The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later western Europe) and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.
Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard,
to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied
landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal, and the operation had
to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay
of at least two weeks, as the invasion planners had requirements for
the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a
few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion.
The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions,
particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun
emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods,
and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult
and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs.
At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in
house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were
disabled using specialised tanks.
The Allies failed to achieve any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen,
a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the
beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads
were not connected until 12 June; however, the operation gained a
foothold that the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months.
German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men.
Allied casualties were documented for at least 10,000, with 4,414
confirmed dead. Museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now
host many visitors each year.
Background
After the German Army invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing his new allies for the creation of a second front in western Europe. In late May 1942 the Soviet Union and the United States
made a joint announcement that a "... full understanding was reached
with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a second front in Europe in
1942." However, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill persuaded US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to postpone the promised invasion as, even with US help, the Allies did not have adequate forces for such an action.
Instead of an immediate return to France, the western Allies staged offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations, where British troops were already stationed. By mid-1943 the campaign in North Africa had been won. The Allies then launched the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently invaded the Italian mainland in September the same year. By then, Soviet forces were on the offensive and had won a major victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the next year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Initial planning was constrained by the number of available landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean and Pacific. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill promised Stalin that they would open the long-delayed second front in May 1944.
Meeting of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), 1 February 1944. Front row: Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder; General Dwight D. Eisenhower; General Bernard Montgomery. Back row: Lieutenant General Omar Bradley; Admiral Bertram Ramsay; Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory; Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith.
The Allies considered four sites for the landings: Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, and the Pas-de-Calais.
As Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible
for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow
isthmus, so these sites were rejected. With the Pas-de-Calais being the closest point in continental Europe to Britain, the Germans considered it to be the most likely initial landing zone, so it was the most heavily fortified region. But it offered few opportunities for expansion, as the area is bounded by numerous rivers and canals, whereas landings on a broad front in Normandy would permit simultaneous threats against the port of Cherbourg,
coastal ports further west in Brittany, and an overland attack towards
Paris and eventually into Germany. Normandy was hence chosen as the
landing site.
The most serious drawback of the Normandy coast—the lack of port
facilities—would be overcome through the development of artificial Mulberry harbours. A series of modified tanks, nicknamed Hobart's Funnies,
dealt with specific requirements expected for the Normandy Campaign
such as mine clearing, demolishing bunkers, and mobile bridging.
The Allies planned to launch the invasion on 1 May 1944. The initial draft of the plan was accepted at the Quebec Conference in August 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). General Bernard Montgomery was named as commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all land forces involved in the invasion. On 31 December 1943 Eisenhower and Montgomery first saw the plan, which proposed amphibious landings by three divisions
with two more divisions in support. The two generals immediately
insisted that the scale of the initial invasion be expanded to five
divisions, with airborne descents by three additional divisions, to
allow operations on a wider front and to speed the capture of Cherbourg.
The need to acquire or produce extra landing craft for the expanded
operation meant that the invasion had to be delayed to June.
Eventually, thirty-nine Allied divisions would be committed to the
Battle of Normandy: twenty-two US, twelve British, three Canadian, one
Polish, and one French, totalling over a million troops all under overall British command.
Operations
Operation Overlord was the name assigned to the establishment of a large-scale lodgement
on the Continent. The first phase, the amphibious invasion and
establishment of a secure foothold, was codenamed Operation Neptune. To gain the air superiority needed to ensure a successful invasion, the Allies undertook a bombing campaign (codenamed Operation Pointblank) that targeted German aircraft production, fuel supplies, and airfields. Elaborate deceptions, codenamed Operation Bodyguard,
were undertaken in the months leading up to the invasion to prevent the
Germans from learning the timing and location of the invasion.
The landings were to be preceded by airborne operations near Caen on the eastern flank to secure the Orne River bridges and north of Carentan on the western flank. The Americans, assigned to land at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach, were to attempt to capture Carentan and St. Lô the first day, then cut off the Cotentin Peninsula and eventually capture the port facilities at Cherbourg. The British at Sword and Gold Beaches and Canadians at Juno Beach would protect the US flank and attempt to establish airfields near Caen on the first day. (A sixth beach, code-named "Band", was considered to the east of the Orne.)
A secure lodgement would be established with all invading forces linked
together, and an attempt made to hold all territory north of the Avranches-Falaise line within the first three weeks. Montgomery envisaged a ninety-day battle, lasting until all Allied forces reached the River Seine.
Deception plans
Shoulder patches were designed for units of the fictitious First United States Army Group under George Patton.
Under the overall umbrella of Operation Bodyguard, the Allies
conducted several subsidiary operations designed to mislead the Germans
as to the date and location of the Allied landings. Operation Fortitude
included Fortitude North, a misinformation campaign using fake radio
traffic to lead the Germans into expecting an attack on Norway, and Fortitude South, a major deception involving the creation of a fictitious First United States Army Group under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, supposedly located in Kent and Sussex. Fortitude South was intended to deceive the Germans into believing that the main attack would take place at Calais.
Genuine radio messages from 21st Army Group were first routed to Kent
via landline and then broadcast, to give the Germans the impression that
most of the Allied troops were stationed there.
