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"Day of Days"
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Today, June 6 marks the 64th anniversary of the beginning of Operation Overlord or D-Day as it is popularly known. At 6:30 am (H-Hour) on the morning of June 6, 1944 (D-Day) 156,000 American, British Canadian, and Australian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy initiating the liberation of Western Europe from the Nazis.Despite the common misnomer, D-Day does not specifically refer to the Normandy landings. D-Day was the military code word for the day the operation would commence and H-Hour the scheduled time for the operation to begin. In fact, there were many D-Days during World War II, especially in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Overlord was not the codename for just the Normandy landings rather it was the codename for the entire crusade to liberate Europe. The codename for the initial phase of Overlord—the Normandy landings—was Neptune.
June 5 was the originally scheduled step off date. However due to bad weather, Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force General Dwight D. Eisenhower moved D-Day back one day to June 6. Good weather was crucial to the success of the invasion, as landing craft could not operate in stormy seas and aircraft could not locate their targets through the low clouds. Allied meteorologists predicted improvement in weather conditions for June 6. After consulting with his staff, Eisenhower said “Okay let’s go.” Overlord would have been postponed until July, as a full moon and the right tides offered only a small window each month for optimum conditions for the landings.
The Allies also employed an elaborate intelligence operation codenamed Fortitude to deceive the Germans into thinking they would land at Pas de Calais. Allied intelligence successfully fooled their German adversary the Abwehr, into thinking that General George Patton would lead the non-existent First U.S. Army Group in an attack at Pas de Calais. In addition to misinformation, the Allies deployed rubber tanks and wooden artillery to fool German spies. Allied double agents like the legendary GARBO were crucial to the deception.
Airborne operations were vital to successful the amphibious landings. Airborne troops shielded the landing forces from German counterattack, seized strategic bridges and crossroads, and helped to expand the beachhead. The U.S. 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions along with the British 6th Airborne Division parachuted into the pre-dawn darkness over Normandy. Despite nearly half the American paratroopers missing their drop zones, the 101st and 82nd regrouped and seized their objectives all the while playing havoc with German resistance. Some may remember the most famous American unit in the 101st: Easy Company 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The British 6th Airborne took their objectives as well the most including Pegasus Bridge.
The amphibious landings were divided into five beaches Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. The U.S. Army had responsibility for Utah and Omaha while the British and Canadians landed on Gold Juno and Sword. The Allies deployed aerial and naval bombardment to soften the German defenses along the Atlantic Wall and to create areas of cover on the beach for the landing troops. Pearl Harbor survivor USS Nevada took part in the naval bombardment.
British forces took heavy casualties early at Gold Beach and many of the Sherman DD tanks, which were supposed to provide fire cover for the landing troops, sank in the rough seas. Despite this they were able to dispatch German resistance on the shore. British troops did not achieve their primary objective of taking the Caen-Bayeux road or linking up with American forces from Omaha beach. However they did move six miles inland and linked up with Canadian forces from Juno Beach.
The first wave of Canadians to hit Juno Beach took 50% casualties. However, unlike Gold Beach, the armor successfully made it ashore helping the infantry to move past German shore defenses. The Canadians pushed nine miles inland until stopped by stiffer German resistance. The Canadians were the only Allied amphibious units to achieve their D-Day objectives.
British Infantry moved easily off Sword Beach penetrating five miles inland. However they did not achieve their primary objective of seizing the important transportation hub of Caen. Free French Commandos joined the British as Sword taking the heavily fortified Casino blockhouse at Ouistreham. Caen would not fall until August 8.
Utah Beach saw the lightest casualties of any of the landing zones. However, not all went according to plan. Due to heavy currents, much of the 4th Infantry Division responsible for taking Utah landed well of course from their intended targets. Realizing that they were in the wrong place, General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of president Teddy Roosevelt famously quipped “We will start the war right here.” The 4th’s lack of heavy resistance was due to their misplaced landings, which allowed them to quickly move inland and link up with elements of the 101st Airborne.
Omaha Beach was the most heavily defended and deadliest of all the landing beaches. The U.S. 29th Infantry Division and 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One) faced the best German troops in Normandy. Taking Omaha was critical as it formed the linchpin between the British/Canadian beaches and the rest of the American forces on Utah. German fire massacred the first troops landing at Omaha. The situation deteriorated so much that General Omar Bradley considered abandoning the beachhead. However a sergeant here, and a corporal there, decided that if they were going to die that they were going to take some Germans with them. The 29th and the Big Red One rallied and moved inland eventually capturing their objectives three days later
The 2nd Ranger Battalion scaled the treacherous cliffs of Pointe du Hoc to capture gun placements that could have threatened both the Omaha and Utah landing sites. The Rangers took the fortified gun placements, but the Germans had removed them two days earlier. A patrol of Rangers found the gun, which were trained on Utah Beach, and destroyed them. 40 years later Ronald Reagan would give one of his finest speeches commemorating the boys of Pointe du Hoc.
Allied forces would be held up in the Norman hedgerows but eventually would breakout from the beachhead by the end of the summer liberating Paris on August 25. Total Allied casualties are estimated at 10,000 including 2,500 dead.
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