Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the name for the Battle of Normandy. It was a big plan by the Allies to free parts of Europe taken over by Germany during World War II. It started on June 6, 1944, known as D-Day, with landings along the coast of Normandy in France.

Many planes, ships, and troops were part of this operation. On the first day alone, nearly 160,000 soldiers crossed the English Channel.

The plan was made in 1943. American General Dwight D. Eisenhower was in charge of the whole operation. The Normandy coast was chosen for the landings. American, British, and Canadian forces each had different sections of the beach. Special equipment was made to help the troops, and the Allies used tricks to confuse the Germans.

Even though the first day didn’t go exactly as planned, the Allies kept moving forward. They captured important places like Cherbourg and Caen. By the end of August, German forces were retreating eastward, marking the end of Operation Overlord. This operation was a key step in freeing Western Europe from German control.

Preparations for D-Day

In June 1940, Germany took control of France. British ships helped save many soldiers who were trapped along the coast, bringing them safely to England in what is known as the Dunkirk evacuation. British leaders, including Prime Minister Winston Churchill, knew it would be hard to return to Europe without help from other countries like the United States.

Plans for a big invasion began. Two early plans, called Operation Roundup and Operation Sledgehammer, were thought about but were not practical. Instead, battles happened in places like North Africa and Italy, giving soldiers important experience.

In May 1943, leaders decided to plan a big invasion across the English Channel within the next year. They needed to wait until German forces were weaker and they had enough ships and supplies ready. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was chosen to lead the invasion forces, and General Bernard Montgomery was put in charge of the land forces.

The Allies chose Normandy as the place to land because it gave them good opportunities to move forward. They planned to start the invasion in June 1944 because they needed more ships. By then, over a million Allied soldiers were ready.

The plan had several parts. Soldiers would drop from the air and land from ships on five different beaches. They also planned bombing attacks to weaken German defenses and used tricks to hide where they would land. The beaches had code names like Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Soldiers would land there and work together to move inland and capture important places.

Invasion

Main article: Normandy landings

You are about to begin a big journey toward which we have worked for many months. The eyes of the world are on you. The hopes and prayers of people who love freedom everywhere walk with you. Together with our brave friends and partners on other battlefields, you will help destroy the German army, end Nazi control over countries in Europe, and help create a safe and free world.

By May 1944, 1.5 million American soldiers had arrived in the United Kingdom. Most stayed in temporary camps in the southwest of England, ready to cross the Channel to the western part of the landing area. British and Canadian soldiers stayed in places further east, from Southampton to Newhaven, and even on the east coast for those coming later. A complex system made sure soldiers and vehicles left on time from twenty places. Some soldiers had to get on their boats almost a week before the main landing. The ships met at a spot called “Piccadilly Circus” southeast of the Isle of Wight to form groups to cross the Channel. Minesweepers started clearing paths on the evening of June 5, and a thousand bombers left before dawn to attack coastal defenses. About 1,200 planes left England just before midnight to carry three groups of soldiers to drop zones behind enemy lines several hours before the beach landings. The American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were sent to objectives on the Cotentin Peninsula west of Utah. The British 6th Airborne Division was sent to capture bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne. The Free French 4th SAS battalion of 538 soldiers had goals in Brittany (Operation Dingson, Operation Samwest). About 132,000 soldiers were carried by sea on D-Day, and another 24,000 came by air. Naval bombing started at 05:45 and continued until 06:25 from five battleships, twenty cruisers, sixty-five destroyers, and two monitors. Soldiers began arriving on the beaches around 06:30.

Beaches

Main articles: Utah Beach, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, Gold Beach, Juno Beach, and Sword Beach

The boats carrying the U.S. 4th Infantry Division going to Utah were pushed by the current to a spot about 1,800 metres south of where they were supposed to land. The soldiers met light resistance, losing fewer than 200 soldiers. Their tries to move inland did not reach their goals for the first day, but they were able to move about 6.5 kilometres, meeting up with the 101st Airborne Division. The airborne landings west of Utah were not very successful, as only ten percent of the paratroopers landed in their drop zones. Getting the soldiers together into groups was hard because there were not enough radios and the land had hedgerows, stone walls and marshes. The 82nd Airborne Division reached its main goal at Sainte-Mère-Église and worked to protect the western side. Its failure to capture river crossings at the River Merderet caused a delay in closing off the Cotentin Peninsula. The 101st Airborne Division helped protect the southern side and captured a lock on the River Douve at La Barquette, but did not capture the bridges nearby on the first day.

At Pointe du Hoc, the job for the two hundred soldiers of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, led by Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder, was to climb 30-metre cliffs with ropes and ladders to destroy a gun battery there. While under fire from above, the soldiers climbed the cliff, only to find that the guns had already been moved. The Rangers found the weapons, ready to use but unprotected, in an orchard about 550 metres south of the point, and disabled them. Under attack, the soldiers at the point became isolated, and some were captured. By dawn on June 7, Rudder had only 90 soldiers able to fight. Help did not come until June 8, when members of the 743rd Tank Battalion arrived.