Patton was stationed in England until 6 July, thus continuing to
deceive the Germans into believing a second attack would take place at
Calais.
Many of the German radar stations on the French coast were destroyed in preparation for the landings. In addition, on the night before the invasion, a small group of Special Air Service (SAS) operators deployed dummy paratroopers over Le Havre and Isigny. These dummies led the Germans to believe that an additional airborne landing had occurred. On that same night, in Operation Taxable, No. 617 Squadron RAF dropped strips of "window", metal foil
that caused a radar return which was mistakenly interpreted by German
radar operators as a naval convoy near Le Havre. The illusion was
bolstered by a group of small vessels towing barrage balloons. A similar deception was undertaken near Boulogne-sur-Mer in the Pas de Calais area by No. 218 Squadron RAF in Operation Glimmer.
Weather
The invasion planners determined a set of conditions involving the
phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that would be
satisfactory on only a few days in each month. A full moon was
desirable, as it would provide illumination for aircraft pilots and have
the highest tides.
The Allies wanted to schedule the landings for shortly before dawn,
midway between low and high tide, with the tide coming in. This would
improve the visibility of obstacles on the beach, while minimising the
amount of time the men would be exposed in the open.
Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault.
However, on 4 June, conditions were unsuitable for a landing: high
winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft, and low
clouds would prevent aircraft from finding their targets.
Surface weather analysis map showing weather fronts on 5 June
Group Captain James Stagg of the Royal Air Force
(RAF) met Eisenhower on the evening of 4 June. He and his
meteorological team predicted that the weather would improve enough for
the invasion to proceed on 6 June.
The next available dates with the required tidal conditions (but
without the desirable full moon) would be two weeks later, from 18 to 20
June. Postponement of the invasion would have required recalling men
and ships already in position to cross the Channel, and would have
increased the chance that the invasion plans would be detected. After much discussion with the other senior commanders, Eisenhower decided that the invasion should go ahead on the 6th. A major storm battered the Normandy coast from 19 to 22 June, which would have made the beach landings impossible.
Allied control of the Atlantic meant German meteorologists had less information than the Allies on incoming weather patterns. As the Luftwaffe
meteorological centre in Paris was predicting two weeks of stormy
weather, many Wehrmacht commanders left their posts to attend war games in Rennes, and men in many units were given leave. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel returned to Germany for his wife's birthday and to meet with Hitler to try to obtain more Panzers.
German order of battle
Nazi Germany had at its disposal fifty divisions
in France and the Low Countries, with another eighteen stationed in
Denmark and Norway. Fifteen divisions were in the process of formation
in Germany. Combat losses throughout the war, particularly on the Eastern Front,
meant that the Germans no longer had a pool of able young men from
which to draw. German soldiers were now on average six years older than
their Allied counterparts. Many in the Normandy area were Ostlegionen
(eastern legions)—conscripts and volunteers from Russia, Mongolia, and
other areas of the Soviet Union. They were provided mainly with
unreliable captured equipment and lacked motorised transport. Many German units were under strength.
In early 1944, OB West was significantly weakened by personnel and materiel transfers to the Eastern Front. During the Soviet Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive (24 December 1943 – 17 April 1944), the German High Command was forced to transfer the entire II SS Panzer Corps from France, consisting of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions, as well as the 349th Infantry Division,
507th Heavy Panzer Battalion and the 311th and 322nd StuG Assault Gun
Brigades. All told, the German forces stationed in France were deprived
of 45,827 troops and 363 tanks, assault guns, and self-propelled
anti-tank guns. It was the first major transfer of forces from France to the east since the creation of Führer Directive 51, which no longer allowed any transfers from the west to the east.
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 9th, 11th, 19th and 116th Panzer divisions, alongside the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich",
had only arrived in March–May 1944 to France for extensive refit after
being badly damaged during Dnieper-Carpathian operation. Seven of the
eleven panzer or panzergrenadier divisions stationed in France were
still not fully operational or only partially mobile in early June 1944.
German Supreme commander: Adolf Hitler
- Oberbefehlshaber West (Supreme Commander West; OB West): Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
-
- (Panzer Group West: General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg)
- Army Group B: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
- 7th Army: Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann
- LXXXIV Corps under General der Artillerie Erich Marcks
- 7th Army: Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann
Cotentin Peninsula
Allied forces attacking Utah Beach faced the following German units stationed on the Cotentin Peninsula:
709th Static Infantry Division under Generalleutnant Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben numbered 12,320 men, many of them Ostlegionen (non-German conscripts recruited from Soviet prisoners of war, Georgians and Poles).
- 729th Grenadier Regiment
- 739th Grenadier Regiment
- 919th Grenadier Regiment
Grandcamps Sector
German troops using captured French tanks (Beutepanzer) in Normandy, 1944
Americans assaulting Omaha Beach faced the following troops:
352nd Infantry Division under Generalleutnant Dietrich Kraiss, a full-strength unit of around 12,000 brought in by Rommel on 15 March and reinforced by two additional regiments.
