D-Day final

Operation Overlord

Code name for the Allied invasion of northwest Europe to free them from Nazi rule.

Operation Neptune

Code name for the Allied assault on Normandy to establish a beachhead.

Dieppe Raid

A 1942 Canadian raid on the Atlantic Wall that caused 34,000 casualties.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

American commander of SHAEF, commanding general of Allied operations in the European Theater.

General Bernard Montgomery

Commander of Allied ground forces under Eisenhower.

General Omar Bradley

Commander of U.S ground forces under Eisenhower.

Key objective of 82nd Airborne

Capture of the crossroads and communications center of Ste-Mere-Eglise.

French Resistance

Behind the scenes support from the Allies that sabotaged German transportation and communication on the eve of the invasion

Allied landing beaches

Juno, Sword, Gold, Utah and Omaha.

US beaches

Utah was the most successful landing with 4th Infantry Division; Omaha was the largest and deadliest.

Canadian beaches

Juno, the smallest beach, also named Jellyfish.

British beaches

Gold and Sword.

D-Day troop requirements

156,000 troops, 13,000 aircraft, 5,000 warships were required.

Ghost Army - Operation Fortitude

A deceptive unit that made it seem like an invasion was planned for Pas-de-Calais and not the real site in Normandy using inflatable tanks and tricks to mislead the German high command.

USAAF

United States Army Air Force.

The initial German response to D-Day was delayed because

Hitler believed the attack would be at Pas-de-Calais and was asleep.

Casualties on D-Day (estimates)

10,000 Allied casualties with 4,400 Allied dead; German casualties over 9,000.

Operation Mulberry

Critically important artificial harbors at Omaha and Gold Beaches.

German defense methods on the Atlantic Wall

Utilized sea mines, submerged land mines, beach obstacles, and fortifications.

Gen. Gerd von Rundstedt

German commanding general for Western Europe.

Gen. Erwin Rommel

German commander for Normandy.

Normandy Breakout

Allied forces drove the Germans out of Normandy in late July.

Pathfinders

First U.S. paratroopers sent to mark drop zones for airborne troops.  and that most were unsuccessful because they were dropped off course

Why did paratroopers get dropped off course?

Thick cloud cover, heavy German anti-aircraft fire, and inexperienced pilots.

General Wilhelm Falley

German commander of the 91st Air Landing Division, first German general killed in Operation Overlord.

First combat on D-Day

Just after midnight at Pegasus Bridge, when the British 6th Airborne Division under Major John Howard landed in gliders and captured key bridges over the Orne River & Caen Canal, which they held until relieved by troops from Sword Beach.

Flying coffins

Nicknamed for British-made Horsa gliders and American-made Waco gliders.

Gen. Eisenhower postponed D-Day

From June 5th to June 6, 1944.

Allied naval bombardment conducted mainly by

U.S. and British navies.

Ox and Bucks

British airborne troops that captured Pegasus Bridge in D-Day’s first Allied victory.

Operation Dragoon

An invasion of southern France to support Operation Overlord.

Allied airborne operations sought to

Capture and hold key crossroads, bridges, and transportation centers.

D-D tanks

Tanks fitted with flotation devices that sank in some cases but helped destroy German defenses.

Battery Azeville and Battery Crisbercq

Delayed the Allied advance from Utah Beach until captured.

When did allied planners think it would be a good time to land

at low tide 

Western Task Force (US) and the Eastern Task Force (UK)

The allied naval fleet that bombarded the landing sites 

heavy cruiser USS Augusta

flagship headquarters for allied landings

8th US Air Force and 9th U.S. Air Force

Principal U.S. Army Air Force units responsible for bombing Germany targets prior to D-Day

First town liberated in france

 Ste-Mere-Eglise

Privates John Steele and Ken Russell

two paratroopers who were left hanging on the church during the Ste-Mere-Eglise raid.

German air force

 Luftwaffe

Know that by D-Day Allied naval and air forces

severely reduced the German navy and its ability to defend the Atlantic Wall with surface ships or submarines.

OST troops

 former German prisoners of war from Russia and Eastern Europe – who were less motivated that most German troops.

British 6th Airborne Division, the US. 82nd Airborne Division and the US 101st Airborne Division

Allied airborne operation sent three division of airborne troops into Normandy in the early morning darkness of D-Day

Allied airborne assault during the early hours of D-Day was hampered

C-47 transport pilots dropped most paratroopers far off course

Assault at Brecourt Manor

101st Airborne Division’s Easy Company under Major Richard Winters successfully destroyed an important German artillery battery near Utah Beach.

