Battle of Normandy

battle_name=Battle of Normandy

The landings

The French Resistance

The BBC in its French service from London would regularly transmit hundreds of personal messages. Only a few of them were really significant. A few days before D-Day, the commanding officers of the Resistance heard the first line of Verlaine's poem , Chanson d'Automne, "Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne" (Long sobs of autumn violins) which meant that the "day" was imminent. When the second line "blesse mon coeur d'une langueur monotone" (wound my heart with a montonous langour) was heard, the Resistance knew that the invasion would take place within the next 48 hours. They then knew it was time to go about their respective pre assigned missions, which included destroying selected water towers, telephone lines, roads and railways.

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Airborne landings

The British 6th Airborne Division was the first full unit to go into action, at sixteen minutes past midnight, in Operation Tonga. One set of objectives was Pegasus Bridge and other bridges on the rivers at the east flank of the landing area. The bridges were very quickly captured by glider forces and held until relieved by the Commandos later on D-Day. Another objective was a large gun battery at Merville. Although this larger glider and paratroop force was widely scattered, the battery was destroyed. However, the diminished assault team suffered 50% casualties in the attack.

Related Topics:
Operation Tonga - Pegasus Bridge

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The 82nd (Operation Detroit) and 101st Airborne (Operation Chicago) were less fortunate in quickly completing their main objectives. Partly due to inexperienced piloting and difficult terrain, many units were widely scattered and unable to rally. Efforts of the early wave of pathfinder teams to mark the landing zones were largely ineffective. Some paratroopers drowned when they landed in the sea or in deliberately flooded areas. After 24 hours, only 2,500 of the 6,000 men in 101st had assembled. Many continued to roam and fight behind enemy lines for days. The 82nd occupied the town of Sainte-Mère-Église early in the morning of June 6, giving it the claim of the first town liberated in the invasion.

Related Topics:
82nd - Operation Detroit - 101st Airborne - Operation Chicago - Pathfinder - Sainte-Mère-Église

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Sword Beach

On Sword Beach, the regular British infantry got ashore with light casualties. They had advanced about five miles (8 km) by the end of the day but failed to make some of the deliberately testing targets set by Montgomery. In particular, Caen, a major objective, was still in German hands by the end of D-Day.

Related Topics:
Montgomery - Caen

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1 Special Services Brigade went ashore in the second wave led by No.4 Commando with the two French Troops first, as agreed amongst themselves. The British and French of No.4 Commando had separate targets in Ouistreham: the French a blockhouse and the Casino, and the British two batteries which overlooked the beach. The blockhouse proved too strong for the Commando's PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti Tank) guns, but the Casino was taken with the aid of a Centaur tank. The British Commandos achieved both battery objectives only to find the gun mounts empty and the guns removed. Leaving the mopping-up procedure to the infantry, the Commandos withdrew from Ouistreham to join the other members of 1 SAS Brigade (Nos.3, 6 and 45), in moving inland to join-up with the 6th Airborne.

Related Topics:
PIAT - Centaur tank - Ouistreham

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Juno Beach

The Canadian forces that landed on Juno Beach faced 11 heavy batteries of 155 mm guns and 9 medium batteries of 75 mm guns, as well as machine-gun nests, pillboxes, other concrete fortifications, and a seawall twice the height of the one at Omaha Beach. The first wave suffered 50 percent casualties, the second highest of the five D-Day beachheads (the highest was Omaha Beach).

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Despite the obstacles, within hours the Canadians were off the beach and beginning their advance inland. The 6th Canadian Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars) was the only Allied unit to meet its June 6 objectives, when it crossed the Caen–Bayeux highway 15 km inland.

Related Topics:
June 6 - Caen - Bayeux

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By the end of D-Day, 14,000 Canadians had been successfully landed, and the 3rd Canadian Division had penetrated further into France than any other Allied force, despite having faced such strong resistance at the beachhead. The 21st Panzer division launched the first D-Day counter-attack between Sword and Juno beaches, and the Canadians held against several stiff counter-attacks by the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend on June 7 and 8.

Related Topics:
12th SS Panzer Division ''Hitlerjugend'' - June 7 - 8

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Gold Beach

At Gold Beach, the casualties were also quite heavy, partly because the swimming Sherman DD tanks were delayed, and the Germans had strongly fortified a village on the beach. However, the 50th division overcame its difficulties and advanced almost to the outskirts of Bayeux by the end of the day. With the exception of the Canadians at Juno Beach, no division came closer to its objectives than the 50th.

Related Topics:
Sherman DD - Bayeux

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No.47(RM) Commando was the last British Commando unit to land and came ashore on Gold east of Le Hamel. Their task was to proceed inland then turn right (west) and make a ten-mile (16 km) march through enemy territory to attack the coastal harbour of Port en Bessin from the rear. This small port, on the British extreme right, was well sheltered in the chalk cliffs and significant in that it was to be a prime early harbour for supplies to be brought in including fuel by underwater pipe from tankers moored offshore.

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Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach was the bloodiest landing beach on D-Day. The U.S. 1st Infantry Division and U.S. 29th Infantry Division faced the German 352nd Division, some of the best trained on the beaches. Omaha was the most heavily fortified beach, and pre-landing bombardment of the bunkers was ineffective. Almost all of the swimming DD tanks swamped en route to the beach. The official record stated that "within 10 minutes of the ramps being lowered, company had become inert, leaderless and almost incapable of action. Every officer and sergeant had been killed or wounded It had become a struggle for survival and rescue". There were about 2,500 killed, most in the first few hours. Commanders considered abandoning the beachhead, but some survivors regrouped and pressed inland.

Related Topics:
U.S. 1st Infantry Division - U.S. 29th Infantry Division - DD tank

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Pointe du Hoc

The massive, concrete cliff-top gun emplacement at Pointe du Hoc was the target of the U.S. 2nd Ranger battalion. The task of the 225 men, led by Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder, was to scale the 30-metre cliffs under enemy fire with ropes and ladders, and then attack and destroy the guns, which were thought to command the Omaha and Utah landing areas. The emplacement was successfully reached, and the guns, which had been moved out (probably during the preceding bombardment), were found and destroyed.

Related Topics:
Pointe du Hoc - James Earl Rudder

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Utah Beach

Casualties on Utah Beach, the westernmost landing zone, were 197 out of around 23,000 landed, the lightest of any beach. The U.S. 4th Infantry Division was able to press inland relatively easily and succeeded in linking up with parts of the airborne divisions, which had helped secure the beachhead and confuse the enemy prior to the landings, with heavy casualties.

Related Topics:
Utah Beach - U.S. 4th Infantry Division

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