The Allies immediately began moving supplies on D-Day. As a Beach Master, it was Alfred's job to keep vehicles, troops and supplies moving in the landing zone. Until they could capture a major port, the Allies had to rely on two artificial floating harbours to supply the invasion force.
These were built in sections and towed across the Channel for final assembly at the main beachheads. It remained in service for 10 months, allowing 2. Listen to him describing his experiences of the Battle for Normandy after landing on D-Day.
The Allies had air superiority, more men and greater resources. By late June, the Allies had established a solid bridgehead. The Germans were being worn down just holding the line.
The Allies had complete air superiority and their aircraft took a heavy toll on the enemy. On 26 June, the Americans captured the port of Cherbourg. Moving inland, the British and Canadians made slow progress around Caen. But the Germans were forced to commit their best troops and most of their tanks to hold them back.
Caen was finally captured after fierce fighting in July, during which the town was almost totally destroyed. This victory allowed the Americans to break out on 31 July around Avranches. Despite being almost surrounded by the Allies, Hitler refused to allow his forces to retreat. He ordered a German counter-attack towards Mortain on 7 August.
But without adequate air support, they had little chance of success. The Germans soon found themselves trapped in a shrinking pocket at Falaise, where they suffered heavy casualties from Allied artillery and air attacks. While many of their soldiers managed to escape, 60, German soldiers were killed or captured. They built dummy equipment - including inflatable tanks - parachuted dummies, used double agents and released controlled leaks of misinformation which led the Germans to believe the Allies were going to invade via the Pas-de-Calais and Norway.
The Germans took the bait so much that even after D-Day they held many of their best troops in the Calais area expecting a second invasion. By more than two million troops from more than 12 countries were in Britain preparing for the invasion. The officers organising the operation were very particular about the timing of D-Day. They wanted a full moon with a spring tide so they could land at dawn when the tide was about half way in - but those kind of conditions meant there were only a few days that could work.
They chose to invade on 5 June, but ended up delaying by 24 hours because of bad weather. In fact, the forecast was so bad that the German commander in Normandy, Erwin Rommel, felt so sure there wouldn't be an invasion he went home to give his wife a pair of shoes for her 50th birthday.
Thousands of French civilians also died. None of his generals dared order reinforcements without his permission, and no-one dared wake him. Crucial hours were lost in the battle to hold Normandy. When Hitler did finally wake up, at around 10am, he was excited at news of the invasion - he thought Germany would easily defeat the Allies.
The following year, Allied plans for a cross-Channel invasion began to ramp up. Hitler charged Rommel with finishing the Atlantic Wall, a 2,mile fortification of bunkers, landmines and beach and water obstacles. In the months and weeks before D-Day, the Allies carried out a massive deception operation intended to make the Germans think the main invasion target was Pas-de-Calais the narrowest point between Britain and France rather than Normandy.
In addition, they led the Germans to believe that Norway and other locations were also potential invasion targets. Many tactics were used to carry out the deception, including fake equipment; a phantom army commanded by George Patton and supposedly based in England, across from Pas-de-Calais; double agents; and fraudulent radio transmissions.
Eisenhower selected June 5, , as the date for the invasion; however, bad weather on the days leading up to the operation caused it to be delayed for 24 hours. On the morning of June 5, after his meteorologist predicted improved conditions for the following day, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead for Operation Overlord.
The eyes of the world are upon you. Later that day, more than 5, ships and landing craft carrying troops and supplies left England for the trip across the Channel to France, while more than 11, aircraft were mobilized to provide air cover and support for the invasion. By dawn on June 6, thousands of paratroopers and glider troops were already on the ground behind enemy lines, securing bridges and exit roads. The amphibious invasions began at a. According to some estimates, more than 4, Allied troops lost their lives in the D-Day invasion, with thousands more wounded or missing.
Less than a week later, on June 11, the beaches were fully secured and over , troops, more than 50, vehicles and some , tons of equipment had landed at Normandy. For their part, the Germans suffered from confusion in the ranks and the absence of celebrated commander Rommel, who was away on leave. At first, Hitler, believing the invasion was a feint designed to distract the Germans from a coming attack north of the Seine River, refused to release nearby divisions to join the counterattack.
The Allies continue to drop paratroopers into France, with more than 13, deployed by morning. An additional 4, troops fly in on gliders. Approximately members of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion are among the paratrooper force. The sun rises, and the landing operation is fully underway. The Allied battleships stop firing as their landing boats approach the shore at a. German forces pepper the landing boats with gunfire, killing scores of Allied troops before they can reach the beach.
The landing ships are tightly packed together, and they suffer heavy casualties under the German assault. Nevertheless, the Allies manage to land their troops, and the fight for the beaches begins. The Allies deploy amphibious tanks on the beaches of Normandy to support the ground troops and sweep for defensive mines.
American troops face heavy machine-gun fire on Omaha Beach, the most heavily fortified landing point of the invasion. Approximately 2, U.
The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. American troops turn the tide of battle at the Omaha landing point, with warships backing them up at sea.
And what a plan! After sleeping through the morning, Adolf Hitler wakes up and learns of the attack. He remains convinced the landings are a decoy and that the real invasion will come at Calais. He refuses to reassign his army to defend Normandy. British and American forces, including those at Omaha, take control of their beaches as well. The Allies bring in tanks, tend to the wounded and clear away mines on the beaches.
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