- 914th Grenadier Regiment
- 915th Grenadier Regiment (as reserves)
- 916th Grenadier Regiment
- 726th Infantry Regiment (from 716th Infantry Division)
- 352nd Artillery Regiment
Allied forces at Gold and Juno faced the following elements of the 352nd Infantry Division:
- 914th Grenadier Regiment
- 915th Grenadier Regiment
- 916th Grenadier Regiment
- 352nd Artillery Regiment
Forces around Caen
Allied forces attacking Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches faced the following German units:
716th Static Infantry Division under Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter. At 7,000 troops, the division was significantly understrength.
- 736th Infantry Regiment
- 1716th Artillery Regiment
21st Panzer Division, (south of Caen) under Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger included 146 tanks and 50 assault guns, plus supporting infantry and artillery.
- 100th Panzer Regiment (at Falaise under Hermann von Oppeln-Bronikowski; renamed 22nd Panzer Regiment in May 1944 to avoid confusion with 100th Panzer Battalion)
- 125th Panzergrenadier Regiment (under Hans von Luck from April 1944)
- 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment
- 155th Panzer Artillery Regiment
Atlantic Wall
Map of the Atlantic Wall, shown in yellow
Axis and occupied countries
Allies and occupied countries
Neutral countries
Alarmed by the raids on St Nazaire and Dieppe
in 1942, Hitler had ordered the construction of fortifications all
along the Atlantic coast, from Spain to Norway, to protect against an
expected Allied invasion. He envisioned 15,000 emplacements manned by
300,000 troops, but shortages, particularly of concrete and manpower,
meant that most of the strongpoints were never built. As it was expected to be the site of the invasion, the Pas de Calais was heavily defended. In the Normandy area, the best fortifications were concentrated at the port facilities at Cherbourg and Saint-Malo.
Rommel was assigned to oversee the construction of further
fortifications along the expected invasion front, which stretched from
the Netherlands to Cherbourg, and was given command of the newly re-formed Army Group B, which included the 7th Army, the 15th Army, and the forces guarding the Netherlands. Reserves for this group included the 2nd, 21st, and 116th Panzer divisions.
Rommel believed that the Normandy coast could be a possible
landing point for the invasion, so he ordered the construction of
extensive defensive works along that shore. In addition to concrete gun
emplacements at strategic points along the coast, he ordered wooden
stakes, metal tripods, mines, and large anti-tank obstacles to be placed
on the beaches to delay the approach of landing craft and impede the
movement of tanks.
Expecting the Allies to land at high tide so that the infantry would
spend less time exposed on the beach, he ordered many of these obstacles
to be placed at the high water mark. Tangles of barbed wire, booby traps, and the removal of ground cover made the approach hazardous for infantry. On Rommel's order, the number of mines along the coast was tripled. The Allied air offensive over Germany had crippled the Luftwaffe and established air supremacy over western Europe, so Rommel knew he could not expect effective air support. The Luftwaffe could muster only 815 aircraft over Normandy in comparison to the Allies' 9,543. Rommel arranged for booby-trapped stakes known as Rommelspargel (Rommel's asparagus) to be installed in meadows and fields to deter airborne landings.
Nazi armaments minister Albert Speer
notes in his 1969 autobiography that the German high command, concerned
about the susceptibility of the airports and port facilities along the
North Sea coast, held a conference on 6–8 June 1944 to discuss
reinforcing defenses in that area. Speer wrote:
In Germany itself we scarcely had any troop units at our disposal. If the airports at Hamburg and Bremen could be taken by parachute units and the ports of these cities seized by small forces, invasion armies debarking from ships would, I feared, meet no resistance and would be occupying Berlin and all of Germany within a few days.
Armoured reserves
Rommel believed that Germany's best chance was to stop the invasion
at the shore. He requested that the mobile reserves, especially tanks,
be stationed as close to the coast as possible. Rundstedt, Geyr, and
other senior commanders objected. They believed that the invasion could
not be stopped on the beaches. Geyr argued for a conventional doctrine:
keeping the Panzer formations concentrated in a central position around
Paris and Rouen and deploying them only when the main Allied beachhead
had been identified. He also noted that in the Italian Campaign,
the armoured units stationed near the coast had been damaged by naval
bombardment. Rommel's opinion was that because of Allied air supremacy,
the large-scale movement of tanks would not be possible once the
invasion was under way. Hitler made the final decision, which was to
leave three Panzer divisions
under Geyr's command and give Rommel operational control of three more
as reserves. Hitler took personal control of four divisions as strategic
reserves, not to be used without his direct orders.
Allied order of battle
D-day assault routes into Normandy
Commander, SHAEF: General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Commander, 21st Army Group: General Bernard Montgomery
Commander, 21st Army Group: General Bernard Montgomery
US zones
Commander, First Army (United States): Lieutenant General Omar Bradley.
The First Army contingent totalled approximately 73,000 men, including 15,600 from the airborne divisions.
