battle of normandy wwii

D-Day

June 6th, 1944

D-Day

June 6th, 1944 Subrajit BasuSubrajit BasuSubrajit BasuSubrajit Basu

AgendaAgendaAgendaAgenda

•Introduction to World War II

•key events of the war

•Introduction to D-Day

•Plan

•Landings

•Conclusion

World War IIWorld War IIWorld War IIWorld War II

• WWII was a global military conflict

• Involved most of the world’s nations including all great powers

• Divided into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis

• Involved more than 100 million military personnel

• Over 70 million casualties majority of whom were civilians

World War II World War II Contd..Contd..World War II World War II Contd..Contd..

• Four main Allied powers were US, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union

• Three main Axis powers were Germany, Italy and Japan

• War began on 1st September 1939 and ended on 2nd September 1945

Key EventsKey EventsKey EventsKey Events

On 1st Sept. 1939 Germany invades Poland

Britain and France declare war on Germany 2 days later

By 1940 German “Blitzkrieg” overwhelms Belgium, Holland and France

However, British are able to defeat Germany in the war on Britain

In 1941, Hitler begins Operation Barbarossa – the invasion of Russia

Key Events Key Events Contd..Contd..

Key Events Key Events Contd..Contd..

In 1941, Allies defeat Germany in North Africa

In the same year Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, US enters war

By 1942, German suffers setback in the battle of Stalingrad

Allies attack Italy and takes over south Italy

Battle of Battle of NormandyNormandyBattle of Battle of

NormandyNormandy

Hitler’s empire Hitler’s empire 19421942

Hitler’s empire Hitler’s empire 19421942

PlanningPlanningPlanningPlanning Preparations for a ‘second front’ against

Nazi Germany date back to 1942.

The Allies knew they would have to capture a port to ensure the success of the invasion of France.

A ‘dress-rehearsal’ took place in 1942 when a British-Canadian raid on the port of Dieppe was carried out.

The aim was to capture and hold a French port for a short period to test German defences.

The raid was a total disaster: of the 6,086 men who made it ashore, 4,384 were killed.

Planning: Air Planning: Air RaidsRaids

Planning: Air Planning: Air RaidsRaids

The British and Americans began bombing targets in occupied France in preparation for D Day.

The French railway system came under continuous attack.

Raids were concentrated in the Calais region to mislead the Germans in to believing that was the intending invasion area. Calais region was the nearest port from England.

The Normandy region was bombed, but less heavily.

Hitler expected the invasion here in the Pas

de Calais

Normandy

D-day Leaders (Allies)D-day Leaders (Allies)D-day Leaders (Allies)D-day Leaders (Allies)

Gen. Omar Bradley US

Lt. Miles Dempsey Br.

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower US

Gen. George

S. Patton US

Marshall Montgomery

Br.

General Spaatz US

Operation Operation FortitudeFortitudeOperation Operation FortitudeFortitude

The Allies began a massive deception of operation to conceal the intended landing zone.

A massive build-up of fake armies and equipment was concentrated in Kent to fool the Germans in to thinking Calais was the intended target.

Canvas and rubber tanks were assembled to confuse any German aerial reconnaissance aircraft.

Inflatable Inflatable rubber tankrubber tankInflatable Inflatable

rubber tankrubber tank

Fortitude: Fortitude: Canvas Canvas AircraftAircraft

Fortitude: Fortitude: Canvas Canvas AircraftAircraft

Atlantic WallAtlantic WallAtlantic WallAtlantic Wall

Despite all Allied efforts, the Germans obviously expected an Allied invasion somewhere in France.

Hitler appointed two of his ablest Generals, Gerd Von Rundstedt and Erwin Rommel to take charge of strengthening the French coast line from attack.

From Norway to the South of France the Germans built up a defensive line against the expected invasion.

Tens of thousands of Russian POWs were put to work to construct elaborate defences.

The line was by no means complete or evenly spread by the time of D Day.

Normandy Normandy LandingsLandings


Landing operations of the Allies on the beaches of Normandy

Operation also known as Operation Neptune or Operation Overlord

Landings commenced on Tuesday, 6th of June 1945 at 600 hours.

