Introduction
June 6, 1944 will be remembered for many reasons. Some may think of it as a
success and some as a failure. The pages following this could be used to prove either one.
The only sure thing that I can tell you about D-Day is this: D-Day, June 6, 1944 was the
focal point of the greatest and most planned out invasion of all time.
The allied invasion of France was long awaited and tactfully thought out. For
months the allied forces of millions trained in Britain waiting for the Supreme Commander
of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, General Eisenhower to set a date. June 6, 1944 was to
be the day with the H-hour at 06:30. Aircraft bombed German installations and helped
prepare the ground attack. The ground forces landed and made their push inland. Soon
Operation Overlord was in full affect as the allied forces pushed the Germans back towards
the Russian forces coming in from the east. D-Day was the beginning and the key to the
fight to take back Europe.
Preparations for D-Day
Operation Overlord was in no way a last minute operation thrown together. When
the plan was finalized in the spring of 1944 the world started work on preparing the
hundreds of thousands of men for the greatest battle in history.
By June of 1944 the landing forces were training hard, awaiting D-Day. 1,700,000
British, 1,500,000 Americans, 175,000 from Dominions (mostly Canada), and another
44,000 from other countries were going to take part.
Not only did men have to be recruited and trained but also equipment had to be
built to transport and fight with the soldiers. 1,300 warships, 1,600 merchant ships, 4,000
landing craft and 13,000 aircraft including bombers, fighters and gliders were built. Also
several new types of tanks and armoured vehicles were built. Two examples would be the
Sherman Crab flail tank and the Churchill Crocodile.
On the ground Britain assembled three armoured divisions, eight infantry divisions,
two airborne divisions and ten independent fighting brigades. The United States had six
armoured divisions, thirteen infantry and two airborne divisions. With one armoured
division and two infantry divisions Canada also contributed greatly with the war effort
especially when you look at the size of the country at the time. In the air Britain's one
hundred RAF squadrons (1,200 aircraft) paled in comparison to the one hundred and
sixty-five USAAF squadrons (2,000 aircraft).
The entire Operation Overlord was supposed to go according to Montgomery's
Master Plan which was created by General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery. His plan was
initiated by a command system which connected the U.S. and Britain and helped them
jointly run the operation. His plan was to have five divisions act as a first wave land on the
sixty-one mile long beach front. Four more divisions as well as some airborne landings
would support the first wave. The beaches of Normandy would be separated into five
beaches, codenamed, from west to east Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The
Americans would invade the two westernmost beaches, being Utah and Omaha and the
British and it's Dominions would take Gold, Juno and Sword. The Canadians were nearly
the entire force to land on Juno beach. The operation was also coordinated with various
French resistance groups called the "Secret Army."
The naval plans were to transport the allied expeditionary forces, help secure and
defend a beachhead, and to help setup a method of constant resupplying of allied forces.
Operation Overlord, in short, was as follows: The airforce would be used to knock
out German defences and immobilize their forces, blowup tanks and other dummies were
used to fool Germans into thinking the invasion was coming at Pas de Calais, the navy
would transport the troops while doing whatever it can to help them gain ground, and
enough of France would be liberated and held by allied forces so that they would not be
pushed back into the sea.
Utah Beach
Utah beach was a stretch of beachfront approximately five miles long and located in
the dunes of Varreville. Like most beach attacks that day, the planned attack time was
06:30 or H hour. As early as 02:00 (H-4:30) the preparations for attack were being made
as minesweepers started working at creating a safe path for allied battleships, frigates,
corvettes, etc. At about 02:30 the flagship for Utah beach was in place and the order was
given for the landing crafts to be loaded and placed into the water. The four waves of
troops were ready to go and the German radar had not spotted any buildup of ships.
The first gunfire occurred at daybreak when some ships were spotted and fired
upon by coastal guns. 276 planes, all B-26 Marauder's flew in to drop their payload of
4400 bombs on the targets. Almost all missed and nearly a third fell onto the beaches and
into the sea, far away from their targets. Although some guns were silenced the poor
accuracy of the aircraft was costly and would turn out to be only one of the many errors
made by the allied forces.
At 06:30 the first of the troops landed, the 8th and 4th infantry missed the correct
beach and landed 2,000 yards away on what turned out to be a less heavily defended beach.
This mix up was blamed on smoke and rough seas. These first troops were all part of the
twenty landing craft, each carrying thirty men that made up the first wave. After the first
wave came the 32 amphibious tanks. The second wave of troops consisted of 32 craft
carrying combat engineers and a naval demolition team. Dozer tanks would make up the
third wave. Long after the securing of the beach 2 engineer battalions arrived.
This may sound like all the divisions made it easily to shore but that is not true.
