Battle of Normandy


Warning:  include() [function.include]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/slurp19/public_html/War/World_war_2/Battle_of_normandy.html on line 102



Warning:  include(http://www.informationslurp.com/inserttop.html) [function.include]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/slurp19/public_html/War/World_war_2/Battle_of_normandy.html on line 102



Warning:  include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://www.informationslurp.com/inserttop.html' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php:/usr/local/php4') in /home/slurp19/public_html/War/World_war_2/Battle_of_normandy.html on line 102


Overview

The Battle of Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord, began with the
amphibious Allied landings at Normandy, France, early in the morning of June
6, 1944, and continued into the following weeks with a land campaign to
establish, expand, and eventually break out of the Normandy bridgehead. It
remains one of the best-known battles of World War II.

The Battle

The Prelude

The process of planning for an invasion of mainland Europe had been going on
in earnest since January of 1943. The operating radius of the Spitfire had
limited the choices of landing site. Geography had reduced the choices
further to two - the Pas de Calais, and the Normandy coast. While the Pas de
Calais offered the best beaches and easy access to Germany, it was (for that
reason) likely to be the expected site, and the best defended. Consequently
the Normandy coast was chosen. As a result of the 1942 raid on Dieppe, it
was also decided not to try to capture a port by direct assault from the sea
in the initial landings.

It was not until December 1943 that General Eisenhower was named as Supreme
Commander Allied Expeditionary Force, effectively giving him overall charge
of the Allied forces in Europe. In January 1944 General Montgomery was named
as operational commander for the invasion ground forces. At that stage the
plan required sealanding by three divisions, with two brigades landed by
air. Montgomery quickly increased the scale of the attack to five divisions
by sea and three by air. More than 6000 vessels would be involved in the
invasion, including 4000 landing craft and 130 warships for bombardment.
12,000 aircraft were to support the landings, including 1000 transports to
fly in the parachute troops. 5000 tons of bombs would be dropped against the
German defences.

In November 1943, when Hitler decided that the threat of invasion in France
could no longer be ignored, Erwin Rommel was appointed Inspector of Coastal
Defences, and later commander of Army Group B, the ground forces charged
with the defense of Northern France. Rommel was of the firm belief that the
only way to defeat an invasion was to counterattack the beaches as early as
possible with armour. However he was handicapped by having only three of the
six available Panzer divisions in Northern France allocated directly to him.
The remaining three could not be released without the direct approval of
Hitler's operations staff. The air defences of the North French coast
comprised just 169 fighter aircraft.

In order to persuade the Germans that the invasion would really be coming to
the Pas de Calais, the Allies prepared a massive deception plan, called
Operation Fortitude. An entirely fictitious First US Army Group was created,
with fake buildings and equipment and sending false radio messages. General
Patton was even mentioned as the unit's commander. The Germans were eager to
find the real landing location for themselves, and had an extensive network
of agents operating throughout Southern England. Unfortunately for them,
every single one had been 'turned' by the Allies, and was dutifully sending
back messages confirming the Pas de Calais as the likely attack point.

The Plan

The order of battle was approximately a follows, East to West:

   * British 6th Airborne division, airlanded by parachute and glider East
     of the River Orne to protect the left flank.
   * 1 Special Service Brigade comprising No.3, No.4, No.6 and No.45(RM)
     Commandos landed at Ouistreham in Queen Red sector (left most). No.4
     Commando was augmented by 1 Troop and 8 Troop (both French) of No.10
     (Inter Allied) Commando.
   * British 3rd Infantry Division and the 27th Armoured Brigade on Sword
     Beach, from Ouistreham to Lion.
   * No.41(RM) Commando (part of 4 Special Service Brigade together with
     Nos.46(RM), 47(RM) and 48(RM) Commandos), landed on the far right of
     Sword Beach.
   * Canadian 3rd Infantry Division, 2nd Armoured Brigade and No.48 (RM)
     Commando on Juno Beach, from St Aubin to La Riviere.
   * No.46(RM) Commando at Juno to scale the cliffs on the left side of the
     River Orne estuary and destroy a battery. (Battery fire proved
     negligable so No.46 were kept off-shore as a floating reserve and
     landed D+1).
   * British 50 Division and 8 Armoured Brigade on Gold Beach, from La
     Riviere to Arromanches.
   * No.47(RM) Commando on the West flank of Gold beach.
   * US V Corps (1st Infantry Division plus others) on Omaha Beach, from St.
     Hondrine to Vierville sur Mer.
   * US 2nd Ranger Batallion at Pointe du Hoc.
   * US VII Corps (4th Division plus others) on Utah Beach, around
     Pouppevile and La Madeleine.
   * US 101 Airborne Division by parachute around Vierville.
   * US 82nd Airborne Division by parachute around Sainte-M�re-�glise,
     protecting the right flank.

