D-DAYD-DAYMr. Goddard | PLUSH | May 2009Mr. Goddard | PLUSH | May 2009

WHAT YOU ARE LEARNINGWHAT YOU ARE LEARNING

• 11.7.2 Understand the U.S. and Allied wartime strategy, including battles of Midway, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge.

• Specifically in this case Normandy• D-Day June 6th 1944.

TOPIC OVERVIEWTOPIC OVERVIEW

1. The planning phase and build-up2. D Day,the securing of the beachhead and

the break-out from Normandy

THE FURTHEST EXTENT OF HITLER’S THE FURTHEST EXTENT OF HITLER’S EMPIRE IN 1942EMPIRE IN 1942

SECTION 1: THE PLANNING PHASESECTION 1: THE PLANNING PHASE• 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.

THE RAID ON DIEPPE (19.8.42)THE RAID ON DIEPPE (19.8.42)

LESSONS LEARNEDLESSONS LEARNED• The Dieppe raid had a major influence on the

planning for D Day.• The Americans would not commit to an invasion

until they had ensured the following:• Overwhelming force was assembled• Air superiority over the invasion zone• The Americans resisted strong political pressure

from the USSR to launch a second front in 1943.• The American troop build-up in Britain continued

rapidly in 1943-44, as did the intensity of air raids on Germany.

Roosevelt knew the risks of the invasion. He resisted Stalin’s pressure for an early launch of the second front. This delay was the cause of much bitter feeling between the Russians and Americans.

AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES SENT TO AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES SENT TO ENGLAND BEING UNLOADED FROM A ENGLAND BEING UNLOADED FROM A LIBERTY SHIP.LIBERTY SHIP.

AIR RAIDS IN PREPARATION FOR D AIR RAIDS IN PREPARATION FOR D DAYDAY

• 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.

• The Normandy region was bombed, but less heavily.

OPERATION FORTITUDEOPERATION FORTITUDE• 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. (In fact there were no German spy planes over England in 1944)

FORTITUDE – AN INFLATABLE RUBBER FORTITUDE – AN INFLATABLE RUBBER TANKTANK

FORTITUDE – CANVAS AIRCRAFTFORTITUDE – CANVAS AIRCRAFT

FORTITUDE- FAKE RADIO SIGNALS FORTITUDE- FAKE RADIO SIGNALS •

Enormous amounts of ‘fake’ wireless messages were transmitted relating to possible invasion plans in the Calais region in the hope the Germans would believe them.

AGENT ‘GARBO’AGENT ‘GARBO’

The British Secret Service (SIS) managed to infiltrate a double agent in to the German intelligence apparatus.

Agent Garbo (Juan Pujol Garcia) passed false intelligence to the Germans leading them to believe the invasion would come in the Pas de Calais region of France.

Normandy was the best kept secret of the war.

Hitler expected the invasion here in the Pas de Calais

Normandy

THE MAQUISTHE MAQUISThe French resistance (Maquis) assisted the preparations for D Day by disrupting French railways and causing other acts of sabotage to the telegraph and telephone system.

Such acts brought terrible retribution on the local populations.

JUNE 1944JUNE 1944

• The timing was now favourable for an invasion

• The U boats had been defeated

• The German air force was largely grounded for lack of fuel.

Hitler’s Festung Europa (fortress Europe)

THE ATLANTIC WALLTHE ATLANTIC 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.

Von Rundstedt with Hitler and at his trial at Nurenberg.

ATLANTIC WALLATLANTIC WALLFrom 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.

Despite gaps in the line, the defences were formidable in some places.

German blockhouse on the island of

Jersey.

The remains of a German blockhouse today.

The wall was complex

Rommel inspects anti-tank defences on a French beach.

General Eisenhower

General Montgomery

‘Operation Overlord’ planning meeting.

Admiral Ramsay

Leigh-Mallory

Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower gives a pep talk to American paratroopers the evening before D Day.

•

Southampton docks

Landing Craft

WORWAR022.WMVWORWAR022.WMV

THE REAL GOAL WAS LATE IN THE REAL GOAL WAS LATE IN COMINGCOMING

The capture of Cherbourg was a key objective. It was not captured until the end of June and was badly damaged.

The Allies could not risk launching the invasion without a useable port.

They constructed an artificial harbour which could be towed across the channel.

Sections of a Mulberry Harbour today in Normandy.

Towed to France in sections the Mulberry Harbours allowed the Allies to unload supplies until Cherbourg was captured.

Section 2: D day and the breakout from Normandy

The troops spent up to four hours in the landing craft and most were violently seasick.

American troops on Omaha Beach, scene of the heaviest fighting and over 5,000 US deaths on D Day.