D-Day was the codename given to the Allied landing operations in Normandy, northern France as a part of Operation Overlord, the invasion of German-occupied Europe during World War II. D-Day occurred on 6 June 1944, and it was the largest seaborne invasion in history, with ships from over a dozen Allied countries ferrying 156,000 Allied troops across the English Channel to take five beaches: Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah, and Omaha.
Background[]
By the end of May 1944, the Allied Powers were ready to launch Operation Overlord, their long-planned invasion of Normandy. The Allies intended to land at five beaches to the east of the Cotentin peninsula on 5 June, but it was clear by 3 June that a depression was en route from the Atlantic, making conditions unfavorable for a seaborne operation. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces for the invasion of Europe, decided to postpone the invasion by 24 hours until the weather improved. Soon after dusk fell on 5 June 1944, two Royal Air Force (RAF) bomber squadrons flew over the Straits of Dover and Boulogne, dropping strips of aluminum foil to produce a picture on German radar screens of an invasion fleet heading for the Pas de Calais. Other bombers flew over the Cotentin Peninsula dropping dummy parachutes and devices to simulate small-arms fire to the south of where two US airborne divisino were to land. This deception campaign, codenamed "Operation Bodyguard", was key in ensuring that the Germans were deployed to the Pas de Calais instead of Normandy.
Operation[]
Airborne landings[]
Preceded by pathfinders to mark the drop zones on the ground, the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions began to jump from their aircraft at 1:30 AM on 6 June 1944. Their task was to secure the area west of Utah Beach to the Merderet River and block German reinforcements from moving to the beach. High winds and misinterpreted signals from the pathfinders resulted in very scattered drops, and the paratroops were disoriented upon landing; they mostly formed mixed units with other scattered paratroops. They nevertheless took the Germans by surprise, allowing for the 101st to secure some of the exits from Utah as the 82nd took the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, which would prove critical during the next 48 hours. However, the 82nd was unable to seize crossings over the Merderet River.
At the eastern end of the Allied landing area, the British 6th Airborne Division had a similar task, landing between the Dives and Orne Rivers, secuirng bridges over both, and providing a shoulder for the troops landing on Sword Beach. The British paratroops experienced the same problems as the Americans over scattered drops, but five out of six gliders full of infantry landed in precisely the right spot, near the Orne River and Caen Canal bridges, which were captured intact. The British paratroops also captured a caostal battery at Merville, saving the landing forces at Sword from facing serious resistance.
The bombing of Normandy
Meanwhile, the RAF Bomber Command and US Air Force attacked the coastal batteries of the Atlantic Wall. Low cloud made accurate bombing difficult, so the Allied navies moved in to bombard the batteries. By 2:00 AM, minesweepers were hard at work, and battleships, monitors, and cruisers set anchor 11,000 yards offshore, while destroyers were anchored 5,500 yards from the shore; bombers laid a smokescreen before the ships, guided by spotter planes, fired onto the coastal batteries. The Germans opened fire first, engaging two destroyers off Utah at 5:05 AM, and the bombardment groups set about pulverizing defenses. The assault troops now began to scramble down the netting on the sides of their transport vessels and into the flat-bottomed landing craft that pitched in the rough seas alongside. Many men had been seasick during teh crossing, and few had much sleep. They were about to embark on the largest and most ambitious seaborne invasion in history.
American landings[]
A German machine-gunner firing at American troops at Omaha Beach
Utah Beach was the responsibility of General J. Lawton Collins' US VII Corps, which faced 1.5 mile-long beach that was backed by a sea wall. Just one German battalion defended the beach, with one other in support. The 101st Airborne secured some of the partially flooded area and the causeways behind the sea wall, assisting the ground froces. The initial bombardment dazed the German defenders and cut their communications to the rear, and the American troops would have it easy during their assault on Utah. While they were forced to wade through 100 yards of water before reaching dry land, march 2,000 yards northward to take Utah (as they had landed south of Utah due to a combination of current and smoke), and advance without the cover of tanks for four miles, they managed to make contact with the paratroops and secure the correct beach. A German gun line on a low but dominant ridge caused some difficulties, but the Americans took the beach at a cost of just 200 men.
