D Day
D-Day, occurring on June 6, 1944, was a pivotal event in World War II, marking the largest amphibious invasion in history. The operation involved Allied forces landing on five beach sectors in Normandy, France, with American troops at Utah and Omaha beaches, British forces at Gold and Sword, and Canadian troops at Juno. The strategic aim was to establish a foothold in Europe to facilitate the push against Nazi Germany, a plan primarily led by the United States with significant British collaboration. The success of D-Day relied on extensive planning, deception tactics, and innovative technologies, including specialized landing craft and artificial harbors.
Despite facing fierce resistance, particularly at Omaha Beach, where experienced German troops were stationed, the Allies managed to secure their landings and began pushing inland. The initial objectives were not fully achieved on the first day, leading to intense combat in the weeks that followed. The heavy casualties sustained highlighted the challenges of the operation, but the overwhelming manpower and resources of the American forces played a crucial role in ultimately breaking through German defenses. D-Day significantly contributed to the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany and reshaped the course of the war in Europe.
D Day
The Event Date on which the landing of Allied forces in Normandy opened the Allied campaign to liberate France and conquer Germany
Date June 6, 1944
Place France’s Normandy coast, near the cities of Caen and Bayeux
Also Known As Operation Overlord, Operation Neptune
The Normandy landings constituted history’s largest amphibious assault and served as an expression of the successful and intimate Allied collaboration between the United States and Great Britain. The landings were the culmination of America’s strategic plan that came to dominate Anglo-American strategy. Finally, the landings were the “tipping point” of the war; once the Allies were ashore, Germany’s defeat appeared inevitable.
America’s strategic vision for the European theater of World War II was that the fastest route to victory was a landing in France followed by the destruction of German forces and the invasion of Germany to compel unconditional surrender. This direct approach was antithetical to British strategy because heavy casualties were likely to result. British leaders, especially Winston Churchill, feared such a direct drive; instead, they preferred to wear Germany down through a peripheral strategy.
America’s first plan, proposed by General George C. Marshall, was for Operation Sledgehammer, a landing in France in 1942. This was postponed for logistical reasons. In 1943, a similar plan was also stymied by the British. By 1944, America’s might in manpower, aircraft, shipping, and industrial capacity made it the dominant Anglo-Allied partner, and U.S. strategic plans slowly came to direct the Anglo-American strategy.
Planning the Assault
Shortly after France fell to the Germans in 1940, the British began planning for a landing on the German-occupied shore. Once the United States entered the war, joint planning for an invasion was the responsibility of the Chief of Staff of Supreme Allied Command (COSSAC). COSSAC’s initial plans were shaped by the failure of a large-scale commando landing near the port of Dieppe in August, 1942. British planners realized that although ports offered facilities for unloading ships, seizing a port would invariably result in damage to such facilities and heavy casualties. COSSAC determined instead to land on open beaches and chose Normandy because it was within striking distance but did not appear to be an obvious landing site, like the narrowest part of the English Channel at Pas de Calais.
When American general Dwight D. Eisenhower was named the commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF), the COSSAC plans were upgraded to expand the lodgment area and landing forces. Eisenhower also demanded a redirection of the strategic bombing campaign to attack road and railroad nets throughout France. To improve inter-Allied cooperation and trust, Eisenhower interleaved the nationalities of officers at different command levels. Thus, Eisenhower, an American, commanded SHAEF, but the ground and naval forces were commanded by British officers, and national commanders controlled field armies. This intermixing of responsibilities fostered close cooperation and understanding.
Allied planners harnessed technology to enhance the landing force’s capabilities and to sustain those forces. Because getting large numbers of troops and supplies to the beaches would be difficult from regular ships, the Allies cooperated in designing and building a spectrum of specialized landing craft such as LSTs (landing ship tanks). The time required for the construction of such vessels was a major factor in delaying the landing from 1943 to 1944. To provide enough gasoline to support an advance inland, a secret pipe-line under the ocean (PLUTO) was designed, as were artificial harbors called Mulberries that could facilitate off-loading of supplies after the landings.
SHAEF planned to isolate the landing area by dropping airborne troops near bridges and important crossroads, with the drops occurring at night to avoid antiaircraft fire. The landings would be at low tide so that beach obstacles could be seen and avoided. The proper conditions of full moon and early low tide occurred during only a few periods in the summer, which the Germans were likely to anticipate. Bad weather in June of 1944 made landings then seem improbable, so that Germany was unlikely to expect a landing. In addition, complex Allied efforts at disinformation had convinced German intelligence analysts that the landings would be in the Pas de Calais area.
The Landings
The landings surprised the Germans. Allied troops landed on five beaches, code-named (from west to east) Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Americans landed at Utah and Omaha, the British at Gold and Sword, and the Canadians at Juno and Sword. German opposition varied in intensity, with the strongest resistance encountered at Omaha and Juno. Although many Germans were second-rate “garrison troops,” those at Omaha were led by veteran officers and noncommissioned officers with experience from combat in Russia. This combination of veteran leadership and well-sited guns created heavy casualties among the first Americans ashore, but courage and inspirational leadership at all levels carried the assault forward. Smaller warships called destroyers came as close to shore as possible and provided direct artillery support. By afternoon, troops were pushing inland.
Impact
Although troops landed successfully on June 6, they did not reach all of their objectives. It took nearly two months of fierce fighting in Normandy’s restricted terrain before the Allied forces broke out and advanced into France’s interior. The close combat of June and July inflicted heavy losses on all sides, yet it was the Americans who had the manpower to break through the German defenses near Saint-Lô. In the end, the overall size of the U.S. war effort allowed American troops to maintain assaults despite heavy casualties and ensured that America would continue to direct the Anglo-Allied strategy.
Bibliography
Balkoski, Joseph. Omaha Beach: D-day, June 6, 1944. Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2006. A detailed look at the challenges faced at Omaha Beach and how American soldiers overcame the surprisingly stark defenses.
Hastings, Max. Overlord: D-day and the Battle for Normandy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984. An in-depth look at the fighting required to break out from Normandy and drive into France.
Penrose, Jane. The D-day Companion. Oxford, England: Osprey, 2004. Individual chapters provide analyses of the plans of both sides and the fighting on D Day and beyond.
Ryan, Cornelius. The Longest Day. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. This blockbuster narrative provides an intimate look at the soldiers’ D-day experiences.
Zaloga, Steven. D-day Fortifications in Normandy. Oxford, England: Osprey, 2005. A detailed look at the German defenses that explains why the landings proved so difficult on some, though not all, of the beaches.