June 6, 1944 will be remembered for many reasons. Some may think of it as a
success and some as a failure. The pages following this could be used to prove either one.
The only sure thing that I can tell you about D-Day is this: D-Day, June 6, 1944 was the
focal point of the greatest and most planned out invasion of all time.
The allied invasion of France was long awaited and tactfully thought out. For
months the allied forces of millions trained in Britain waiting for the Supreme Commander
of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, General Eisenhower to set a date. June 6, 1944 was to
be the day with the H-hour at 06:30. Aircraft bombed German installations and helped
prepare the ground attack. The ground forces landed and made their push inland. Soon
Operation Overlord was in full affect as the allied forces pushed the Germans back towards
the Russian forces coming in from the east. D-Day was the beginning and the key to the
fight to take back Europe.
Preparations for D-Day
Operation Overlord was in no way a last minute operation thrown together. When
the plan was finalized in the spring of 1944 the world started work on preparing the
hundreds of thousands of men for the greatest battle in history.
By June of 1944 the landing forces were training hard, awaiting D-Day. 1,700,000
British, 1,500,000 Americans, 175,000 from Dominions (mostly Canada), and another
44,000 from other countries were going to take part.
Not only did men have to be recruited and trained but also equipment had to be
built to transport and fight with the soldiers. 1,300 warships, 1,600 merchant ships, 4,000
landing craft and 13,000 aircraft including bombers, fighters and gliders were built. Also
several new types of tanks and armoured vehicles were built. Two examples would be the
Sherman Crab flail tank and the Churchill Crocodile.
On the ground Britain assembled three armoured divisions, eight infantry divisions,
two airborne divisions and ten independent fighting brigades. The United States had six
armoured divisions, thirteen infantry and two airborne divisions. With one armoured
division and two infantry divisions Canada also contributed greatly with the war effort
especially when you look at the size of the country at the time. In the air Britain's one
hundred RAF squadrons (1,200 aircraft) paled in comparison to the one hundred and
sixty-five USAAF squadrons (2,000 aircraft).
The entire Operation Overlord was supposed to go according to Montgomery's
Master Plan which was created by General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery. His plan was
initiated by a command system which connected the U.S. and Britain and helped them
jointly run the operation. His plan was to have five divisions act as a first wave land on the
sixty-one mile long beach front. Four more divisions as well as some airborne landings
would support the first wave. The beaches of Normandy would be separated into five
beaches, codenamed, from west to east Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The
Americans would invade the two westernmost beaches, being Utah and Omaha and the
British and it's Dominions would take Gold, Juno and Sword. The Canadians were nearly
the entire force to land on Juno beach. The operation was also coordinated with various
French resistance groups called the "Secret Army."
The naval plans were to transport the allied expeditionary forces, help secure and
defend a beachhead, and to help setup a method of constant resupplying of allied forces.
Operation Overlord, in short, was as follows: The airforce would be used to knock
out German defences and immobilize their forces, blowup tanks and other dummies were
used to fool Germans into thinking the invasion was coming at Pas de Calais, the navy
would transport the troops while doing whatever it can to help them gain ground, and
enough of France would be liberated and held by allied forces so that they would not be
pushed back into the sea.
Utah Beach
Utah beach was a stretch of beachfront approximately five miles long and located in
the dunes of Varreville. Like most beach attacks that day, the planned attack time was
06:30 or H hour. As early as 02:00 (H-4:30) the preparations for attack were being made
as minesweepers started working at creating a safe path for allied battleships, frigates,
corvettes, etc. At about 02:30 the flagship for Utah beach was in place and the order was
given for the landing crafts to be loaded and placed into the water. The four waves of
troops were ready to go and the German radar had not spotted any buildup of ships.
The first gunfire occurred at daybreak when some ships were spotted and fired
upon by coastal guns. 276 planes, all B-26 Marauder's flew in to drop their payload of
4400 bombs on the targets. Almost all missed and nearly a third fell onto the beaches and
into the sea, far away from their targets. Although some guns were silenced the poor
accuracy of the aircraft was costly and would turn out to be only one of the many errors
made by the allied forces.
At 06:30 the first of the troops landed, the 8th and 4th infantry missed the correct
beach and landed 2,000 yards away on what turned out to be a less heavily defended beach.
This mix up was blamed on smoke and rough seas. These first troops were all part of the
twenty landing craft, each carrying thirty men that made up the first wave. After the first
wave came the 32 amphibious tanks. The second wave of troops consisted of 32 craft
carrying combat engineers and a naval demolition team. Dozer tanks would make up the
third wave. Long after the securing of the beach 2 engineer battalions arrived.
This may sound like all the divisions made it easily to shore but that is not true.
