Normandy landings
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Transcript of Normandy landings
D-Day : Normandy Landings
Introduction: May 6 1944, the allied forces were ready to liberate
France from German control
The plan was to conduct landings on the beaches of Normandy
This was codenamed Operation Overlord Would be later known as the largest amphibious
invasion in history
To land and secure five beaches, spanning 50 miles along the coast of Normandy
To liberate France from German occupation, then to make their way on to Germany to end Hitler’s reign
Operation objectives
Pictured here are Stalin, Roosevelt , and Churchill planning for the landings
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Allied forces knew that Hitler was prepared for a beach assault, so Operation Bodyguard was created.
It was to make Hitler think that they were
going to be attacking the Pas de Calais. Hitler
sent a large force to defend the Pas de Calais
and did not realize the diversion until
it was too late.
Plan : To build up fake armies and equipment
to fool Germans reconnaissance into thinking
a attack was imminent
Deception Plans
Rubber inflatable tanks were used like this one
Decoy aircraft were also used
Although the Germans thought that the Allies were going to attack Pas de Calais, Hitler set up defense along the coast for security. He sent his best general Rommel to ensure the beachfronts were secure.
There were many reinforced pillboxes, machine gun nests, anti tank, AA cannons and light artillery as well as mines placed underwater.
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German Defenses
Rommel inspecting defenses
German defense battery
“They built around 15,00 fortifications and defenses”
The Landings were split into two different phases; Operation Neptune (By sea & land) the assault phase, and by air.
By Air : Allied paratroopers take off to Normandy and the
air assault successfully lands 24,000 American, British and Canadian troops
Allied bombers were also scheduled to begin bombing runs at 0500 hours (5 am)
The paratroopers came from many forces such as the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and the British Special Air Service
Allied Operations
Paratroopers get ready to deploy
Main job was to capture bridges to eliminate possibilities of German counter attacks
Operation Neptune The Allied soldiers arrived to the beaches in
the largest fleet of ships ever (7000)
Within a few hours 5,000 Allied casualties and only 1,200 German casualties
Omaha beach had the highest casualties, Juno beach following with second highest and Utah beach with the lightest casualties
Allied Operation Cont.
Landing forces at beach head
Sword Beach: The 1st Special Service Brigade arrived with low casualties but failed to complete some objectives
Juno Beach: The Canadian Forces that were at Juno landed 30,000 men and were one of the most successful, and the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division pushed further into France than any other Allied force, despite having faced strong resistance at by elements of the German 21st
Gold Beach: 25,000 men were landed, but with heavy casualties
Omaha Beach: Landed 50,000 men but the heavy resistance only left 2 surviving tanks out of 16. All objectives were completed though
Utah Beach: The landing crafts were pushed to a wrong location because of a strong current. They were pushed to a less defended position and the only casualties were 197 out of the 23,000 landed
Operation Overview
Canadian troops approaching Juno beach
By the end of D-Day, the Allies landed 130,000 men by land and 29,000 by air
France was liberated because of the Landings and the Allies would advance through Europe liberating other countries
The Normandy Landings was a turning point in the war and caused Germany to surrender in 1945
Outcome
Alfred Jodl signs an unconditional German surrender, thus ending WWII
Casualties on both sides was approximately 425,000 men-2700 British-946 Canadians-6603 Americans-German Casualties unknown, but estimated between
4000-9000
Results