La Fiere Bridge over the Merderet River near Ste-Mere-Eglise

82nd Airborne fought and finally won a fierce battle

Cherbourg and Caen

two major ports that were Allied objectives in Normandy

Hedgerows

ancient natural fences or barriers

German failures on D-Day

they were deceived by the ghost army, the atlantic wall wasn’t as effective, some german armies were not good defending some allied landing sites, slow response to counter attacks Allied landings with reserve Panzer forces.

Allied problems on D-Day

C-47 aircraft pilots dropped airborne troops off-course, Allied naval and aerial bombardments were not fully successful in some places, Allied intelligence failed to learn or convey accurate strength of German troops on Omaha Beach, flotation devices on the Allied D-D tanks failed on some beaches, Allied intelligence did not realize the Germans had flooded fields where glider troops and paratroopers would land, Allied expectations for the advance from the beaches on D-Day was unrealistic.

Allied successes on D-Day

the intelligence advantage provided by the Ultra project, which broke the German military code used on their Enigma machines, selection of Normandy as invasion site proved to be good choice, Correct Allied weather forecast for D-Day, Successful assembly and deployment by Eisenhower of a massive invasion force, Allied air superiority over German Luftwaffe in Normandy, Allied naval superiority, Effective use of “Mulberry” artificial harbors to unload troops and supplies.

Baie-de-Seine

where the D-Day landing beaches were

Parachute dummies

 allied decoys dropped to confuse german forces on where actual drop zones were

German Panzer tanks reserves

Hitler decided to divide the German tank force three ways – with only a third held near the beaches.

Andrew Higgins

created the higgins boat (LVCP) which was used to bring troops directly to shore on D-Day

Utah Beach

captured mainly by troops from the U.S. 4th Infantry Division, with some troops from the U.S. 90th Infantry Division. first wave of US troops headed went off course when its pilot boat was lost, and landed in the wrong place—which proved to be an advantage for the U.S. because German defenses were weaker at that point. Only 600 casualties and was the most successful landing

German defensive obstacles

 land mines, tobruks, Czech hedgehogs, sea mines and widerstandnests (WNs)

Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

 directed all U.S. troops to continue landing at the “wrong place” on Utah Beach by famously stating, “We’ll start the war from here” – and posthumously won the Medal of Honor for doing so.

US destroyer USS Corry

only american destroyer sunk , which was sunk by fire from Battery Azeville.

Pointe-du-Hoc

between Utah Beach and Omaha Beach and that the U.S. Rangers suffered heavy casualties capturing it – only to learn that the fearsome German artillery guns had not been installed there. But later, two Rangers found the guns and destroyed them with grenades.

Bedford Boys

National Guard troops from a small town in Virginia and that they suffered 19 killed on Omaha Beach on D-Day

Operation Pluto

successfully connected an undersea fuel line across the English Channel from Britain to Normandy to supply fuel to Allied vehicles.

Stick

 planeload of U.S. paratroopers

The initial German response to D-Day was delayed

because Hitler believed the Allied attack would be at Pas-de-Calais and was sleeping late on D-Day, while Gen. Erwin Rommel had left Normandy to visit his wife and meet with Hitler.

The Allied force successfully secured all five beachheads on D-Day, but plans were overly ambitious and most were not secured on D-Day including capturing the key cities of

Caen, Carentan, and Cherbourg.

LVCPs

principal landing craft that brought most troops ashore on the two U.S. beaches were called “Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel”

Almost total destruction of Caen

by an Allied bombing campaign.

August 25, 1944

Allied forces liberated Paris and drove the Germans across the Seine River toward Germany, ending Operation Overlord.

Gen. Norman Cota

“Gentlemen, we are being killed on the beaches. Let us go inland and be killed”

the ONLY beach where aerial bombing was successful:

utah beach

there was a single German Panzer counterattack on D-Day:

 it was repulsed with heavy losses by Allied naval and air forces.

British forces from Sword Beach successfully linked with the British glider troops

at Pegasus Bridge -- but failed in their major objective to take the port city of Caen on D-Day.

Know that U.S. Army & Navy commanders argued about the length of the naval bombardment

the army commanders wanted it briefer so troops could quickly move on shore. The navy finally agreed – but it caused greater casualties.

Remember that the U.S. Rangers scaled Pointe-du-Hoc with

ropes and grappling hooks and some ladders.

in less than a year after D-Day

 U.S., British and Canadian forces coming from the west and Russian forces coming from the East had defeated Nazi Germany