SECTION 11:

THE COLLAPSE OF THE AXIS POWERSEl Alamein

D-DayMarket Garden

The War in Africa

Italian army fighting British forces for control of the continent

North Africa very important because of how close it is to Europe, and the port cities it includes

Italian troops are struggling, so a German panzer force is sent to support them

Erwin Rommel

Nicknamed “The Desert Fox” Superb commander Thought to be unbeatable Fought for Germany, not for Hitler or the

Nazis

Battle of El Alamein (Jul. 1-27, 1942)

Rommel makes an advance toward the port city of Alexandria, Egypt and he is stopped by British forces led by Claude Auchinleck after a month of fighting

Churchill demands Auchinleck immediately pursue Rommel after the battle, but he does not

Replaced by Bernard Montgomery

Second Battle

With Montgomery in command, he attacks Rommel, penetrates his front line, and forces him on a 2,000 mile retreat across Egypt

For the first time, Rommel is no longer seen as invincible

Strategic losses: Germans are no longer a threat in Egypt or in

control of its ports and coastline Major error: failure to capture the Island of

Malta in the Mediterranean Sea

D-DAYThe Allied Invasion of Normandy

(Enter Jacob, Daniel, Scotty)

Why Normandy, France?

Major French ports are nearby Within range of fighter plane cover from

England There are exits above the beaches Strong tides and winds Home ports are nearby in Southern

England, across the English Channel Enemy strength is not along the beaches,

but in a nearby town of Pas-de-Calais

To Attack…or Not to Attack?

Weather Report (June 4) Near perfect weather turns stormy Causes commander Gen. Dwight D.

Eisenhower to delay the attack…again Meteorologist J.M Stagg predicts a break in the

weather on June 6 Eisenhower and Montgomery agree that they

must call for the attack

German Mistakes

Not thinking the allies would attack, the German Air Force (Wehrmacht) stands down

Top generals leave Normandy for map exercises in Rennes on June 5

Rommel leaves to visit his wife on her birthday on the morning of June 6

Reserve Panzer Division not called into action The only way they could be moved out of

reserve was by direct order of Hitler…who was taking a nap at the time and did not want to be disturbed

Opposing Strengths

Allies: 156,000 Axis: 10,000

Note: this is a strategic operation, NOT a battle. The object was not to kill as many enemies as they could, but to push the Germans off the beach and inland

First Landings

Before the beach invasion could begin, men needed to be dropped behind enemy lines

Some parachuted in while others flew in on gliders, which were light-weight planes with no engines/gasoline that crashed intentionally near their targets to drop off the soldiers

The gliders reached their intended targets while the paratroopers missed on several occasions Disaster at Ste-Mere-Eglise

The Beaches of Normandy

Codenamed: Utah, Sword, Juno and Gold There was also Point-du-Hoc which was a

Cliffside that jutted out onto the beach, which soldiers had to climb while getting shot at

Many casualties were sustained, as the Germans had machine guns set up and shot at the soldiers as they ran across the beach

End Result

Allies suffered more casualties (12,000) than the Germans (9,000) but they forced them from the beaches and were able to take over their command centers

It was the largest invasion in modern military history until…

OPERATION MARKET GARDEN

The Allied Invasion of the Netherlands

Market: Air troopsGarden: Ground troops

So, Market Garden = an attack by AIR and LAND

Background

Invasion of the Netherlands Was an attempt by the Allies to “end the war

by Christmas” of 1944 Invasion occurred in September

Commanded by British Generals Montgomery and Frederick Browning, with help from Polish General Stanislaw Sosabowski

Combined 46,000 American and British troops (paratroopers and gliders) against a still unknown amount of Germans

Small amounts of Polish and Dutch troops went in for support

Goals & Problems

Goal: To capture and hold three very important

Dutch bridges in the towns of Eindhoven, Nimwegen, and Arnhem (“the prize”)

Punch a hole 64 miles deep behind German lines

While units were defending these bridges, an attack force led by Col. Joe Vandeleur was to travel up the only road and relieve each unit of their bridge

No one was expecting any resistance

Doomed from the start The Operation would have a very ironic

beginning Everything went wrong…even the radios

End Results

Complete disaster due to many different reasons The Arnhem unit which had 8,000 men suffered

nearly 2,000 killed while the rest were captured British recon planes had taken pictures BEFORE

the Operation, and saw tanks and soldiers, but Browning would not swallow his pride and call it off, saying the pictures were not evidence enough

Casualties Allies: 17,200 German: 6,000 (estimated)