Operation Overlord (2021)
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Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune). A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. 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.
The COSSAC staff planned to begin the invasion on 1 May 1944.[44] The initial draft of the plan was accepted at the Quebec Conference in August 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF).[47] General Bernard Montgomery was named commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all of the land forces involved in the invasion.[48] On 31 December 1943, Eisenhower and Montgomery first saw the COSSAC plan, which proposed amphibious landings by three divisions, 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. This significant expansion required the acquisition of additional landing craft, which caused the invasion to be delayed by a month until June 1944.[48] 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.[49][50][f]
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.[68] The Allies had decided not to immediately attack any of the heavily protected French ports and two artificial ports, called Mulberry harbours, were designed by COSSAC planners. Each assembly consisted of a floating outer breakwater, inner concrete caissons (called Phoenix breakwaters) and several floating piers.[69] The Mulberry harbours were supplemented by blockship shelters (codenamed \"Gooseberries\").[70] With the expectation that fuel would be difficult or impossible to obtain on the continent, the Allies built a \"Pipe-Line Under The Ocean\" (PLUTO). Specially developed pipes 3 inches (7.6 cm) in diameter were to be laid under the Channel from the Isle of Wight 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 Dungeness to Boulogne in late October.[71]
Allied planners considered tactical surprise to be a necessary element of the plan for the landings.[93] 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.[94] 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.[95] A news blackout in Britain increased the effectiveness of the deception operations.[54] Travel to and from the Republic of Ireland was banned, and movement within several kilometres of the coast of England restricted.[96]
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.[118] 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.[97] Tangles of barbed wire, booby traps, and the removal of ground cover made the approach hazardous for infantry.[118] On Rommel's order, the number of mines along the coast was tripled.[114] 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[97]), booby-trapped stakes known as Rommelspargel (Rommel's asparagus) were set up in meadows and fields to deter airborne landings.[114]
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 bocage, with thorny hedgerows on embankments 3 to 4 feet (0.91 to 1.2 m) high with a ditch on either side.[164] Many areas were additionally protected by rifle pits and machine-gun emplacements.[165] Most of the roads were too narrow for tanks.[164] The Germans had flooded the fields behind Utah with sea water for up to 2 miles (3.2 km) from the coast.[166] German forces on the peninsula included the 91st Infantry Division and the 243rd and 709th Static Infantry Divisions.[167] 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.[168] After failed attempts by the inexperienced 90th Infantry Division, Major General J. Lawton Collins, the VII Corps commander, assigned the veteran 9th Infantry Division to the task. They reached the west coast of the Cotentin on 17 June, cutting off Cherbourg.[169] The 9th Division, joined by the 4th and 79th Infantry Divisions, 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.[170]
Above the English channel on a bluff at Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial has hosted numerous visitors each year. The site covers 172.5 acres and contains the remains of 9,388 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. Included are graves of Army Air Corps crews shot down over France as early as 1942 and four American women.[241]
This last task force operation of the war included the Battle of Long Khánh on 7 June. During the battle, 3 RAR fought for more than eight gruelling hours. The men were supported by Centurion tanks of C Squadron 1st Armoured Regiment, APCs, RAAF and US Army gunships, artillery and engineer units. Australian casualties included eight soldiers and two airmen, and a UH-1 Iroquois helicopter was shot down.
For years, Allied leaders and military planners had debated about when, where, and how to land troops in northern Europe. Although plans for such an action had been in the works for years, it was not until December 1943, when General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, that preparations for the future operation, code named OVERLORD, intensified.
On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Allied forces launched a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France. The 'D' in D-Day stands simply for 'day' and the term was used to describe the first day of any large military operation.
A command team led by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower was formed in December 1943 to plan the naval, air and land operations. Deception campaigns were developed to draw German attention - and strength - away from Normandy. To build up resources for the invasion, British factories increased production and in the first half of 1944 approximately 9 million tonnes of supplies and equipment crossed the Atlantic from North America to Britain. A substantial Canadian force had been building up in Britain since December 1939 and over 1.4 million American servicemen arrived during 1943 and 1944 to take part in the landings.
D-Day required unprecedented cooperation between international armed forces. The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was an international coalition and although the Allies were united against Germany, the military leadership responsible for 'Overlord' had to overcome political, cultural and personal tensions.
The importance of D-Day often overshadows the overall significance of the entire Normandy campaign. Establishing a bridgehead was critical, but it was just the first step. In the three months after D-Day, the Allies launched a series of additional offensives to try and advance further inland. These operations varied in success and the Allies faced strong and determined German resistance.
In this cartoon, one man says to the other: 'When they call us D-Day Dodgers, which D-Day do they mean, old man' 'D-Day' is a general term for the start date of any military operation - the 'D' stands for 'day'. It is often used when the exact date is either secret or not yet known. Some people thought soldiers serving in Italy were avoiding 'real combat' in France and called them 'D-Day Dodgers'. But troops in Italy had faced their own D-Days at Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio and were engaged in a dangerous and difficult advance up the Italian peninsula.
By 1944, Tolle had attained the rank of Captain and was in command of Company D, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. Widely respected and liked by his men, he trained them heavily for the most anticipated operation of World War II: the invasion of France.
By early 1942, Allied operational planning was in progress, assessing three different operations: Bolero, the build-up of Allied forces in Britain, which commenced in early 1942; Sledgehammer, the establishment of a defensive salient on the French Cotentin peninsula with the intent to pin down German forces; and Roundup, in which broad beachheads were to be seized on the French Channel coast, enabling a breakout into German-occupied France. The latter was eventually to become Operation Overlord. However, two significant obstacles needed to be overcome first. 59ce067264
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