Activities by the French resistance forces, the Maquis, helped disrupt Axis
lines of communications.

The foreshore area had been extensively fortified by the Germans as part of
their Atlantic Wall defences. It was guarded by 4 divisions, of which only
one (352) was of high quality. Many others included Germans who (usually for
medical reasons) were not considered suitable for active duty on the Eastern
Front, and other nationalities (mainly Russians) who had agreed to fight for
the Germans rather than endure a prisoner of war camp. The 21st Panzer
division guarded Caen, and the 12th SS Panzer division was stationed to the
south-east. Its soldiers had all been recruited directly from the Hitler
Youth movement at the age of sixteen in 1943, and it was to acquire a
reputation for ferocity in the coming battle. Some of the area behind Utah
beach had been flooded by the Germans as a precaution against parachute
assault.

Prior to the battle, the Allies had carefully mapped and tested the landing
area, paying particular attention to weather conditions in the English
Channel. The weather conditions at the only time when the landings were
practicable (because of tide and moonlight considerations) were particularly
severe. The German forces were not expecting the landings to occur because
of this.

The Landings

The British 6th Airborne Division were the first troops to go into action,
at ten minutes past midnight. Their objectives were Pegasus Bridge and
others on the rivers at the East flank of the landing area, and also a gun
battery at Merville (see Operation Tonga). The guns were destroyed, and the
bridges were captured and held until the Commandos relieved them late on the
6th June.

No.4 Commando went ashore lead by the French Troops as agreed amongst
themselves. The Troops had separate targets in Ouistreham, the French a
blockhouse and the Casino and the British two batteries which overlooked the
beach. The blockhouse proved too strong for the Commando's PIAT guns but the
Casino was taken with the aid of a Centaur tank. The British Commandos
achieved both battery objectives only to find the gun mounts empty and the
guns removed. Leaving the mopping-up procedure to the infantry, the
Commandos withdrew from Ouistreham to join the other members of 1 SS Brigade
(Nos.3, 6 and 45), in moving inland to join-up with the 6th Airborne.

On Sword and June beaches the British and Canadians got ashore with light
casualties. However they failed to make the progress expected after that,
and had advanced about five miles by the end of the day. In particular Caen,
a major objective, was still in German hands by the end of D-Day.

At Gold the casualties were much heavier, partly because the swimming
Sherman tanks were delayed, and the Germans had strongly fortified a village
on the beach. However the 50th division overcame its difficulties and
advanced almost to the outskirts of Bayeux by the end of the day. None got
closer to their planned objectives.

No.47(RM) Commando were the last British Commandos to land and came ashore
on Gold east of Le Hamel. Their task was to proceed inland then turn right
(west) and make a ten mile march through enemy territory to attack the
coastal harbour of Port en Bessin from the rear. This small port on the
British extreme right, was well sheltered in the chalk cliffs. The special
significance of this little port is that it was to be the point at which the
Allies undersea fuel pipe 'Pluto' was to come ashore.

On Omaha beach the US 1st Infantry were undergoing the worst ordeals of the
landings. Their swimming Sherman tanks had been mostly lost before reaching
shore. Their opposition, the 352nd Division, were some of the best trained
on the beaches, and occupied positions on steep cliffs overlooking the
beach. The official record stated that "Within 10 minutes of the ramps being
lowered, [the leading] company had become inert, leaderless and almost
incapable of action. Every officer and sergeant had been killed or
wounded...It had become a struggle for survival and rescue". The division
lost over 4000 casualties. Despite this the survivors regrouped and pressed
inland.

The massive concrete clifftop gun emplacement at Pointe du Hoc was the
target of the US 2nd Ranger battalion. Their task was to scale the 100 metre
cliffs under enemy fire with ropes and ladders, and then attack and destroy
the guns, which were thought to command the Omaha and Utah landing areas.
The emplacement was successfully reached, and the guns which had been moved
out (probably during the preceding bombardment) were found and destroyed.
The casualty rate for the landing troops was nearly fifty percent.

By contrast, casualties on Utah beach were 197 out of around 23,000 landed,
the lightest of any beach. They too pressed inland and succeeded in linking
up with parts of the airlanded divisions.

The 82nd and 101st Airborne had been less lucky. Partly due to inexperienced
piloting and partly due to the difficulty of the terrain they had landed
badly scattered. Some fell in the sea or deliberately flooded areas. After
24 hours only 3000 of the 101st had rallied. Many continued to roam and
fight behind enemy lines for days. The 82nd occupied the town of St. Mere
Eglise for a time in the early morning of June 6th, giving it the claim to
be the first town liberated in the invasion.

