Five years had passed since World War Two began, the Allies had no control in Western Europe, the Germans were able to focus all troops on the Eastern Front where Russia was being pushed back through their vast country. The Allied forces needed a victory in a big way, the pressure on the Russians must be relieved, the only way to do this was to force Germany to fight a war on two fronts, the Eastern Front towards Russia, and the Western front towards France. The Allies decided on Normandy, France as the location for their assault across the English Channel. The Normandy Invasion, if successful, would be the first time the Allies had a hold of any territory in Western Europe since France had been invaded in 1940. The Allies launched the largest amphibious assault in history at Normandy, accompanied by an airborne assault to slow down German troops from reinforcing the front. The United States was the largest Allied force both in naval vessels and in man power. The US First Army divisions that were on the beaches were the 1st Infantry Division, the 29th and 4th Infantry Divisions, and the 2nd and 5th Ranger divisions. The paratrooper divisions involved were the 101st and the 82nd Airborne Divisions. It was essential that the Allies had a firm grasp on land in Western Europe to launch an offensive through France, forcing the Germans to split forces and fight a war on two fronts. In order for this invasion to go off without a hitch the area had to be in ruins to create havoc and to make troop transfer for reinforcements virtually impossible. Bombers would bomb Normandy in order to do this also, paratroopers would be dropped behind enemy lines to help create more havoc and slow the advance of German reinforcements, this would make it a far easier landing for the infantry divisions landing at 6:30 am the following morning. Eventually, the Allies established a beachhead on the beaches of Normandy. The next goal before a true offensive through France could be headed was to clear out the remaining forces in Normandy. Once this task was completed, nothing stood in the way of the Allies spearheading through France.
The Allied forces had needed a foothold in Western Europe ever since France was occupied, the Normandy Invasions, officially known as “Operation Overlord”, would give the Allies a stepping stone into removing German influence from Europe and eventually invading Germany itself. The allies had failed on multiple occasions on trying to achieve a presence in Europe. An attempted invasion of Sicily blew up in the Allies face due to poor ability to execute the mission by troops and their commanders. The Allies deceived the Germans, making them think that invasion was coming in both Norway and the Pas De Calais, which kept regions such as Normandy vulnerable due to lack of reinforcements. The German spies were fed false information about the impending invasion, the communications that the Germans thought was real Allied communication and was all fake saying that forces were being amassed to attack in Norway and the Pas De Calais in France. British agents part of ULTRA, an intelligence unit, cracked German code and discovered that their spies believed an invasion was coming at the Pas De Calais. This false information birthed Operation Fortitude, Fortitudes mission was to continue to make the Germans believe that an invasion was coming at the Pas De Calais and in Norway to freeze troops there. Fortitude was very effective in keeping German troops heavily defending both locations and leaving Normandy far weaker in comparison, making the invasion much easier than it was initially thought to be.
The invasion was the largest scale ever assembled, and the Allies knew this was their one shot at getting a hold in Europe. Therefore, the planning that went into Operation Overlord was meticulous. The invasion was planned months in advance knowing that an invasion by the allies on European soil. It would turn out to be the largest scale military invasion of all time from top to bottom, including use of oil to troop count in the invasion. In order for this invasion to go off without a hitch, the area must be in ruins to create havoc and to make troop transfer for reinforcements virtually impossible. Bombers would bomb Normandy in order to do this. Also, paratroopers would be dropped behind enemy lines to help create more havoc and slow the advance of German reinforcements. This would make it a far easier landing for the infantry divisions landing at 6:30 am the following morning. The Americans pushed an Allied assault of Normandy until the rest of the Allies agreed upon this. The advantage to an attack like this was that once the first German line of defense was broken, France would be fairly easily retaken due to the Germans using lower quality troops to defend areas throughout the country.