- Utah Beach
VII Corps, commanded by Major General J. Lawton Collins
4th Infantry Division: Major General Raymond O. Barton
82nd Airborne Division: Major General Matthew Ridgway
90th Infantry Division: Brigadier General Jay W. MacKelvie
101st Airborne Division: Major General Maxwell D. Taylor
- Omaha Beach
V Corps, commanded by Major General Leonard T. Gerow, making up 34,250 men
1st Infantry Division: Major General Clarence R. Huebner
29th Infantry Division: Major General Charles H. Gerhardt
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British and Canadian zones
Commander, Second Army (Britain and Canada): Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey
Overall, the Second Army contingent consisted of 83,115 men, 61,715 of them British.
The nominally British air and naval support units included a large
number of personnel from Allied nations, including several RAF squadrons
manned almost exclusively by overseas air crew. For example, the Australian contribution to the operation included a regular Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron, nine Article XV squadrons, and hundreds of personnel posted to RAF units and RN warships. The RAF supplied two-thirds of the aircraft involved in the invasion.
- Gold Beach
XXX Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Gerard Bucknall
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division: Major General D.A.H. Graham
- Juno Beach
British I Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General John Crocker
3rd Canadian Division: Major General Rod Keller
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- Sword Beach
- British I Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General John Crocker
3rd Infantry Division: Major General Tom Rennie
6th Airborne Division: Major General R.N. Gale
79th Armoured Division: Major General Percy Hobart provided specialised armoured vehicles which supported the landings on all beaches in Second Army's sector.
Coordination with the French Resistance
Members of the French Resistance and the US 82nd Airborne division discuss the situation during the Battle of Normandy in 1944
Through the London-based État-major des Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur (French Forces of the Interior), the British Special Operations Executive orchestrated a campaign of sabotage to be implemented by the French Resistance. The Allies developed four plans for the Resistance to execute on D-Day and the following days:
- Plan Vert was a 15-day operation to sabotage the rail system.
- Plan Bleu dealt with destroying electrical facilities.
- Plan Tortue was a delaying operation aimed at the enemy forces that would potentially reinforce Axis forces at Normandy.
- Plan Violet dealt with cutting underground telephone and teleprinter cables.
The resistance was alerted to carry out these tasks by messages personnels transmitted by the BBC's French service
from London. Several hundred of these messages, which might be snatches
of poetry, quotations from literature, or random sentences, were
regularly transmitted, masking
the few that were actually significant. In the weeks preceding the
landings, lists of messages and their meanings were distributed to
resistance groups.
An increase in radio activity on 5 June was correctly interpreted by
German intelligence to mean that an invasion was imminent or underway.
However, because of the barrage of previous false warnings and
misinformation, most units ignored the warning.
A 1965 report from the Counter-insurgency Information Analysis
Center details the results of the French Resistance's sabotage efforts:
"In the southeast, 52 locomotives were destroyed on 6 June and the
railway line cut in more than 500 places. Normandy was isolated as of 7
June."
D-Day planning map, used at Southwick House near Portsmouth
Large landing craft convoy crosses the English Channel on 6 June 1944
Naval operations for the invasion were described by historian Correlli Barnett as a "never surpassed masterpiece of planning". In overall command was British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who had served as Flag officer at Dover during the Dunkirk evacuation four years earlier. He had also been responsible for the naval planning of the invasion of North Africa in 1942, and one of the two fleets carrying troops for the invasion of Sicily the following year.
The invasion fleet, which was drawn from eight different navies,
comprised 6,939 vessels: 1,213 warships, 4,126 landing craft of various
types, 736 ancillary craft, and 864 merchant vessels. The majority of the fleet was supplied by the UK, which provided 892 warships and 3,261 landing craft. In total there were 195,700 naval personnel involved; of these 112,824 were from the Royal Navy with another 25,000 from the Merchant Navy, 52,889 were American, and 4,998 sailors from other allied countries. The invasion fleet was split into the Western Naval Task Force (under Admiral Alan G Kirk) supporting the US sectors and the Eastern Naval Task Force (under Admiral Sir Philip Vian) in the British and Canadian sectors. Available to the fleet were five battleships, 20 cruisers, 65 destroyers, and two monitors. German ships in the area on D-Day included three torpedo boats, 29 fast attack craft, 36 R boats, and 36 minesweepers and patrol boats. The Germans also had several U-boats available, and all the approaches had been heavily mined.
At 05:10, four German torpedo boats reached the Eastern Task Force and launched fifteen torpedoes, sinking the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Svenner off Sword beach but missing the British battleships HMS Warspite and Ramillies. After attacking, the German vessels turned away and fled east into a smoke screen that had been laid by the RAF to shield the fleet from the long-range battery at Le Havre. Allied losses to mines included the American destroyer USS Corry off Utah and submarine chaser USS PC-1261, a 173-foot patrol craft. In addition, many landing craft were lost.
Bombardment
Map of the invasion area showing channels cleared of mines, location of vessels engaged in bombardment, and targets on shore
Bombing of Normandy began around midnight with more than 2,200
British, Canadian, and US bombers attacking targets along the coast and
further inland.
The coastal bombing attack was largely ineffective at Omaha, because
low cloud cover made the assigned targets difficult to see. Concerned
about inflicting casualties on their own troops, many bombers delayed
their attacks too long and failed to hit the beach defences. The Germans had 570 aircraft stationed in Normandy and the Low Countries on D-Day, and another 964 in Germany.
