*D-day was actually chosen for the date of June 5th, but was postponed till the next day because of rough seas.
*D-day war efforts were under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, future president of the United States of America. He was a Republican. (Emma bashes fist into hand)
*Their landing place was kept secret, and the German's were not expecting the attack.
*This was a well organized surprise attack with no mistakes.
*The Allies has 800 warships and 11 000 aircraft.
*Eisenhower ordered the Allie troops to enter the continent of Europe and undertake operations aimed at the heart of Germany and the destruction of her armed forces.
*There were 175,000 assault troops, 5, 000 vessels of every type, 20, 000 vehicles and 11, 000 aircraft of the Allied troops invading.
*Their objective was a 60 mile arc of the beaches in Normandy.
*During the night U.S. and British airborne forces went by parachutes and gliders to make protective shields at both ends of the beach.
*The forces at sea approached at dawn. The Allies in ships, cruisers released firearm and bombs pounded the shore.
*The first wave of assault troops went on landing crafts that prepared to go to shore at 6:30 am. By nine am, the water was crammed with human bodies.
*At OmahaBeach almost all members of a 197 man company were killed or wounded within ten minutes of landing on the beach.
*The Allies swarmed ashore at 5 points. The American troops landed at OmahaBeach, which is in the centre, had bloodiest battle. After five days of fighting, 16 Allied troops occupied a strip of coast 80 miles long and in some places 20 miles deep.
*Canadian forces landed at JunoBeach and Caen; the British troops landed at Pegasus bridge, Merville Battery, GoldBeach, SwordBeach, and Caen; the United States landed at Sainte-Mere-Eglise, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc; and French troops landed at Ouistreham and Resistance.
*As D-day happened, Hitler was asleep. None of his generals dared to order re-enforcement with out his permission and no one dared waking him. This caused crucial hours to be lost on to holding onto Normandy.
By midday on D-day Allie forces were launching more men and even Omaha beach was being captured.
At late afternoon on June 6th, had finally gained a foothold in Hitler’s Fortress Europe.
*The five beaches that the Allied troops had landed at were secured by the end of the day.
*The Canadian soldiers at Juno beach suffered 50% losses, the second highest of the day.
*The 3rd Canadian Division had penetrated further into France then any other of the Allied forces.
*The causalities for the Allied troops on D-day were 53,700 dead, 18,000 missing, 155,000 wounded. For the German troops it was 200,000 dead, wounded and missing as well as 200,000 captured
2 comments:
Thank you so much for posting..Our son, Kelly, and wife visited Normandy Beach a few years ago. Kel said it was one of the most moving things he has ever seen. (Kelly was in the USN, aboard USS JFK CV-67 aircraft carrier and he is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War.)
And you can thank your son for his service from me...
Post a Comment