Operation Overlord was set to attack along the “Atlantic Wall”, which was a line of defenses and bunkers along the entire French coast to deter any attack. The Allies brought their armada of ships along with its landing crafts and soldiers ready for the assault. The impending invasion formally set to go off on June 5th was pushed back due to complications with the weather, making it too hard to make it to shore safely. The fleet of ships was the largest naval force ever assembled in the modern era. German general Erwin Rommel was in charge of constructing the “Atlantic wall”, which was a series of heavily fortified bunkers overlooking every beach on the English Channel. The beaches were covered in defenses like barbed wire, anti tank stakes, and mines. German general Erwin Rommel was in charge of constructing the “Atlantic wall”, which was a series of heavily fortified bunkers overlooking every beach on the English Channel. The beaches were covered in defenses like barbed wire, anti tank stakes, and mines. Rommel himself knew that if the Allies were to invade and breach the “Atlantic wall”, then the Germans would be easily routed. Their only line of defense would be broken and the soft underbelly of the Germans would be exposed, which was the undertrained troops stationed as reserves in France.
The loss of life on the beach was brutal, however the Germans were lulled to sleep by the rumored assault coming at the Pas De Calais. The worst casualties came at Omaha beach, where the Germans put up a vigorous defense and utilized their bunkers put up during the construction of the “Atlantic Wall”. In the Journal of Captain Alastair Bannerman he stated, “D-Day is over. It was a day which I can never forget. What pictures, what sounds! An accumulation of extraordinary emotions when one fantastic adventure followed the other.” D-Day was a traumatic event for many, and a triumphant event for others, but the one thing that they all have in common is that they will never forget it.
The scene on the beaches were pure hell, especially at Omaha beach where American troops met the toughest resistance. A report following D-Day said, “obstacles wherever they landed and with whatever equipment and explosives they could salvage. Some of the teams arriving a few minutes late found the rapidly advancing tide already into the lower obstacles. Infantry units landing behind schedule or delayed in starting up the beach came through the demolition parties as they worked, and thereby impeded their progress. One of the three doers left in operation was prevented from maneuvering freely by riflemen who tried to find shelter behind it from the intense fire. As a final handicap, there were instances where teams had fixed their charges, were ready to blow their lane, and were prevented by the fact that infantry were passing through or were taking cover in the obstacles.” The landing could have been far better planned, and there was no coordination between Infantry, Navy, and Armor as to who was supposed to be where. It is a miracle that this did not totally cripple the invasion. In the diary of Sidney J. Montz he wrote, “Planes lit up the beaches, AA Fire starting, Flares dropping, beautiful sight but it scares the hell out of you. All Hell Broke loose from the beach, some boats hit by 88. We are near beach + 88 opened up on the boat on our right + almost hit us. Some boats hit land mines, lucky we landed because much more we would have sunk- water still rough. Jumped out in waist deep water, about 500 or 600 yds from seawall, the longest I have ever seen in my life. MG, mortar, + artillery fire around us. Finally in shallow water + able to run, had to miss all types of obstacles in + out the water.” What Montz saw on D-Day puts into perspective the sheer chaos that occured on the beaches of Normandy on that fateful day. Without the courage of men like Montz the outcome of the battle could have been different which would have changed the course of the war.
When the beaches were cleared and a beachhead was created, the Germans fell back to small towns and houses to hinder the Allied advance throughout Normandy. This lasted months, filled with skirmishes before Normandy was secured by the Allies. From the day of the invasion to August 21st, 226,386 casualties were recorded of the 2 million men deployed. This led people to believe that the massive loss of life could have been prevented with better planning or a different type of invasion. Before the invasion, key capture points were set to ensure Allied victory, and the most important of these capture points was Caen. Caen was the perfect place for a base that deployed both armor, and aircraft, as well as troops. Caen was also a critical crossroads where an allied transportation hub could be created, expediting troop and supply transport.
After the Allies had established a solid foothold in Normandy, their next goal was to eliminate German presence in France for the first time since 1940. Following the invasion the German troops put up a vigorous defense throughout the bocage of Normandy which were easily defended. British troops were locked in a fight that was going nowhere on the eastern side, but this gave the Americans a chance to breakout in the west eventually encircling the remaining Germans.The Allies had the Germans on their heels as they pushed them back all the way up through France towards the heart of Germany. After Paris was liberated in August, 1944 the Germans had no confidence and launched many unsuccessful counter offensives such as “The Battle of the Bulge” which was barely fought off by Allied troops. On August 25th, 1944 allied troops finally liberated Paris after months of fighting through France.
