Reasons for DDay

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Reasons for D-Day
? starter activity
Stalin wanted a second front in Europe to ease
the pressure on his troops fighting in East
Allies had already won victories in North Africa
(1942) and Italy (1943)
France had been occupied since 1940, the time had
come to liberate the country
Since 1942 US troops equipment steadily
building up in Britain
General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied
Forces
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Reasons for D-Day
? starter activity
Stalin wanted a second front in Europe to ease
the pressure on his troops fighting in East
Allies had already won victories in North Africa
(1942) and Italy (1943)
France had been occupied since 1940, the time had
come to liberate the country
Since 1942 US troops equipment steadily
building up in Britain
General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied
Forces
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Could you manage to stage your own D-Day?

• Planning Operation Overlord, 6th June 1944

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? Your task
Task sheet

• D-Day, 6 June 1944, marked the start of the
  allied invasion of Europe, the greatest
  amphibious operation in history. Code-named
  OVERLORD, this vast cross-Channel attack enabled
  the United Kingdom, the United States and their
  allies to land substantial forces on mainland
  Europe and defeat the enemy in battle. Your task
  is to imagine you are a military general planning
  the invasion of Europe. Have you got what it
  takes to land your troops and break through the
  German defences?

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• You need to gather your troops and supplies near
  departure zone. How do you conceal them so they
  wont be spotted by German reconnaissance planes?

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Operation Fortitude

• US troops, vehicles, supplies arrive in southern
  England
• Training
• Deception operation FORTITUDE
• Bombing
• Reconnaissance

Table showing build up of US troops in UK

• January 1942 4,000
• July 1942 80,000
• January 1943 120,000
• July 1943 240,000
• January 1944 930,000
• May 1944 1,500,000

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• Which site do you choose for the invasion? Calais
  is much nearer but heavily defended. Normandy
  Brittany are further away, but there is more
  chance of getting past the German defences.

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• Calais too heavily defended
• Normandy relatively near, but less well defended
• Coastline more suitable for landing invasion army
  equipment
• Germans expecting Allies to land in Calais

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• Once you have chosen your landing site, how do
  you deceive the Germans into thinking you are not
  going to land there?

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• Allied bombing of Calais intensified
• Misinformation decoys e.g. Man Who Never
  Was
• 9 separate major decoy operations including, e.g.
  Operation Titanic (10 SAS paratroopers simulated
  major invasion of Boulogne)
• RAF dropped foil strips to blind German radar

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• There are only a few days to go now until D-Day.
  With so many people involved, how do you stop
  news of your invasion plans leaking out?

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• Soldiers restricted to military bases
• Leave cancelled
• News blackout
• Movement around coastline restricted
• Crossword in Telegraph contained many Overlord
  codewords

US troops in Portsmouth before D-Day, aka The
Longest Day
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• You arrive at the beaches and find they are
  heavily defended with mines, barbed wire and
  anti-tank weapons. How do you get your troops
  ashore with the minimum number of casualties?

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Bridge tanks

• Aerial bombardment
• Landings at low tide
• Hobarts funnies - Swimming, bridge flail
  tanks
• Infantry follow behind armoured vehicles
• Heavy machinery, e.g. bridge-laying

Swimming tanks
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Sherman flail tank
Diagram showing Allied invasion strategy
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• Your troops have landed, but they need constant
  supplies of weapons, food and fuel. How do you
  manage to maintain your supplies throughout the
  heavy fighting?

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• Mulberry harbours
• Pluto undersea fuel pipeline

Mulberry harbours
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• You are facing heavy resistance from the Germans.
  How do you break through and push towards your
  primary objective Berlin?

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• Build-up of Allied troops equipment
• Air superiority used to attack German positions
• Resistance fighters disrupted communications
  destroyed supplies
• Strategic cities besieged, e.g. Caen

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• August 1944 Paris liberated
• September 1944, Allies reached Rhine
• December 1944, Ardennes counter-offensive
• Soviets pushing in from East, Germans retreat
  through Italy
• 30th April 1945 Hitler commits suicide in Berlin