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D‑Day was June 6, 1944, when Allied forces began its invasion of continental Europe in order to free it from Nazi (German) control.  On this day the Allied forces accomplished a massive landing of troops on the beaches of Normandy, France.American soldiers landed at Omaha, while the British and Canadian forces landed at Utah. The British and Canadians had a small struggle with German defenses. But things were different for the American forces that landed at Omaha. They were shelled by 88mm guns, raked by machine gun fire and had to go through mine feilds. The Germans fought hard, but they couldnt last forever. The Americans breached their defenses after several hours and took the bunker system set up by the Germans. Many men perished on the beaches on Normandy and many more were wounded.

D‑Day was June 6, 1944, when Allied forces began their invasion of continental Europe in order to free it from Nazi (German) control.  On this day the Allied forces accomplished the largest amphibious invasion in the history of Mankind on the beaches of Normandy, France.

 

The landings were originally scheduled for June 5th, but bad weather and heavy cloud cover forced General Eisenhower to postpone the attack.  The next day, the weather had not improved much, but the Allied commanders decided that a delay would be too costly.  So, starting before dawn, elite paratroopers landed in gliders behind enemy lines to take out critical gun emplacements.  American soldiers landed at Omaha and Utah beahces, while the British and Canadian forces landed at Sword, Juno, and Gold beaches. The British and Canadians had a small struggle with German defenses because of heavy bombardment by the Allied Navy. But things were different for the American forces that landed at Omaha. The shelling from the big guns was less accurate, and more fixed guns were left intact.  The landing craft were shelled by 88mm guns, raked by machine gun fire and had to go through mine fields.

 

Prior to the landings in Normandy, a huge deception campaign was started by the Allies.  Radio transmissions were deliberately allowed to be intercepted saying that the landings would be at Calais, not Normandy.  Also, on the days before the attack, squadrons of bombers dropped flakes of tin foil on the route to Calais to try to fool the German radar into thinking an Allied fleet was advancing toward Calais. The deception worked, becasue on the day of the actula invasion, much of the German's main army was held back in anticipation of the "real" invasion coming in Calais.

 

By sheer Allied luck, the German commanders were not at the front on the day of the invasion.  Rommel was back in Germany visiting his wife because he thought the Allies would be crazy to try an invasion in such terrible weather. German army doctrine also said to hold the Panzers in reserve several miles away from the beaches and allow the Allies to land, then pound them with the Panzers once the troops had landed. Even after the Allies had landed, Hitler, commanding from Berlin, held the main Panzer force in reserve because he thought that the landings in Normandy were a diversion and the real invasion would come in Calais.

 

The Normandy invasion signalled the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany, and the Allies would be slowed very little once the main force had landed.  The day would be remembered in years to come as the "Longest Day".

 

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