The fact that Germany had to fight a two front war was a crushing realization to their high command, as they now had to split their already depleted forces in two parts to defend from both the Russians, and the Americans, British, and Canadians. The Normandy invasion crippled the German defense; they created a two headed monster with the Russian offensive to the east and a British and American offensive to the west. Hitler now had to split his forces in order to adequately defend both fronts. The invasion was the straw that broke the camel's back, since once the invasion took place, the Germans would be on the permanent defensive until the end of the war. The Allies had the German Army on their heels as they pushed them back through France. An Allied victory soon became apparent as General Omar Bradley planned to pinch the retreating German Army. The location of this pinch was between Trun and Chambois called the “Falaise Gap” where American and Canadian forces would squeeze the Germans to finally achieve total victory in France. The “Falaise Gap” was closed on August 21st and was the turning point of the war in which the Allies could start an offensive into long held German territory.
The Germans were now on their heels, being pushed back further and further while all attempted counter offensives were futile, and the Allies had their eyes set on an invasion of Germany and the end of the war. This was a swift turn of the tables for the Nazi Regime, and Hitler himself, and they were now on the defensive this was the beginning of the end of them. The Atlantic wall had failed the Germans. With their line of defense broken, all the Germans could do was attempt to slow down the Allied advance. They were able to do this for two months and once the Allies broke through in August, the end had begun for the Third Reich, and they knew it.
Some oppose that D-Day did in fact win World War Two, it is believed that Allied air superiority and the American’s vast mass production capabilities for armaments. When he was interviewed and asked how the Allies won the war Hitler’s Foreign Minister displayed that the reasons for Allied victory were, the Allies success in the air, and America’s ability to mass produce all military necessities. Operation Pointblank created absolute Allied air supremacy to the point of the Germans were only able to send two fighters in defense of the entire D-Day invasion. The German air force, known as the Luftwaffe was being absolutely dominated by the Allies due to the fact that the Allies had the ability to mass produce aircraft while the Germans had no support in the air. The Luftwaffe put up little to no resistance throughout the Allied invasion and offensive, twenty six of German aircraft were shot down by Allied air over France during the offensive. If this is true no Allied foothold would have been needed in Europe to win the war, which could have saved an astronomical amount of lives.
The Allies had their foot on the throat of the Third Reich, storming their way through Europe attempting to end the war by Christmas. Following the invasion it would be a whole year before Allied victory would be achieved, the Germans would be on their heels for that entire year, yet still fought fiercely. They defeated Operation Market Garden in Holland which could have ended the war if the Allies had succeeded. However they couldn’t be pushed back forever before total hope could be lost, this happened after the triumphant Allied victory at the Battle of the Bulge. The Allies crossed into Germany over the Rhine River for the first time in the war on March 23rd, 1945, this was the breaking point for Germany. The fighting at the Rhine was heavy between the defending German troops and the two Allied airborne divisions that dropped on the banks of the river, the Germans were eventually overwhelmed and the Allies were headed into the heart of Germany. The Allies fought their way through the hedgerows of France, and eventually into Germany after incredible loss of life and sacrifice. Once the Allies reached the Rhine the final push had begun to win the war. The pressure on the Russian front had been relieved by the Allied invasion and offensive, and now that Germany was forced to fight a war on two different fronts they were squeezed to the breaking point, and surrendered on May 7th, 1945.
After writing this paper I feel as if I have been apart of World War Two myself. The vivid accounts of the battle that I read and the massive casualties that occured on the beaches of Normandy and beyond all the way till the end of the war are sickening, but show the great sacrifice that it took for the Allies to win the war. D-Day was the victory that the Allies needed to prompt the offenses that would follow which would eventually win the war. After writing this I also look back and see how true my thesis is, that once the Allies forced Germany to fight on two fronts they crumbled.I really enjoyed my topic and reading and learning more about it and the great courage that the Allies displayed in putting an end to the wrongdoing of the Axis Powers.