In July 1943 the allies advanced towards Italy. The Italian leader Mussolini was sacked and the new Italian government made peace with the allies and quickly declared war on the Germans. But the Italian government only controlled Southern Italy; the Germans still controlled the North. Even though the German army was exhausted from fighting Russia, Hitler still sent troops to help fight the allies in the South of Italy. The allies slowly moved northwards to try and push the Germans out of Italy completely. Italy proved important to the allies as it kept German troops occupied when they were needed to resist the Russians.
In addition, when France invaded on the 6th June 1944, the Italian campaign became a containing operation. Allied troop strength was kept low but the holding forces were charged with keeping German troops diverted from the main theatre of war in Normandy. Meanwhile, the allies planned to attack Germany from the West opening up a second front. This meant that the troops had to land in occupied Normandy instead of Calais as it was less defended and the beaches were wider making it more accessible. The plan was called Operation Overlord. This invasion was decisive and the outcome of the war depended on its success. They believed that the time was now right as Italy had been eliminated, the u-boats had been brought under control and Allied air superiority achieved. D day was the name given to Operation Overlord was put into action. This was the day the Allies had been prepared for. Their ultimate long term aim was the liberation of France and unconditional surrender of Germany.
2)
Preparations for the landings were essential in order for them to suc ceed. The allies had to be able to land their troops faster than the Germans could reinforce their defences. The allies aircraft bombed the French coast and the French transport system to make the German troops movements more difficult. During the landings, the control of the air was very important so that they could drop parachutists to also bomb the German defences. It was also very important that the allies were well supplied. The allies frantically made aircrafts and weapons and brought men from around the world to make a large army. 4,500 vessels were assembled to transport troops across the channel. The vessels planned to meet together in the mid channel, in zone ‘z’ before splitting off towards the five mission beaches.
Security was vital, so the men were confined to base and communication with civilians was discouraged in case the plans for D-Day were leaked. The troops rehearsed the landings on replica beaches. Before the invasion, German radar stations were blocked to increase the risk of a surprise attack. However General Eisenhower put his faith into deception. He realised that the Germans were expecting an invasion but hoped to be able to deceive them about when and where the invasion would take place. The Germans had to be tricked into when the invasion would take place. The allies tried to make Hitler think that the attack would occur at Calais instead of Normandy.
The deception was attempted in a number of ways , a dummy army was built in Kent were blow up tanks and lorries were placed so that when the German planes flew over they would think that if the allies were in Kent the invasion would take place in Calais. The fake army put out a huge number of radio transmissions and created many news stories in order to add to the illustration of reality. Dummy landing craft also appeared in the Thames and near Kent. Airfields in Kent and Essex were filled with plywood aircraft. A double of General Montgomery was sent to Gibraltar to try to convince the Germans that a landing in South France or Spain was planned. Maps of possible invasion routes to Norway were also leaked to Germany.
The British arrested German spies operating inside and executed them; this led to most of the German spies working for the British. The British also produced bogus newspapers to spread false stories to the Germans.
In March 1943, Major General Percy Hobart was brought out of retirement to command a special formation, the 769th armoured division. He developed vehicles to overcome enemy obstacles called ‘Hobart funnies’. Two examples of these tanks are:
-
The DD Sherman Tanks: These were the amphibious tanks. It had a 75mm gun in a rotating turret.
-
The Crab: This was a tank which had a giant flail on a roller fitted to
the front of a Sherman tank.
The German defences concentrated around the main parts of France, especially Calais. It was therefore difficult for the allies to capture a port. The solution was, for portable harbours to transport tanks and supplies once the beaches were securely in allies hands. These harbours were called ‘Mulberry harbours’. The British and Americans co-ordinated the landings. The British would land in the East and the Americans would land in the West, then they would both advance inland from beaches. They hoped that the retreat to Paris would force the Germans to withdraw troops from the West allowing the Americans to secure Brittany and the allied forces to unite.
3)
After months of planning, the D-Day landings began on the 6th June 1944. The allies were successful as they had gained control of the beaches and some territory inland at the cost of fewer than 3,500 British, Canadian and American lives. The Germans failed to react
quickly to the allies landing as Hitler still believed that an invasion would occur at Calais. However the allies didn’t advance as quickly as they had expected too due to the bad weather. The Germans didn’t think that their enemies would launch an attack during the bad
weather so the allies had the advantage of launching a surprise attack.
On the 7th June, General Crocker decided that he wanted the
British and Canadian beaches to join together. This event was successful as they had captured all of the beaches.
Between the 10th and 16th June all of the Mulberry harbours had been completed and used. This was successful as the allies had transported all of their equipment onto the beaches, although it did take longer than they had expected it too.
On June 18th a storm broke out in the English Channel lasting four days. The allies were very unsuccessful as the bad weather had destroyed most of the Mulberry harbours. This limited the amount of men and equipment brought onto land. This was a serious setback for the allies. The sudden reduction in supplies, especially in ammunition forced Montgomery to postpone an imminent attack on Caen.
On June 25th, the Americans captured Port Cherbourg. This capture of a major port enabled the allies to commission Pipe Line Under The Ocean (PLUTO). This made it possible for them to pump fuel from The Isle Of Wight to Cherbourg. The allies were very successful as they had managed to capture a port making it easier for them to bring equipment on land.
On July 9th Caen was captured, but nearly 5,000 soldiers had been killed or wounded. The allies were successful as they had taken over Caen but the failure was that it had taken them between 4-5 weeks over the expected date to take over Caen. The allies wanted to take over Caen as it was a major town in Normandy.
On July 18th, Montgomery launched an attack to capture the bank on the River Orne and to clear the villages south of Caen. This was called Operation Goodwood. This battle was very fierce. On the first day 126 tanks and 1,500 men had been lost by the British. After just 72 hours Montgomery had to call it off. This had opened up the roads south of Caen. The allies were unsuccessful as they had to pull out.
On 7th August, Hitler attempted a counter attack, but this was stopped and the Germans were forced to retreat. However, Hitler ordered the Germans to resist where they were which was in Falaise. This area became known as the Falaise Pocket. It was attacked by a combination of British, American, Canadian, French and Polish troops. The allies were successful as Hitler’s counter attack had failed causing the Germans to retreat. The Falaise Pocket was very successful as the allies had successfully captured Falaise which was the centre of France. This then gave the allies a route to be able to recapture France as they were going to liberate Paris.
On the 25th August the Free French forces were allowed by the allies to liberate Paris. France was now freed.