September 21, 2024 | by Unboxify
As dawn crept over the horizon, a flotilla of landing craft streamed towards the coast. The smell of cordite and diesel hung like a cloak over the English Channel, irritating the nostrils of the men huddled together in the many small boats pitching and rolling in the heavy swell. In just a few short hours, they would participate in the largest amphibious invasion in history. For many, this was just another fight, but for a select few brave souls, it would be the first time they had set foot in Europe since the humiliating evacuation at Dunkirk. The Second Battle of France was about to begin.
By May of 1944, Allied supremacy in the Mediterranean theater remained frustratingly elusive. Hopes had been high after successful campaigns in North Africa and Sicily but were quickly dashed during the invasion of mainland Italy. Progress abruptly halted at the heavily fortified Gustav Line, and Hitler’s veteran troops showed no signs of retreat or surrender. The Allied planners finally got the green light to open their second front after years of careful deliberation. The invasion of Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord, was finally commencing.
The Allied units involved in Operation Overlord consisted of the American 1st Army and the British 2nd Army under the overall command of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Each army was assigned to one or more of the five Normandy landing sites: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword, and Juno. Over 140,000 men would be involved in the initial attack, set to hit all beaches simultaneously in the early hours of June 5th. However, due to poor weather conditions, the invasion was launched on June 6th.
Facing every landing army were the formidable defenses of the Atlantic Wall, which had thus far proved almost immune to Allied air raids and was manned by roughly 50,000 German soldiers. Although a naval bombardment two hours before the landings managed to crack open a few of the German bunkers, several heavy guns remained intact, opening fire on the approaching landing craft.
Despite setbacks, British soldiers rushed the entrenched German positions equipped with nothing but their small arms. MG 42s shredded whole platoons as they disembarked, and the Germans were unable to repel the armored vehicles that started to make it ashore. A vehicle eventually silenced the deadly 88-millimeter gun pounding all morning. Between the two British landing sites was Juno Beach, where Canadian soldiers demonstrated resilience and bravery.
US forces had a rocky start. The amphibious tanks sent with the first wave of infantry couldn’t handle the heavy seas, and only 2 out of 29 made it to the beaches. A lack of heavy armament meant the infantry couldn’t advance easily, and many were slaughtered attempting to cross the barren stretch of sand between the shore and the enemy bunkers.
Looming over the American landing zones was La Pointe du Hoc, a 100-foot promontory housing a network of German bunkers and as many as six massive 155-millimeter case-mated guns. Soldiers of the 2nd and 5th Army Ranger battalions conducted a valiant assault on this enemy stronghold.
At 8:30 a.m., the first German counter-attack struck Omaha, the most heavily contested of the five landing zones. Several more followed throughout the day, the most notable occurring at 4:00 p.m. when the 21st Panzer Division, the only armored unit within range, rocketed through the vulnerable corridor between Juno and Sword. This was the worst-case scenario for the Allies, who lacked firepower to deal with this new threat.
In April 1944, Allied planes began an intense bombing campaign against German positions in France. With the Luftwaffe occupied in the East, Allied aircraft outnumbered their Axis counterparts by more than thirty to one. The bombing campaign was as much about misdirection as destruction. Operation Fortitude was designed to convince the Germans that the Allies would land in northeastern France.
Troops needed to be inserted behind enemy lines to further disrupt the German response. Three airborne divisions, one British and two American, were scheduled for an early morning drop during the invasion.
British paratroopers captured and held two heavily defended bridges against repeated German tank and artillery attacks. One location was later renamed Pegasus Bridge in honor of the British paratroopers. American divisions also destroyed or captured several bridges, further delaying the German response.
As D-Day drew to a close, thousands of Allied soldiers lay dead, with precious little to show for their sacrifices. Although they had pushed several miles inland, only Gold and Juno beaches had linked up successfully. The other beaches, especially Omaha, were still very exposed. Allied planners had optimistically assumed that several towns would be under siege by this point. Instead, they found they could not hope to hold the beaches against a determined assault.
A week later, British reinforcements launched Operation Epsom with the aim of capturing Caen, defended by a full eighth of Panzer divisions, including two battalions of Tiger tanks. The British were repulsed on June 30th after achieving modest gains, causing tension at Allied headquarters, especially around Bernard Montgomery, who conceived of Epsom.
The Germans were also suffering from their own supply shortages, with the war in the East taking priority above all else. Many of the 60 or so divisions of Army Group B stationed in northern France were severely understrength and lacked heavy equipment. Allied bombardment and sabotage by the French Resistance disrupted German communications and prevented the massing of Panzers into a decisive force.
The Canadians finally captured the Carpiquet airfield on July 9th, but the British couldn’t capitalize on this success and spent most of July unsuccessfully attacking the defenses of Caen.
Meanwhile, in western Normandy, the Americans worked their way west, taking the strategically important St. Lo heights. On July 30th, they initiated Operation Cobra, aimed at breaking through German lines and advancing south. This operation saw intense Allied air support performing danger-close missions against fortified German positions outside Cherbourg.
The Allied advance into Brittany enabled dangerous encirclement possibilities for the Germans defending Caen. The infamous July plot further complicated the German defense as several top-ranking officers attempted to assassinate Hitler and sue for peace. Field Marshal Rommel’s involvement forced him to take his own life when the plot collapsed on July 20th.
George Patton’s newly arrived Third Army spearheaded the push into Brittany, capturing key towns in the first week of August. German forces mounted a heavy but ultimately unsuccessful counter-attack against American units, leading to a devastating Allied ambush that shifted the tide of the battle.
While all eyes were on Normandy, another massive battle brewed on the Western Front: the invasion of southern France, known as Operation Dragoon. Initially planned to coincide with Overlord, logistical concerns delayed its execution.
The French resistance initiated large-scale sabotage campaigns, officially recognized as the French Forces of the Interior (FFI). Their efforts included blowing up bridges, cutting power lines, and attacking isolated German units, all coordinated with Allied commandos.
On August 15th, the Allied invasion commenced with air raid sirens and a naval bombardment on German positions. While Alpha and Delta beaches fell with minimal resistance, Camel Beach saw stubborn German defense. Despite these difficulties, Allied casualties were relatively light.
As the Allies in the north approached Paris, the German garrison attempted to quell a large-scale French uprising. Knowing their time was limited, the German governor eventually surrendered the city rather than destroy it, allowing General Charles de Gaulle to lead a triumphant parade through Paris.
Hundreds of thousands of German troops, bolstered by Field Marshal Model’s strategic withdrawals, awaited the Allied advance at the Siegfried Line. This vast defensive work, comparable to the Atlantic Wall, would resist Allied advances until the collapse of the Nazi regime in 1945.
From the beaches of Normandy to the liberation of Paris, the Allies demonstrated unparalleled bravery and strategic brilliance. Although the path was fraught with obstacles, the combined efforts of American, British, and Canadian forces, along with the invaluable contribution of the French Resistance, set the stage for Germany’s eventual defeat. Yet, the story did not end there. As autumn approached, attention would shift towards the Siegfried Line and a relentless push into the German fatherland, marking the beginning of the end for Hitler’s Third Reich.
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