Landing was planned for 5th of June but had to be delayed because of bad weather

In planning, D-Day was the term used for the day of actual landing, which was dependent on final approval.



Assault conducted in two phases

Air assault landing 24000 American, British and Canadian troops shortly after midnight

Amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France commencing at 6:30 AM

Largest amphibious invasion of all time, with over 175,000 troops landing on 6 June 1944. 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved

Beaches Beaches attackedattackedBeaches Beaches attackedattacked

Sword Beach: Attacked by British troops

Juno Beach: Attacked by Canadian troops

Gold Beach: Attacked by British troops

Omaha Bach: Attacked by US troops

Pointe du Hoc: Attacked by US troops

Utah Beach: Attacked by US troops

General Overview General Overview of Invasionof Invasion

General Overview General Overview of Invasionof Invasion

Air LandingsAir LandingsAir LandingsAir Landings On June 5th 21:00 hours 82nd and 101st

airborne division got ready for the big jump Behind Enemy Lines.

The paratroopers flew over the English Channel and got dropped in Normandy.

Their main aim was sabotaging enemy equipment lines in-order to take pressure off the advancing beach forces.

Because there was so much anti-aircraft fire the paratroopers had to jump early and off-target.

They were inexperienced in facing anti-aircraft fires and missed drops causing a great amount of deaths.

Air Landings Air Landings Contd..Contd..

Air Landings Air Landings Contd..Contd..

Most of the deaths happened when the paratroopers tried to squeeze through the narrow doors and as a result lost their sense of balance and composure

At 0500 hours the bombars started to drop bombs on the Normandy coast.

Because the cloud covers were so thick, the bombers released their bombs too late and they failed off target.

If the bombers had followed their orders and released their bombs on schedule (atleast 2 secs prior), the bombings would have had a greater impact.

Amphibious Amphibious Landings Landings

Amphibious Amphibious Landings Landings

A little after daybreak, 4,000 transports, 800 warships, and an unknown number of smaller boats arrived at the beaches of Normandy with the US and British armies.

Sword BeachSword BeachSword BeachSword Beach

Assault began at about 03:00 with an aerial bombardment of the German coastal defences and artillery sites.

The naval bombardment began a few hours later.

The regular British infantry came ashore with light casualties.

They had advanced about 8 kilometres (5 mi) by the end of the day

Juno BeachJuno BeachJuno BeachJuno Beach

The Canadian forces faced 2 heavy batteries of 155 mm guns and 9 medium batteries of 75 mm guns, machine-gun nests, other concrete fortifications, and a seawall twice the height of the one at Omaha Beach.

The first wave suffered 50% casualties, the second highest of the five D-Day beachheads.

Despite the obstacles, the Canadians were off the beach within hours and beginning their advance inland.

Gold BeachGold BeachGold BeachGold Beach

At Gold Beach, the casualties were also quite heavy

This was partly because the swimming Sherman DD tanks were delayed, and the Germans had strongly fortified a village on the beach.

However, the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division (UK) overcame these difficulties and advanced almost to the outskirts of Bayeux by the end of the day.

Omaha BeachOmaha BeachOmaha BeachOmaha Beach

Omaha was the most heavily fortified beach.

The beach was defended by mortars, machine guns, and artillery, and the pre-landing aerial and naval bombardment of the bunkers proved to be ineffective.

Difficulties in navigation caused the majority of landings to drift eastwards, missing their assigned sectors and the initial assault waves of tanks, infantry and engineers took heavy casualties.

Of the 16 tanks that landed upon the shores of Omaha Beach only 2 survived the landing.

Omaha Contd..Omaha Contd..Omaha Contd..Omaha Contd..

The official record stated that within 10 minutes of the ramps being lowered, the company had become inert, leaderless and almost incapable of action.

Every officer and sergeant had been killed or wounded. It had become a struggle for survival and rescue.

Only a few gaps were blown in the beach obstacles, resulting in problems for subsequent landings.

Omaha Contd..Omaha Contd..Omaha Contd..Omaha Contd..