Minesweepers began clearing channels for the invasion fleet
shortly after midnight and finished just after dawn without encountering
the enemy. The Western Task Force included the battleships Arkansas, Nevada, and Texas, plus eight cruisers, 28 destroyers, and one monitor. The Eastern Task Force included the battleships Ramillies and Warspite and the monitor Roberts, twelve cruisers, and thirty-seven destroyers.
Naval bombardment of areas behind the beach commenced at 05:45, while
it was still dark, with the gunners switching to pre-assigned targets on
the beach as soon as it was light enough to see, at 05:50.
Since troops were scheduled to land at Utah and Omaha starting at 06:30
(an hour earlier than the British beaches), these areas received only
about 40 minutes of naval bombardment before the assault troops began to
land on the shore.
Airborne operations
The success of the amphibious landings depended on the establishment
of a secure lodgement from which to expand the beachhead to allow the
buildup of a well-supplied force capable of breaking out. The amphibious
forces were especially vulnerable to strong enemy counter-attacks
before the arrival of sufficient forces in the beachhead could be
accomplished. To slow or eliminate the enemy's ability to organise and
launch counter-attacks during this critical period, airborne operations
were used to seize key objectives such as bridges, road crossings, and
terrain features, particularly on the eastern and western flanks of the
landing areas. The airborne landings some distance behind the beaches
were also intended to ease the egress of the amphibious forces off the
beaches, and in some cases to neutralise German coastal defence
batteries and more quickly expand the area of the beachhead.
The US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were assigned to
objectives west of Utah Beach, where they hoped to capture and control
the few narrow causeways through terrain that had been intentionally
flooded by the Germans. Reports from Allied intelligence in mid-May of
the arrival of the German 91st Infantry Division meant the intended drop zones had to be shifted eastward and to the south. The British 6th Airborne Division, on the eastern flank, was assigned to capture intact the bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne, destroy five bridges over the Dives 6 miles (9.7 km) to the east, and destroy the Merville Gun Battery overlooking Sword Beach. Free French paratroopers from the British SAS Brigade were assigned to objectives in Brittany from 5 June until August in Operations Dingson, Samwest, and Cooney.
BBC war correspondent Robert Barr described the scene as paratroopers prepared to board their aircraft:
Their faces were darkened with cocoa; sheathed knives were strapped to their ankles; tommy guns strapped to their waists; bandoliers and hand grenades, coils of rope, pick handles, spades, rubber dinghies hung around them, and a few personal oddments, like the lad who was taking a newspaper to read on the plane ... There was an easy familiar touch about the way they were getting ready, as though they had done it often before. Well, yes, they had kitted up and climbed aboard often just like this—twenty, thirty, forty times some of them, but it had never been quite like this before. This was the first combat jump for every one of them.
US
Gliders are delivered to the Cotentin Peninsula by Douglas C-47 Skytrains. 6 June 1944
The US airborne landings began with the arrival of pathfinders
at 00:15. Navigation was difficult because of a bank of thick cloud,
and as a result only one of the five paratrooper drop zones was
accurately marked with radar signals and Aldis lamps. Paratroopers of the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, numbering over 13,000 men, were delivered by Douglas C-47 Skytrains of the IX Troop Carrier Command.
To avoid flying over the invasion fleet, the planes arrived from the
west over the Cotentin Peninsula and exited over Utah Beach.
Paratroops from 101st Airborne were dropped beginning around
01:30, tasked with controlling the causeways behind Utah Beach and
destroying road and rail bridges over the Douve River.
The C-47s could not fly in a tight formation because of thick cloud
cover, and many paratroopers were dropped far from their intended
landing zones. Many planes came in so low that they were under fire from
both flak
and machine gun fire. Some paratroopers were killed on impact when
their parachutes did not have time to open, and others drowned in the
flooded fields. Gathering together into fighting units was made difficult by a shortage of radios and by the bocage terrain, with its hedgerows, stone walls, and marshes.
Some units did not arrive at their targets until afternoon, by which
time several of the causeways had already been cleared by members of the
4th Infantry Division moving up from the beach.
Troops of the 82nd Airborne began arriving around 02:30, with the primary objective of capturing two bridges over the River Merderet and destroying two bridges over the Douve.
On the east side of the river, 75 per cent of the paratroopers landed
in or near their drop zone, and within two hours they captured the
important crossroads at Sainte-Mère-Église (the first town liberated in the invasion) and began working to protect the western flank.
Because of the failure of the pathfinders to accurately mark their drop
zone, the two regiments dropped on the west side of the Merderet were
extremely scattered, with only four per cent landing in the target area. Many landed in nearby swamps, with much loss of life.
Paratroopers consolidated into small groups, usually a combination of
men of various ranks from different units, and attempted to concentrate
on nearby objectives.
They captured but failed to hold the Merderet River bridge at La Fière,
and fighting for the crossing continued for several days.
Reinforcements arrived by glider around 04:00 (Mission Chicago and Mission Detroit), and 21:00 (Mission Keokuk and Mission Elmira), bringing additional troops and heavy equipment. Like the paratroopers, many landed far from their drop zones. Even those that landed on target experienced difficulty, with heavy cargo such as Jeeps shifting during landing, crashing through the wooden fuselage, and in some cases crushing personnel on board.
