Operation Overlord: The Great Crusade

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Operation OverlordThe Great Crusade
Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied
Expeditionary Force You are about to embark upon
the great crusade toward which we have striven
these many months. The eyes of the world are upon
you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving
people everywhere are with you
General Dwight D. Eisenhower June 6th 1944
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Beginning before dawn on the morning of June 6th
1944, the largest amphibious invasion ever
attempted would become a reality. The plan, -The
best laid plans of mice and men was to
overwhelm German defensive positions with sheer
numerical superiority engaging them from the sea
and from the air. The ultimate target was
Cherbourg from there, the allies hoped to
inflict significant losses on the Germans forcing
them from there strongholds and out of France.
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The Supreme Allied Commander
Eisenhowers genius lay in his ability to blend
the combined forces of the Americans, English and
the Free French. Some have said that the invasion
was a logistical disaster whereupon nothing went
as planned. On the other hand, given the task at
hand, Eisenhower performed admirably amidst
ghastly losses of personnel and materials, all of
which Eisenhower had forewarned. British
commander, Bernard Montgomery, was a cautious
individual who worked closely with U.S. General
Dwight Eisenhower planning and implementing the
D-Day invasion of France. In September 1944,
Montgomery was made a field marshal--the highest
rank in the British Army.
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The Seven Soldiers of Normandy
In addition to American Army Infantryman, the
expeditionary force included paratroopers,
commandos, Canadian infantryman, British Navy
personnel and American Fighter pilots. German
resistance came primarily from grenadiers and
Wehrmacht infantryman. Because of the chaos
inherent in such a diverse invasion, mixed units
would be patched together as need required.
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German Defensive Positions
The so called Atlantic Wall (German defensive
fortifications) was formidible. The beaches of
Normandy were littered with posts, ramps and
hedgehogs. The Germans were intent on slowing
the long suspected allied invasion making it
possible for the Wehtmacht to repel enemy forces
before a foothold could be established. Bunkers
were placed strategically along the shoreline
from which machine-gun fired could suppress an
amphibious assault. The Wehrmacht was also
supported by inland artillery designed to inflict
heavy losses on landing forces.
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The Landing Begins
In the invasion's early hours, more than 1,000
transports dropped paratroopers to secure the
flanks and beach exits of the assault area.
Amphibious craft landed some 130,000 troops on
five beaches along 50 miles of Normandy coast
between the Cotentin Peninsula and the Orne River
while the air forces controlled the skies
overhead. In the eastern zone, the British and
Canadians landed on GOLD, JUNO and SWORD Beaches.
The Americans landed on two beaches in the
west--UTAH and OMAHA. Tales of nervous tension
abound frightened, sea-sick, reeling with fear
and anxiety, many allied soldiers would never
even see the beach having been toppled from their
landing craft and drowned.
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The Fighting Begins!
The greatest of challenges lay ahead overcoming
the obstacles prepared by the Germans, evading
machine gun fire, keeping the action on your
weapon clear, wading through tumultuous seas,
cold, wet, panicky.just make it to the beach.
Literally a blur of activity lay all around you.
Men drowning in the surf, bullets whirring by,
ordinance exploding all around on the beach, move
forward, stay low, fight. Get to the rally point.
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Air Superiority
Whatever the bombing campaign may or may not
have accomplished in destroying enemy resources,
it did contribute directly to the D-Day success.
Large bomber formations were aerial magnets that
drew up the Luftwaffe to be destroyed by the
American fighter force. Allied air power was so
overwhelming that the defeat of Allied intentions
on the ground never threatened disaster, only
delay, and that only in the early stages, well
compensated later. But let us be quite clear
about it what made the ultimate victory possible
was crushing air power. John Terraine
(Historian)
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Securing the Beachhead
when I awoke the next morning, I saw the
invasion fleet lying off the shore. Ship beside
ship. And without a break, troops, weapons,
tanks, munitions and vehicles were being unloaded
in a steady stream. German Infantryman (Anon.)
The beachhead secured at Normandy served
as a supply station, a military hospital, a
headquarters for allied operations and as symbol
of allied military might. Meanwhile, work had
been proceeding pell-mell to complete the two
artificial harbours, known by their code name,
Mulberry. The outer breakwater of sunken ships
was in place by June 11. The floating piers were
half-finished by June 19, when a heavy storm
destroyed much of the material. The Americans
then decided to abandon their Mulberry, while the
British harbour was not in use until July. Most
supplies meanwhile had to be beach-landed.
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Cherbourg Falls
The Wehrmacht had been swept from the
beaches. In fact, the Germans were also
depressed, for their bitter defense was using up
men and equipment that could not be replaced.
Moreover, the Americans were now able to profit
from the deployment of most of the enemy's armour
against the British to break into the base of the
Cotentin Peninsula and advance on Cherbourg. The
last bastion in the heavily fortified city fell
on June 28, and clearance of the port began at
once.
From here on the allies encountered stiff German
resistance en-route to driving them out of France
and back into the Fatherland. Hitler would
order a counterattack in the Ardenne Forest. The
Battle of the Bulge would be repelled and the
complete destruction of the Nazi war machine
would not be far behind.