Commanders (including General Omar Bradley) considered abandoning the beachhead, but small units of infantry, along with naval artillery and surviving tanks eventually infiltrated the coastal defences.

Further infantry landings were able to exploit the initial penetrations

American casualties at Omaha on D-Day numbered around 5,000 out of 50,000 men, most in the first few hours, while the Germans suffered 1,200 killed, wounded or missing.

Pointe Du HocPointe Du HocPointe Du HocPointe Du Hoc

At Pointe du Hoc, the task for the 2nd Ranger battalion (James Earl Rudder) was to scale the 30 meter (100 ft) cliffs under enemy fire and grenades with ropes and ladders, and then destroy the guns there.

The beach fortifications themselves were still vital targets since a single artillery forward observer based there could have called down accurate fire on the U.S. beaches.

The Rangers were eventually successful, and captured the fortifications.

They then had to fight for 2 days to hold the location, losing more than 60% of their men.

Utah BeachUtah BeachUtah BeachUtah Beach Casualties on Utah Beach, were the

lightest of any beach, with 197 out of the roughly 23,000 troops that landed.

The 4th Infantry Division troops landing at Utah Beach found themselves in the wrong positions because of a current that pushed their landing craft to the southeast.

This resulted in their landing in an area which was lightly defended, and as a result, relatively little German opposition was encountered.

The 4th Infantry Division was able to press inland relatively easily and much faster than expected

D-Day: Turning D-Day: Turning the Tide of Warthe Tide of WarD-Day: Turning D-Day: Turning the Tide of Warthe Tide of War Invasion of Normandy was the decisive

Allied victory that turned the tide of World War 2.

Success of the invasion was necessary for the Allies to launch an attack to liberate France.

Allies moved permanently to the offensive as the armies marched through Europe to liberate the other conquered nations.

However, D-day was such a risk in Eisenhower's mind that he had prepared a letter to be released to press that Operation Overlord was a failure.

What if the Invasion of What if the Invasion of Normandy had failed?Normandy had failed?What if the Invasion of What if the Invasion of Normandy had failed?Normandy had failed?

Had the invasion failed, the repercussion would have been both shocking and devastating:

The war in Europe would have lasted at least a year longer than it did.

The longer the war lasted, the more Jews that would have been executed, probably wiping out the last of them.

The atomic bomb, created in the summer of 1945, would have been used on Germany first instead of Japan.

What if the Invasion of What if the Invasion of Normandy had failed?Normandy had failed?

A destroyed Germany would have allowed an opportunity seeking Russian army to role right through Europe, leaving Communism in their wake.

What if the Invasion of What if the Invasion of Normandy had failed?Normandy had failed?What if the Invasion of What if the Invasion of Normandy had failed?Normandy had failed?

A failure at Normandy could have even lead to the Germans prevailing in the war.

A surrender could have been agreed upon with most of Europe remaining under fascist control.

PhotosPhotosPhotosPhotos

PreparationPreparationPreparationPreparation

Eisenhower meeting Eisenhower meeting soldiers before the soldiers before the missionmission

Eisenhower meeting Eisenhower meeting soldiers before the soldiers before the missionmission

Soldiers waiting to Soldiers waiting to move inmove inSoldiers waiting to Soldiers waiting to move inmove in

I remember seeing all the dead bodies littering the beach. Some were killed on the first landing. They were fodder for the Germans gun. Others were washed in by the tide where their boats had been caught.

- Sr. Bernard Morgan

Taxis to Hell – and Back Taxis to Hell – and Back – Into the Jaws of Death– Into the Jaws of DeathTaxis to Hell – and Back Taxis to Hell – and Back – Into the Jaws of Death– Into the Jaws of Death

Fatalities Fatalities Fatalities Fatalities

10,264 10,264 Allied and Allied and American American troops deadtroops dead

VEVE Day: May 8th 1945Day: May 8th 1945VEVE Day: May 8th 1945Day: May 8th 1945

CreditsCreditsCreditsCredits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Normandy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/

http://www.britannica.com/dday/article-236190

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BStJAW-5m48









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