After 24 hours, only 2,500 men of the 101st and 2,000 of the 82nd
Airborne were under the control of their divisions, approximately a
third of the force dropped. This wide dispersal had the effect of
confusing the Germans and fragmenting their response.
The 7th Army received notification of the parachute drops at 01:20, but
Rundstedt did not initially believe that a major invasion was underway.
The destruction of radar stations along the Normandy coast in the week
before the invasion meant that the Germans did not detect the
approaching fleet until 02:00.
British and Canadian
An abandoned Waco CG-4 glider is examined by German troops
The first Allied action of D-Day was Operation Deadstick, a glider assault at 00:16 at Pegasus Bridge over the Caen Canal and the bridge (since renamed Horsa Bridge)
over the Orne, half a mile (800 metres) to the east. Both bridges were
quickly captured intact, with light casualties, by members of the 5th Parachute Brigade and the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion. The five bridges over the Dives were destroyed with minimal difficulty by the 3rd Parachute Brigade.
Meanwhile, the pathfinders tasked with setting up radar beacons and
lights for further paratroopers (scheduled to begin arriving at 00:50 to
clear the landing zone north of Ranville)
were blown off course, and had to set up the navigation aids too far
east. Many paratroopers, also blown too far east, landed far from their
intended drop zones; some took hours or even days to be reunited with
their units. Major General Richard Gale
arrived in the third wave of gliders at 03:30, along with equipment,
such as antitank guns and jeeps, and more troops to help secure the area
from counter-attacks, which were initially staged only by troops in the
immediate vicinity of the landings.
At 02:00, the commander of the German 716th Infantry Division ordered
Feuchtinger to move his 21st Panzer Division into position to
counter-attack. However, as the division was part of the armoured
reserve, Feuchtinger was obliged to seek clearance from OKW before he could commit his formation.
Feuchtinger did not receive orders until nearly 09:00, but in the
meantime on his own initiative he put together a battle group (including
tanks) to fight the British forces east of the Orne.
Only 160 men out of the 600 members of the 9th Battalion tasked with eliminating the enemy battery at Merville arrived at the rendezvous point. Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway,
in charge of the operation, decided to proceed regardless, as the
emplacement had to be destroyed by 06:00 to prevent it firing on the
invasion fleet and the troops arriving on Sword Beach. In the Battle of Merville Gun Battery,
Allied forces disabled the guns with plastic explosives at a cost of 75
casualties. The emplacement was found to contain 75 mm guns rather than
the expected 150 mm heavy coastal artillery. Otway's remaining force
withdrew with the assistance of a few members of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion.
With this action, the last of the D-Day goals of the British 6th Airborne Division was achieved. They were reinforced at 12:00 by commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade, who landed on Sword Beach, and by the 6th Airlanding Brigade, who arrived in gliders at 21:00 in Operation Mallard.
Beach landings
Map of the beaches and first day advances
Tanks
Some of the landing craft had been modified to provide close support fire, and self-propelled amphibious Duplex-Drive tanks (DD tanks),
specially designed for the Normandy landings, were to land shortly
before the infantry to provide covering fire. However, few arrived in
advance of the infantry, and many sank before reaching the shore,
especially at Omaha.
Utah Beach
Carrying their equipment, US assault troops move onto Utah Beach. Landing craft can be seen in the background.
Utah Beach was in the area defended by two battalions of the 919th Grenadier Regiment. Members of the 8th Infantry Regiment
of the 4th Infantry Division were the first to land, arriving at 06:30.
Their landing craft were pushed to the south by strong currents, and
they found themselves about 2,000 yards (1.8 km) from their intended
landing zone. This site turned out to be better, as there was only one
strongpoint nearby rather than two, and bombers of IX Bomber Command
had bombed the defences from lower than their prescribed altitude,
inflicting considerable damage. In addition, the strong currents had
washed ashore many of the underwater obstacles. The assistant commander
of the 4th Infantry Division, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.,
the first senior officer ashore, made the decision to "start the war
from right here", and ordered further landings to be re-routed.
The initial assault battalions were quickly followed by 28 DD
tanks and several waves of engineer and demolition teams to remove beach
obstacles and clear the area directly behind the beach of obstacles and
mines. Gaps were blown in the sea wall to allow quicker access for
troops and tanks. Combat teams began to exit the beach at around 09:00,
with some infantry wading through the flooded fields rather than
travelling on the single road. They skirmished throughout the day with
elements of the 919th Grenadier Regiment, who were armed with antitank
guns and rifles. The main strongpoint in the area and another 1,300
yards (1.2 km) to the south were disabled by noon.
The 4th Infantry Division did not meet all of their D-Day objectives at
Utah Beach, partly because they had arrived too far to the south, but
they landed 21,000 troops at the cost of only 197 casualties.
Pointe du Hoc
US Rangers scaling the wall at Pointe du Hoc
Pointe du Hoc, a prominent headland situated between Utah and Omaha, was assigned to two hundred men of 2nd Ranger Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder.
