The 70th Anniversary of D-Day

On June 6, 1944 the Anglo-American led alliance invaded Nazi occupied France. Known today as D-Day it would be the greatest invasion in history. And though the Red Army was by June of 1944 well into the process of bleeding the Wehrmacht white, inflicting approximately 80% of Germany's Second World War military casualties, this should not take away from the considerable achievement that is since remembered today and forever since as D-Day.

It was actually on June 5, 1944 that D-Day could really be said to have begun. Late on that day an immense Allied invasion fleet had begun assembling and steaming across the English Channel. At the same time and just after midnight on June 6th a huge fleet of C-47 transport aircraft carrying elite Allied airborne troops completed their crossed the English Channel. An overly complicated flight plan, poor weather and heavy anti-aircraft fire quickly proved the bane of the Allied airborne armada. The combination of these three negative elements resulted in the main body of the Allied paratroopers at times floating to earth more than 30 miles from their assigned drop zones. Shortly thereafter the equally dispersed glider borne troops began slamming into hedgerows, trees, farmhouses, and just about any other obstacle in the fields dotting the Norman countryside. Sixteen percent of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division's glider borne soldiers became casualties before firing a shot in anger. Heavy weapons losses were equally appalling with almost 20% of the jeeps and anti-tank guns destroyed during the landing.

Tasked with taking the vital causeways, bridges, and towns controlling ingress and egress across the flooded, marshy land behind Utah beach the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions faced a daunting task. Meanwhile to the east, and behind the beaches in the British-Canadian sector the British Sixth Airborne Division faced similar problems. That said, in spite of being scattered across the map the crack British and American airborne troops ultimately secured many of their most important objectives, a testament to their training, skill, and courage.

Meanwhile, Eisenhower’s huge invasion fleet arrived off the landing beaches supported by 3,467 heavy bombers and 1,645 medium bombers - all protected by 5,409 fighters. In addition 6 battleships, 23 cruisers, and 104 destroyers softened up the five-invasion beaches. The first waves of British and Canadian troops hit the three eastern beaches, Gold, Juno, and Sword, at approximately 7:45 am. The British 50th Infantry Division landed closest to the American beaches at Gold Beach - itself located ten miles east of Omaha Beach. One mile further east the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division took Juno Beach, and five miles to the east of Juno the British 3rd Infantry Division seized Sword Beach.

The German 716th Division, a garrison division filled with second-rate troops including a number of forced conscripts from Eastern Europe nations, defended the British and Canadian targeted beaches. German resistance duly crumbled in the face of several hours combined aerial and naval bombardment. This was followed up by the first landing waves of infantry, well supported by custom-built DD tanks equipped with floatation kits and dual drive propulsion systems to allow for forward movement through the water. This crude modification could have meant trouble in the rough waters of the English Channel. Thus the decision to launch the assault waves from only seven miles offshore helped the DD tanks to successfully negotiate the strong chop. Unfortunately the Americans would not enjoy such a uniformly smooth landing experience.

The low cloud ceiling and poor weather had resulted in most of the US pre-invasion aerial bombardment missing the German coastal defenses. However, the German 709th Infantry Division, again featuring Eastern European “volunteers” only weakly defended Utah beach. Thus, by mid morning the Americans had secured the beach, and linked up with elements from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. By nightfall 23,000 men had been deposited onshore (see attached picture of U.S. troops and equipment pouring onto a secured Utah beach in the days following D-Day).

On the other hand, at Omaha Beach, between Utah beach to the west and the British beaches to the east, Eisenhower’s armies suffered D-Day’s greatest difficulties. The veteran U.S. 1st Infantry Division, the “Big Red One” had, along with the U.S. 29th Infantry Division, faced the task of taking Omaha. Unfortunately their opposition comprised elements of the well dug in, combat experienced, German 352nd Infantry Division. Beyond that, and as a landing beach Omaha left much to be desired. Steep and imposing cliffs book ended a relatively broad beach but one that ended abruptly in dunes and bluffs rising over 150 feet in height at some places. Moreover, the folds in the land provided extensive cover hiding defenders from view in the grass lined slopes, as well as masking the few cuts in the dunes and bluffs providing egress from the beach. German strong points guarded these natural objectives. Making matters even worse for the Americans, the pre-invasion bombardment had largely missed the beach, or failed to penetrate the heavy German concrete gun emplacements. The decision to launch the assault craft and DD tanks nearly eleven miles out to sea proved a disastrous choice. The vast majority of the tanks quickly took on water in the heavy seas, 27 of the first 32 DD tanks launched from Allied shipping quickly dropped to the English Channel’s bottom. Amphibious two and a half ton trucks (DUKW’s) carrying artillery pieces similarly foundered and sank. This left only the infantry, the scattered few surviving artillery pieces, and the assault engineers to face veteran German infantry manning largely intact defenses.

German machine guns, mortars, artillery, and other heavy weapons swept a deadly hail of fire across the landing craft. The Germans annihilated nearly the entire first landing wave, totaling almost 1,500 troops, 96 tanks, 16 tank dozers, and the many assault engineer teams. Within four hours from the first assault wave’s landing the Germans had killed or wounded over 3,000 American soldiers. Of the 112 Sherman tanks from the 741st and 743rd Tank Battalions landed that day only 41 survived.

Nevertheless, late in the morning U.S. assault battalions finally punched through the German strong points with support from devastatingly accurate naval gunfire. At 1330 hours General Bradley, received tentative word the assault waves had secured the bluffs over Omaha. By the day’s end over 3,000 Americans had died. But the survivors had secured the beachhead. In spite of the slaughter at Omaha Beach, by the evening of June 6th over 150,000 Allied troops had landed in the five beachheads spreading 24 miles along the French coast. For this victory, the Allies endured approximately 10,000 casualties.