d-day

June 1940; German drives British and French armies out to sea and Allied powers wanted to get back Nazi occupied France

When and what was Dunkirk?

Hitler orders fortification of his “Atlantic Wall”

What did Hitler order the fortification of in 1941?

A system of bunkers with naval guns, pillboxes, and beach obstacles; reached from Spanish/French border to Arctic in Norway to protect German occupation of Europe

What was the “Arctic Wall”?

Allies raid Dieppe, France in attempt to break Atlantic Wall and take France

Troops had issues getting armor (e.g. tanks) ashore

What was the Allied response to Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall”?

FDR and Stalin pressure Churchill to commit a second front along the Atlantic wall; “Operation Overlord” (D-Day Operation) is put into motion

Tehran Conference (1943)

General Rommel

What German general was appointed to protect the Atlantic Wall and ordered mines to be laid on beaches, barbed wire, other obstacles?

• Allied spy planes take photos of developments and the French Resistance report info of German positions:

• Allies developed new technology in response to Germans (flail tanks, flamethrowers, oil pipelines, mulberry harbors)

What was the Allied response to Rommel fortifying the beaches even more?

Flail Tank

tank with arms with chains attached to a rotating drum that would detonate the mines

Mulberry harbors

gigantic floating ports

US General Eisenhower (future president) is the supreme Allied commander of operation 

• British General Bernard Montgomery is in charge of most of invasion planning

• Who are the 2 generals in charge of Operation Overlord?

Begins when Allies bomb German radar stations and supply roots along the Northern French to decimate German ability to respond

What happens for the groundwork for D-Day to be laid?

Germans intercept radio, revealing the landing site of Calais, only this wasn’t the actual landing site, rather Normandy was

How do the Allied forces use fake radio communications against the German?

• 6,500 vessels trapped at sea with bad weather, causing seasickness

• Soldiers thought they were going to Calais, but really they were going to Normandy, France, the direct opposite of Cal.

• A fake army headed to Calais headed by feared General George Patton fooled the Germans with inflatable tanks, jeeps, planes

• German spies were double-agents; helping Allied powers

What happened on the eve of D-Day?

Bad weather and German sabotage of fields made it difficult for Allied troops; ⅓ of D-Day glider troops are killed, wounded, or taken prisoner

What occurred during the early parts of D-Day?

• Americans: Utah and Omaha

• British: Sword and Gold

• Canadians: Juno

Beaches to be stormed on Normandy

Germany secretly had a thousand soldiers on Omaha, caused 3,000 causalities

What was waiting for American troops on the Omaha Beach that Allied intelligence was not aware of?

Omaha and Juno

Ultimately, what beach storms were not as sucessful?

Window (tin-foil that dropped from an airplane and is then reflected by the enemy radar to make it seem the planes were coming slowly)

What technique was used by allies to confuse German radar?

Ruperts (decoy paratroopers)

What diversion was dropped further inland during D-Day to confused German troops

160,000; 10,000

_____ Allied troops cross the channel on D-Day, _____ casualties

• Soldiers move towards Caen, city in that is considered a big road hub

• Hitler sends out SS Panzer Division, made of deadly, ruthless Hilter youth, to Caen

What happened in the following days after D-Day?

• Micheal Wittmann- became Nazi hero propagandist after small victory over Allied forces by destroying 4 tanks

• Germany use tall hedgerows to hide and use against soldiers after the beach

What happens a week later after D-day?

Operation Goodwood; To break deadlock around Caen, Allies hit German front-line with 7,000+ tons of bombs, a tank battle ensues

What operation occurs on July 18th, 1944?

• Operation Cobra: Allied powers successfully encircled, killed, and captured Germans in the Falaise pocket, crippling the enemy's ability to regroup and mount counterattacks

What operation occurs a week after Operation Goodwood (July 18th)?

• 10,000 soldiers killed, 40,000 taken prisoner, 50,000 escape

Operation Cobra: How many Germans were captured? How many were killed? How many escaped?

August 25, 1944

When is Paris, France liberated from Nazi occupation?

June 6, 1944

When was D-Day?