Their task was to scale the 30 m (98 ft) cliffs with grappling hooks,
ropes, and ladders to destroy the coastal gun battery located at the
top. The cliffs were defended by the German 352nd Infantry Division and
French collaborators firing from above. Allied destroyers Satterlee and Talybont
provided fire support. After scaling the cliffs, the Rangers discovered
that the guns had already been withdrawn. They located the weapons,
unguarded but ready to use, in an orchard some 550 metres (600 yd) south
of the point, and disabled them with explosives.
The now-isolated Rangers fended off numerous counter-attacks from the German 914th Grenadier Regiment.
The men at the point became isolated and some were captured. By dawn on
D+1, Rudder had only 90 men able to fight. Relief did not arrive until
D+2, when members of the 743rd Tank Battalion and others arrived.
By then, Rudder's men had run out of ammunition and were using captured
German weapons. Several men were killed as a result, because the German
weapons made a distinctive noise, and the men were mistaken for the
enemy.
By the end of the battle, the Rangers casualties were 135 dead and
wounded, while German casualties were 50 killed and 40 captured. An
unknown number of French collaborators were executed.
Omaha Beach
US assault troops in an LCVP landing craft approach Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944.
Omaha, the most heavily defended beach, was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Division. They faced the 352nd Infantry Division rather than the expected single regiment. Strong currents forced many landing craft east of their intended position or caused them to be delayed.
For fear of hitting the landing craft, US bombers delayed releasing
their loads and, as a result, most of the beach obstacles at Omaha
remained undamaged when the men came ashore.
Many of the landing craft ran aground on sandbars and the men had to
wade 50–100m in water up to their necks while under fire to get to the
beach. In spite of the rough seas, DD tanks of two companies of the 741st Tank Battalion were dropped 5,000 yards (4,600 m) from shore; however, 27 of the 32 flooded and sank, with the loss of 33 crew.
Some tanks, disabled on the beach, continued to provide covering fire
until their ammunition ran out or they were swamped by the rising tide.
Casualties were around 2,000, as the men were subjected to fire from the cliffs above.
Problems clearing the beach of obstructions led to the beachmaster
calling a halt to further landings of vehicles at 08:30. A group of
destroyers arrived around this time to provide fire support so landings
could resume.
Exit from the beach was possible only via five heavily defended
gullies, and by late morning barely 600 men had reached the higher
ground.
By noon, as the artillery fire took its toll and the Germans started to
run out of ammunition, the Americans were able to clear some lanes on
the beaches. They also started clearing the gullies of enemy defences so
that vehicles could move off the beach. The tenuous beachhead was expanded over the following days, and the D-Day objectives for Omaha were accomplished by D+3.
Gold Beach
British troops come ashore at Jig Green sector, Gold Beach
The first landings on Gold beach were set for 07:25 due to the differences in the tide between there and the US beaches.
High winds made conditions difficult for the landing craft, and the
amphibious DD tanks were released close to shore or directly on the
beach instead of further out as planned. Three of the four guns in a large emplacement at the Longues-sur-Mer battery were disabled by direct hits from the cruisers Ajax and Argonaut at 06:20. The fourth gun resumed firing intermittently in the afternoon, and its garrison surrendered on 7 June. Aerial attacks had failed to hit the Le Hamel strongpoint, which had its embrasure facing east to provide enfilade fire along the beach and had a thick concrete wall on the seaward side. Its 75 mm gun continued to do damage until 16:00, when a modified Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) tank fired a large petard charge into its rear entrance. A second casemated emplacement at La Rivière containing an 88 mm gun was neutralised by a tank at 07:30.
Meanwhile, infantry began clearing the heavily fortified houses along the shore and advanced on targets further inland. The No. 47 (Royal Marine) Commando moved toward the small port at Port-en-Bessin and captured it the following day in the Battle of Port-en-Bessin. Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis received the only Victoria Cross awarded on D-Day for his actions while attacking two pillboxes at the Mont Fleury high point. On the western flank, the 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment captured Arromanches (future site of Mulberry "B"), and contact was made on the eastern flank with the Canadian forces at Juno. Bayeux was not captured the first day due to stiff resistance from the 352nd Infantry Division. Allied casualties at Gold Beach are estimated at 1,000.
Juno Beach
Royal Canadian Naval Beach Commando "W" land on Mike Beach sector of Juno Beach, 8 July 1944
The landing at Juno was delayed because of choppy seas, and the men
arrived ahead of their supporting armour, suffering many casualties
while disembarking. Most of the offshore bombardment had missed the
German defences.
Several exits from the beach were created, but not without difficulty.
At Mike Beach on the western flank, a large crater was filled using an
abandoned AVRE tank and several rolls of fascine,
which were then covered by a temporary bridge. The tank remained in
place until 1972, when it was removed and restored by members of the Royal Engineers. The beach and nearby streets were clogged with traffic for most of the day, making it difficult to move inland.
