top. Mullan said it was likely New Zealand would experience the same level of marine heatwave as last summer more frequently because of climate change.
However, it would probably remain rare to have such a severe event in terms of how far above the rising background average temperatures the extremes would reach. Extreme fire warnings were in place for Canterbury and Marlborough last summer after days of hot weather.
In a talk at last week's joint Meteorological Society-Hydrological Society conference in Christchurch, Mullan said 'summers more than 2C above the climatology of the future period will continue to be rare events'. 'This is basically a 'perfect storm' type of situation, where everything has to align just right and persist long enough to produce these super extremes.' The 1934-35 summer was more extreme than last year's relative to the average temperatures of the time, with temperatures 2.7C higher than normal.