D-Day June 6, 1944
On June 6th, 1944, thousands of Allied soldiers boarded landing craft off of the Normandy coast, for many of them, these would be the last hours of their life. The Allied invasion of the French coast was the turning point of Second World War. This single event paved the way for the liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe. Hitler had worked his way into total seclusion from the Allies, except for the Soviet Union in the East, where the German Army was currently on the offensive. There were natural boundaries all around him, the Mediterranean to the south, the Atlantic and English Channel to the West, and the Arctic to the North. He knew that the Allies would have to stage a landing from the sea, and that was the way he liked it. Since the evacuation of the British and French armies from Dunkirk, not a single Allied soldier had set foot on the Mainland. The almost daily air raids by American and British bombers brought millions of tons of high-explosives deep into Germany. Despite the fury of these raids, the German war machine could not be stopped; factories were being built as fast as they were being destroyed. For years, British and American Generals had been trying to devise a plan for an invasion of Europe. In 1944, they
opened up with the most intense shore bombardment ever. It hit enemy beach defenses, tank columns, supply lines, and railroads. Yet again, the allies utilized deception. In addition to the regular airborne drops, rubber dummies were dropped far from the actual battlefields. They were followed by firecrackers, rigged to detonate at different intervals, giving the impression of a firefight. Crucial German units were diverted from the real fighting to go to stop an enemy that wasn't even there. These diversions, accompanied with the shelling of beaches far from Normandy set the Germans into a state of confusion, as they now had no idea if Normandy was the real invasion, or just another diversion. As a result, German Generals sent troops to areas with no action, and they held back reinforcements until they were sure of where the actual invasion was; however by that time, the Allies had already overrun the defenders in some places, and it was to late. especially at Omaha beach where the veteran and extremely formidable 352nd infantry division was stationed. Works Cited Unfortunately for the Allies, there were several other units in the area that had not been anticipated. These extra troops made the landings even more costly, Tute, Warren. D-Day. New York: Nautic Presentations LTD, 1974 came up with what they saw as the best possible option, a sea and air invasion through France. The plans looked perfect on paper, but when put into action, there were many unseen flaws. Minesweepers would clear lanes through the English Channel, through which would sail the
Some common words found in the essay are:
American POW's, Mediterranean Sea, V-1 Buzz-bomb, Norman Cota, German Generals, German Command, French Coast, Americans British, English Channel, Bulge German, landing craft, french coast, german army, invasion force, six thousand ships, americans british, world war, omaha utah, europe hitler, eastern front, sword gold,
Approximate Word count = 2430
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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