maveRick
06-06-2002, 02:53 PM
"Soldiers, Sailers and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, towards which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere are with you."
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
June 6th, 1944 D-Day
http://www.dday.org/
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Since 1942 British Intelligence had been gathering as much information as possible, looking for a suitable landing ground for the Liberating forces, one of the main priorities being, that the landing beaches had to be in range of fighter air cover from southern England. The shortest and most accessible point was the Pas de Calais, this would give the allies a very short supply line indeed. The Germans under the command of Field Marshall Von Rundstedt also came to this conclusion, and therefore concentrated on reinforcing the Atlantic wall defences in this area.
The Pas de Calais was such an obvious landing area, the Allies decided against it, and went for their other location:- Normandy.
It was agreed that five landing beaches, covering a distance of 40 miles would be used. Five divisions would attack in the first wave, with four more divisions landing in the following 24 hours.
The Americans would land on the beaches which lay either side of the River Vire estuary, these were codenamed, "OMAHA" and "UTAH"
The British and Canadians would land on the eastern beaches which stretched to the River Orne estuary. These would be codenamed, "SWORD" "JUNO" AND "GOLD"
Erwin Rommel, Monty's old adversary was given command of Army Group B in July 1943, taking over the defence of Belgium and northern France in December that year. Rommel was of the opinion that the likely invasion site would be at the Pas de Calais and he personally supervised the construction of the Atlantic Wall.
He knew that whenever and wherever the invasion force landed, it had to be defeated on the landing beaches, that was imperative. He had obstacles constructed on the beaches the full length of the Normandy coast, these were designed to rip the bottom out of any landing craft, and many did.
The obstacles that were positioned on the landing beaches, were designed so that landing craft approaching at high tide would not see them. Some of them had mines attached, the result of hitting these was catastrophic and many men died never reaching the beach.
Rommel realized that an invasion of the beaches would also be accompanied with a massive airborne assault, he had areas of land flooded to hinder the progress of airborne troops, this was very successful for him, as many of the troops perished in these swamp areas, laden down with heavy equipment and ignorant of the trap.
ROMMEL KNEW THE FIRST TWENTY FOUR HOURS WERE VITAL FOR BOTH SIDES AS HE TOLD HIS MEN "IT WILL BE THE LONGEST DAY"
After years of meticulous planning and seemingly endless training, for the Allied Forces, it all came down to this: The boat ramp goes down, then jump, swim, run, and crawl to the cliffs. Many of the first young men (most not yet 20 years old) entered the surf carrying eighty pounds of equipment. They faced over 200 yards of beach before reaching the first natural feature offering any protection. Blanketed by small-arms fire and bracketed by artillery, they found themselves in hell.
When it was over, the Allied Forces had suffered nearly 10,000 casualties; more than 4,000 were dead. Yet somehow, due to planning and preparation, and due to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the Allied Forces, Fortress Europe had been breached.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
June 6th, 1944 D-Day
http://www.dday.org/
---------------------------------------------
Since 1942 British Intelligence had been gathering as much information as possible, looking for a suitable landing ground for the Liberating forces, one of the main priorities being, that the landing beaches had to be in range of fighter air cover from southern England. The shortest and most accessible point was the Pas de Calais, this would give the allies a very short supply line indeed. The Germans under the command of Field Marshall Von Rundstedt also came to this conclusion, and therefore concentrated on reinforcing the Atlantic wall defences in this area.
The Pas de Calais was such an obvious landing area, the Allies decided against it, and went for their other location:- Normandy.
It was agreed that five landing beaches, covering a distance of 40 miles would be used. Five divisions would attack in the first wave, with four more divisions landing in the following 24 hours.
The Americans would land on the beaches which lay either side of the River Vire estuary, these were codenamed, "OMAHA" and "UTAH"
The British and Canadians would land on the eastern beaches which stretched to the River Orne estuary. These would be codenamed, "SWORD" "JUNO" AND "GOLD"
Erwin Rommel, Monty's old adversary was given command of Army Group B in July 1943, taking over the defence of Belgium and northern France in December that year. Rommel was of the opinion that the likely invasion site would be at the Pas de Calais and he personally supervised the construction of the Atlantic Wall.
He knew that whenever and wherever the invasion force landed, it had to be defeated on the landing beaches, that was imperative. He had obstacles constructed on the beaches the full length of the Normandy coast, these were designed to rip the bottom out of any landing craft, and many did.
The obstacles that were positioned on the landing beaches, were designed so that landing craft approaching at high tide would not see them. Some of them had mines attached, the result of hitting these was catastrophic and many men died never reaching the beach.
Rommel realized that an invasion of the beaches would also be accompanied with a massive airborne assault, he had areas of land flooded to hinder the progress of airborne troops, this was very successful for him, as many of the troops perished in these swamp areas, laden down with heavy equipment and ignorant of the trap.
ROMMEL KNEW THE FIRST TWENTY FOUR HOURS WERE VITAL FOR BOTH SIDES AS HE TOLD HIS MEN "IT WILL BE THE LONGEST DAY"
After years of meticulous planning and seemingly endless training, for the Allied Forces, it all came down to this: The boat ramp goes down, then jump, swim, run, and crawl to the cliffs. Many of the first young men (most not yet 20 years old) entered the surf carrying eighty pounds of equipment. They faced over 200 yards of beach before reaching the first natural feature offering any protection. Blanketed by small-arms fire and bracketed by artillery, they found themselves in hell.
When it was over, the Allied Forces had suffered nearly 10,000 casualties; more than 4,000 were dead. Yet somehow, due to planning and preparation, and due to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifice of the Allied Forces, Fortress Europe had been breached.