Once the beachhead was established, two artificial Mulberry Harbours were
towed across the English Channel in segments. One was constructed at
Arromanches, the other at Omaha Beach. The Omaha harbour was destroyed in
severe storms around D+10. Around 9,000 tons of materiel was landed daily at
the Arromanches harbour until the end of August, by which time the ports of
Antwerp and Cherbourg had been secured by the Allies, and had begun to
return to service.

Chronology

   * June 5th/6th US 82nd Airborne Division (Operation Detroit) and 101st
     Airborne Division (Operation Chicago) and British 6th Airbourne
     Division (Operation Tonga) are airlanded.
   * June 6th - Seabourne D-Day landings
   * June 25th - 29th Operation Epsom, an offensive to the west of Caen,
     repulsed by the German defenders.
   * July 7th - Caen finally captured.
   * July 17th - Erwin Rommel severely injured when his car was strafed by
     an Allied aircraft.
   * July 18th - 20th - Operation Goodwood initiated.
   * August 3rd - 9th - Operation Totalize, a trap to capture retreating
     German armour starts.
   * August 16th - Operation Dragoon, a joint American/French landing on the
     French Riviera, begins.

Political Considerations

The Normandy landings were long foreshadowed by a considerable amount of
political manoeuvring amongst the allies. There was much disagreement about
timing, appointments of command, and where exactly the landings were to take
place. The opening of a second front had been long postponed (it had been
initially mooted in 1942), and had been a particular source of strain
between the allies. Stalin had been pressing the Western Allies to launch a
'second front' since 1942. Churchill had argued for delay until victory
could be assured, preferring to attack Italy and North Africa first.

The appointment of Montgomery was questioned by some Americans, who would
have preferred the urbane General Alexander to have commanded the land
forces. Montgomery himself had doubts about the appointment of Eisenhower
because Eisenhower had very little field experience. (In the event, however,
Montgomery and Eisenhower cooperated to excellent effect in Normandy: their
well-known disagrements came much later.)

Normandy presented serious logistical problems, not the least of which being
that the only viable port in the area, Cherbourg, was heavily defended and
many among the higher echelons of command argued that the Pas de Calais
would make a more suitable landing area on these grounds alone.

Historical Significance

Strategic Appraisal

Although ultimately successful, the Normandy landings were extremely costly
in terms of men and material. The failure of the 3rd Division to take Caen,
an overly ambitious target, on the first day was to have serious
repercussions on the conduct of the war for well over a month, seriously
delaying any forward progress. The fortuitous capture of Villers-Bocage
followed by the failure to reinforce it, and its subsequent recapture by the
Germans, was again to hamper any attempt to extend the Caen bridgehead and
push on. By D+11, June 17th, the assault had stagnated.

A lot of the problem came down to the nature of the terrain in which much of
the post-landing fighting took place, the bocages. These were essentially
small fields separated by high earth banks covered in dense shrubbery, which
were eminently defensible.

Aftermath

The toehold that the allies established at Normandy was vital for the
Western Allies (the British Commonwealth and the US) to bring the war to
Germany's front door. It has been pointed out that Soviets alone had the
capacity to crush Germany by this time, and that this battle was unnecessary
for the purpose of defeating the German Reich. By the time of D-Day, the Red
Army was steadily advancing towards Germany and four fifths of the German
forces were in the East. In France, the Allies faced only about 20% of the
German army in France. Yet given the Soviet's claim over Eastern Europe, one
could ask if the result would have been a complete occupation of Europe by
communist forces. American and British presence helped define the extent
that communism would spread, and ensure that democracy would be safe in
Western Europe. Thus the battle of Normandy needs to be understood both
within the context of WWII and in that of the Cold War that would follow.

The visitor to Normandy today will find many reminders of 6 June 1944. Most
noticable are the beaches, which are still referred to on maps and signposts
by their invasion codenames. Then come the vast cemeteries, row on row of
identical white crosses and Stars of David, immaculately kept, commemorating
the Allied dead. Streets near the beaches are still named after the units
that fought there, and occasional markers commemorate notable incidents. At
significant points such as Pointe du Hoc and Pegasus Bridge, there are
plaques, memorials or small museums. The Mulberry harbour still sits in the
sea at Arromanches. In St Mere Eglise a dummy paratrooper hangs from the
church spire. On Juno Beach the Canadian government plans to build a massive
memorial and information centre, commemorating one of the most significant
events in Canadian military history. Nobody in the area is going to forget
Operation Overlord for a long time.