The other American beach, the 6-mile Omaha Beach, proved to be a very different proposition. At high tide, it consisted of a narrow strip of shingle backed by a sea wall, behind which was a 200-yard-wide plateau with an antitank ditch. To the rear there were cliffs with numerous strongpoints on top. It was also defended by two German regiments, the strongest held of all the beaches. Just 3 miles to the west, a battery on Pointe du Hoc covered the beach from the flank. The US 1st Infantry Division planned to assault the beachhead with two regimental combat teams and swimming tanks, but almost all the swimming tanks supporting the teams on the right were drowned in the heavy swell. Many landing craft were wrecked by underwater obstacles and others were swampled, so most of the supporting artillery never made it to the beach. Many infantrymen found themselves shoulder-deep in water, and some drowned while weighed down by their equipment, while others were massacred by machine-gun fire from the German strongpoints on the cliffs. Many officers trying to gather their men were shot, and few radios worked because they had become impregnated with seawater. The tide restricted the Americans to a narrow strip of shingle, and they were slaughtered for hours. However, they eventually managed to burn out the German defenders, holding a beachhead 1,000 yards deep by nightfall. At the same time, 150 US Army Rangers assaulted Pointe du Hoc, only to find that the guns had been removed, and they were subjected to German counterattacks for 48 hours. The Americans heroically defended the cliffs, repelling the German attacks and holding out until reinforcements arrived.
British and Canadian landings[]
British troops at Sword Beach
Men of the 50th Northumbrian Infantry Division began to land at Gold Beach at 7:25 AM, five minutes before the stipulated time. Resistance on the beachhead was patchy, and the defenses within the village of Le Hamel were the main problem; it took most of the day to reduce them. By the end of the day, the division had nearly reached the town of Bayeux.
Juno Beach was the target of the 3rd Canadian Division, with its tanks landing before the infantry. The air and naval bombardments had largely silenced the coastal batteries, but they had not had much effect on the strongpoints, and there were fierce battles to subdue them. The landing of follow-up waves of troops caused congestion on the beach, but the Canadians had advanced within 1.5 miles of the Carpiquet Airfield and had linked up with the 50th Division on their right.
The final beach, Sword Beach, was assaulted by the British 3rd Infantry Division, whose goal was to capture the city of Caen. The British faced heavy German fire, but they got ashore and were off the beaches by 8:30 AM. A commando force was moved swiftly to relieve the glider-borne troops holding the bridge over the Caen Canal, but the main body was held up by beach congestion, and its supporting tanks arrived late. The Allies faced obstinate resistance from a German strongpoint that lay on the route to Caen, but the British reached a village 2.5 miles north of Caen by 4:00 PM, thirty minutes before the Germans counterattacked.
German counterattack[]
Gerd von Rundstedt, the German commander-in-chief, had a reserve of four panzer divisions, but Adolf Hitler insisted that three of the divisions could not be deployed without his position. The 21st Panzer Division, however, was scattered around the Caen area after being deployed between the Orne and Dives rivers, and it was ordered to counter the landings on Sword. At 4:30 PM, the division launched a counterattack at Sword, but its attack was repulsed; one panzergrenadier battalion managed to advance through the gap between the Canadian 3rd and British 3rd Divisions, and it withdrew only through fear of being cut off by reinforcements for the 6th Airborne. Allied airpower also prevented the arrival of reserve panzer divisions at the beachhead, allowing for the Allies to establish beachheads across Normandy. By the end of D-Day, the Allies had landed 150,000 men at a cost of 9,000 casualties, far fewer than expected. The Germans had been caught by surprise, and they failed to prevent any of the landings from taking place; they were also still convinced that there would be landings in the Pas de Calais, tying down the German 15th Army.