Major German strongpoints with 75 mm guns, machine-gun nests, concrete fortifications, barbed wire, and mines were located at Courseulles-sur-Mer, St Aubin-sur-Mer, and Bernières-sur-Mer. The towns themselves also had to be cleared in house-to-house fighting. Soldiers on their way to Bény-sur-Mer,
3 miles (5 km) inland, discovered that the road was well covered by
machine gun emplacements that had to be outflanked before the advance
could proceed. Elements of the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade advanced to within sight of the Carpiquet airfield
late in the afternoon, but by this time their supporting armour was low
on ammunition so the Canadians dug in for the night. The airfield was
not captured until a month later as the area became the scene of fierce
fighting. By nightfall, the contiguous Juno and Gold beachheads covered an area 12 miles (19 km) wide and 7 miles (10 km) deep. Casualties at Juno were 961 men.
Sword Beach
British troops take cover after landing on Sword Beach.
On Sword, 21 of 25 DD tanks of the first wave were successful in
getting safely ashore to provide cover for the infantry, who began
disembarking at 07:30. The beach was heavily mined and peppered with obstacles, making the work of the beach clearing teams difficult and dangerous.
In the windy conditions, the tide came in more quickly than expected,
so manoeuvring the armour was difficult. The beach quickly became
congested. Brigadier Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and his 1st Special Service Brigade arrived in the second wave, piped ashore by Private Bill Millin, Lovat's personal piper. Members of No. 4 Commando moved through Ouistreham
to attack from the rear a German gun battery on the shore. A concrete
observation and control tower at this emplacement had to be bypassed and
was not captured until several days later. French forces under Commander Philippe Kieffer
(the first French soldiers to arrive in Normandy) attacked and cleared
the heavily fortified strongpoint at the casino at Riva Bella, with the
aid of one of the DD tanks.
The 'Morris' strongpoint near Colleville-sur-Mer was captured after about an hour of fighting.
The nearby 'Hillman' strongpoint, headquarters of the 736th Infantry
Regiment, was a large complex defensive work that had come through the
morning's bombardment essentially undamaged. It was not captured until
20:15. The 2nd Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry began advancing to Caen on foot, coming within a few kilometres of the town, but had to withdraw due to lack of armour support.
At 16:00, the 21st Panzer Division mounted a counter-attack between
Sword and Juno and nearly succeeded in reaching the Channel. It met
stiff resistance from the British 3rd Division and was soon recalled to
assist in the area between Caen and Bayeux. Estimates of Allied casualties on Sword Beach are as high as 1,000.
Aftermath
Situation map for 24:00, 6 June 1944
The Normandy landings were the largest seaborne invasion in history,
with nearly 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, and 277
minesweepers participating. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on D-Day, with 875,000 men disembarking by the end of June. Allied casualties on the first day were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. The Germans lost 1,000 men.
The Allied invasion plans had called for the capture of Carentan, St.
Lô, Caen, and Bayeux on the first day, with all the beaches (other than
Utah) linked with a front line 10 to 16 kilometres (6 to 10 mi) from the
beaches; none of these objectives were achieved.
The five beachheads were not connected until 12 June, by which time the
Allies held a front around 97 kilometres (60 mi) long and 24 kilometres
(15 mi) deep. Caen, a major objective, was still in German hands at the end of D-Day and would not be completely captured until 21 July.
The Germans had ordered French civilians other than those deemed
essential to the war effort to leave potential combat zones in Normandy. Civilian casualties on D-Day and D+1 are estimated at 3,000.
The Allied victory in Normandy stemmed from several factors.
German preparations along the Atlantic Wall were only partially
finished; shortly before D-Day Rommel reported that construction was
only 18 per cent complete in some areas as resources were diverted
elsewhere.
The deceptions undertaken in Operation Fortitude were successful,
leaving the Germans obliged to defend a huge stretch of coastline. The Allies achieved and maintained air supremacy,
which meant that the Germans were unable to make observations of the
preparations underway in Britain and were unable to interfere via bomber
attacks.
Infrastructure for transport in France was severely disrupted by Allied
bombers and the French Resistance, making it difficult for the Germans
to bring up reinforcements and supplies. Some of the opening bombardment was off-target or not concentrated enough to have any impact,
but the specialised armour worked well except on Omaha, providing close
artillery support for the troops as they disembarked onto the beaches.
Indecisiveness and an overly complicated command structure on the part
of the German high command were also factors in the Allied success.
War memorials and tourism
At Omaha Beach, parts of the Mulberry harbour are still visible, and a few of the beach obstacles remain. A memorial to the US National Guard
sits at the location of a former German strongpoint. Pointe du Hoc is
little changed from 1944, with the terrain covered with bomb craters and
most of the concrete bunkers still in place. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is nearby, in Colleville-sur-Mer. A museum about the Utah landings is located at Sainte-Marie-du-Mont,
and there is one dedicated to the activities of the US airmen at
Sainte-Mère-Église. Two German military cemeteries are located nearby.
Pegasus Bridge,
a target of the British 6th Airborne, was the site of some of the
earliest action of the Normandy landings. The bridge was replaced in
1994 by one similar in appearance, and the original is now housed on the
grounds of a nearby museum complex. Sections of Mulberry Harbour B still sit in the sea at Arromanches, and the well-preserved Longues-sur-Mer battery is nearby. The Juno Beach Centre, opened in 2003, was funded by the Canadian federal and provincial governments, France, and Canadian veterans.
