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The primary Allied assault came with dawn. The largest armada ever assembled brought the invasion force to the Normandy beaches. The invasion armada had 200 ships which pounded the German positions. The landing force was under the command of Montgomery and totaled 130,000 men. The British and Canadian forces were the British Second Army under Miles C. Demsey. The American forces were the U.S. First Army under Omar Bradley. After dawn at 6:30 am came British, Canadian, and American landings on five Normandy beaches. The landing forcec faced Element C, ramps, and hedgehog obstacles. Fighting was intense, but the beacheads were quickly established, except at Utah Beach where the issue was in doubt until the afternoon. Many of the D-Day casualties occurred at Omaha Beach.The British struck on the left at Sword. Sword was the most difficult British beach. They encountered heavy German mortar and machinegun fire. The British, however, managed toi get their DD tanks shore which plyed a key role in supressing the beach defenses. The Canadians at Juno fought their way shore and quicky and succeded in landing tanks to move inland. The British at Gold were also able to quickly land tanks and move off the beach. As the Germans did not have their armour deployed close to the beach the American armour played a key role in the engagements establishing the beachhead. The Americans were on the right at Omaha and Utah. Omaha proved to be the most deadly. The beach fronted on 100 ft cliffs cut by four ravines. Hardened German positions and a sea wall provided cover for machine gun and motor fire that desimated the landing force. Most of the American tanks failed to make it to the beach and the first wave had little armour support against whithering fire from still in tact beach defenses. Here the issue was in doubt for several hours. The beach was littered with dead and wounded soldiers. Bradley for a time considered abandoning the beach. American destroyers came in close to provide covering fire and somehow small units made it up the cliff and overpowered the German defenders. The Americans at Utah landed at the wrong location. It proved to be lightly defended. Many of the deffending units were Ost Battalions, non-Germans drafted into the Wehrmacht. They readily surrendered or ran. The Americans on Utah quickly moved inland and the paratroopers dropped earlier made it impossible for the Germans to oppose the landings at Utah. The key to Overlord proved to be Allied airpower and the airboorne which made it impossible for the Germans to reinforce the beach defenses. The landings were a complete surprise, an incredible accomplishment for an operation of this size. Part of the reason was the weather, another the German assessment that the invasion would come at the Pas de Calais.
The primary Allied assault came with dawn. The largest armada ever assembled brought the invasion force to the Normandy beaches. The invasion armada had 200 ships which pounded the German positions. The landing force was under the command of Montgomery and totaled 130,000 men.
The British and Canadian forces were the British Second Army under Miles C. Demsey. The American forces were the U.S. First Army under Omar Bradley. After dawn at 6:30 am came British, Canadian, and American landings on five Normandy beaches.
The landing forcec faced Element C, ramps, and hedgehog obstacles.
The Americans were on the right at Omaha and Utah. The British struck on the left at Sword and Gold. The Canadians landed at Juno. Fighting was intense, but the beacheads were quickly established, except at Utah Beach where the issue was in doubt until the afternoon. Many of the D-Day casualties occurred at Omaha Beach. The key to Overlord proved to be Allied airpower and the airboorne which made it impossible for the Germans to reinforce the beach defenses. The landings were a complete surprise, an incredible accomplishment for an operation of this size. Part of the reason was the weather, another the German assessment that the invasion would come at the Pas de Calais.
Sword was the most easterly landing beach. It proved to be the most difficult British beach. The British objective was to move inland and seize Caen. Caen was important as it was key trabsportation center with a roiad leading directky to Paris. Another objective was to reach the British Airborne forces that staged a glider landing aand seized the Orne River bridge (late at` night June 5).
The British 3rd Infantry Division encountered heavy German mortar and machinegun fire when they landed. They managed, however, to get their DD tanks shore which plyed a key role in supressing the beach defenses. The tanks landed helped the British move inland after defeating the shore-line defenses. Taking Caen was overly optimistic. The narrow roads delayed rapid movement. In addition the German 21st Panzer (Hitler Youth) Division was positioned north of the city. The British were probably lucky to get as far as they did. The Panzers were ready to go early in the morning, but did not get permission move until after the British had secured the beach. And by that time the Allied had bombed Caen forcing the Germans to move around the town. Allied fighters also imped their advance. Even so the 21st Panzer prevented the British from reaching Caen. In fact joined by 12th Panzer, the Germans held Caen for weeks. The 1st Special Service (Commando) brigade commanded by Lord Lovat managed to reach the glider force at Pegasus bridge. This effectively secured the left of the Normandy bridgehead.
The Canadians 3rd Infantry Division as part of the British Second Army landed at Juno, between the two British landing beaches. The Canadian landing area included the area on both sides of the small fishing port of Courseulles-sur-Mer. There were wo smaller villages (Bernières and Saint-Aubin) to the east of Courseulles. Smaller villages were situated in the sand dunes. The Allied planners divided Juno into two assault sectors: Nan (Red, White, and Green sections) to the east and Mike (Red and White sections) to the west. Juno lacked the dramatic heights faced by the americans at Omaha, but offshore reefs posed a major problem. As a result, the Canadians laned later than the other beach assaults. It was felt necessary to land at high tide to clear the reefs, some of which ptoved to be only seaweed. The later landing meant that the Germans had some time to prepre. The defending German force was the 716th Infantry Division (mostly the 736th Regiment). They set up positions in the seafront houses which Allied bombers had avoided. The Germans had also fortified the dunes with casemates and dug out positions. The Canadian first wave suffered heavy casualties. They managed to fight their way shore and quicky succeded in landing tanks. By the end of the day they had secured the beachhead and tanks were spearheading the move inland.
The British at Gold were also able to quickly land tanks and move off the beach. As the Germans did not have their armour deployed close to the beach the armour played a key role in the engagements establishing the beachhead.
Omaha proved to be the most deadly. The beach fronted on 100 ft cliffs cut by four ravines. Hardened German positions and a sea wall provided cover for machine gun and motor fire that desimated the landing force. Most of the American tanks failed to make it to the beach and the first wave had little armour support against whithering fire from still in tact beach defenses. Here the issue was in doubt for several hours. The beach was littered with dead and wounded soldiers. Bradley for a time considered abandoning the beach and landing the second wave on the Bruitish beaches. The turning pointb proved to be critical naval gunfire. American destroyers came in close to provide covering fire and somehow small units made it up the cliff and overpowered the German defenders.
The Americans at Utah landed at the wrong location. It proved to be lightly defended. Many of the deffending units were Ost Battalions, non-Germans drafted into the Wehrmacht. They readily surrendered or ran. The Americans on Utah quickly moved inland and the paratroopers dropped earlier made it impossible for the Germans to oppose the landings at Utah.
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