Omaha, the most defended area, was given to the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, together with troops from the U.S. 29th Infantry Division. They faced the 352nd Infantry Division, instead of the expected single group. Strong currents forced many landing boats east of their intended place or made them late. Losses were higher than at all the other landings combined, as the soldiers faced fire from the cliffs above. Problems clearing the beach of obstacles made the beachmaster stop more vehicles from landing at 08:30. A group of destroyers arrived around this time to give supporting artillery fire. Getting off Omaha was only possible through five narrow paths, and by late morning only about six hundred soldiers had reached higher ground. By noon, as the artillery fire worked and the Germans ran low on ammunition, the Americans were able to clear some paths on the beaches. They also started clearing the enemy defenses so vehicles could move off the beach. The small area held by the soldiers grew over the next days, and the D-Day goals were reached by June 9.

At Gold, strong winds made things hard for the landing boats, and the special tanks were put in the water close to shore or right on the beach instead of further out as planned. Air attacks had not hit the Le Hamel strong point, and its big gun kept causing damage until 16:00. On the western side, the 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment captured Arromanches (future site of Mulberry "B"), and contact was made on the eastern side with the Canadian forces at Juno.

Landings of soldiers at Juno were delayed because of rough seas, and the soldiers arrived before their supporting tanks, losing many soldiers while getting off the boats. Most of the bombing from ships had missed the German defenses. Even with these problems, the Canadians quickly cleared the beach and made two paths to the villages above. Delays in taking Bény-sur-Mer caused crowding on the beach, but by nightfall, the Juno and Gold areas covered a space 19 kilometres wide and 10 kilometres deep. One group of the 1st Hussar Tank Regiment was the only Allied group to reach its goal on the first day of the invasion. Losses at Juno were 961 soldiers.

On Sword, 21 of 25 special tanks made it safely to shore to help the soldiers, who began getting off at 07:30. They quickly cleared the beach and made several paths for the tanks. In the windy conditions, the tide came in faster than expected, making it hard to move the tanks. The 2nd Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry moved on foot to within a few kilometres of Caen, but had to pull back because they did not have enough tank support. At 16:00, the German 21st Panzer Division tried to attack between Sword and Juno and almost reached the coast. They met strong resistance from the British 3rd Infantry Division and were soon called back to help near Caen and Bayeux.

The first parts of the man-made Mulberry harbours were brought over on June 7 and the structures were ready for unloading by mid-June. One was built at Arromanches by the British, the other at Omaha by the Americans. Heavy storms on June 19 stopped the landing of supplies and destroyed the Omaha harbour. The repaired Arromanches harbour could receive about 6,000 tons of materiel each day and was used for the next ten months, but most supplies were brought in over the beaches until the port of Cherbourg was cleared of mines and blocks on July 16.

Allied losses on the first day were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. The Germans lost 1,000 soldiers. The Allied plans for the invasion had called for taking Carentan, St. Lô, Caen, and Bayeux on the first day, with all the beaches (except Utah) connected with a line 10 to 16 kilometres from the beaches; none of these goals were reached. The five areas where soldiers landed were not connected until June 12, by which time the Allies held a line about 97 kilometres long and 24 kilometres deep. Caen, a main goal, was still held by Germany at the end of D-Day and would not be fully taken until July 21. Nearly 160,000 soldiers crossed the English Channel on June 6, and more than two million Allied soldiers were in France by the end of August.

Cherbourg

Main articles: Battle of Cherbourg and Bombardment of Cherbourg

In the western part of the area, US soldiers were to take the Cotentin Peninsula, especially Cherbourg, which would give the Allies a deep water harbour. The land behind Utah and Omaha had thick, thorny hedgerows on banks with ditches on each side. Many places also had rifle pits and machine-gun positions. Most roads were too narrow for tanks. The Germans had filled the fields behind Utah with sea water for up to 3 kilometres from the coast. German forces on the peninsula included the 91st Infantry Division and the 243rd and 709th Static Infantry Divisions. By June 3 the Allied leaders realized that Cherbourg would not be quickly taken, and decided to cut off the peninsula to stop any more reinforcements from arriving. After failed tries by the inexperienced 90th Infantry Division, Major General J. Lawton Collins, the VII Corps leader, gave the job to the veteran 9th Infantry Division. They reached the west coast of the Cotentin on June 17, cutting off Cherbourg. The 9th Division, together with the 4th and 79th Infantry Divisions, took control of the peninsula in hard fighting from June 19; Cherbourg was taken on June 26. By then, the Germans had destroyed the port, which was not fully fixed until September.

Caen

Main article: Battle for Caen

Fighting in the Caen area against the 21st Panzer, the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend and other groups soon became a stalemate. During Operation Perch, XXX Corps tried to move south toward Mont Pinçon but soon changed to a pincer attack to surround Caen. XXX Corps made a move from the side at Tilly-sur-Seulles toward Villers-Bocage with part of the 7th Armoured Division, while I Corps tried to go around Caen from the east. The attack by I Corps was quickly stopped and XXX Corps briefly took Villers-Bocage. Advanced parts of the British force were attacked, starting a long battle at Villers-Bocage and then the Battle of the Box. The British were forced to pull back to Tilly-sur-Seulles. After a delay because of storms from June 17 to 23, Operation Epsom began on June 26, an attempt by VIII Corps to go around and attack Caen from the southwest and make a bridgehead south of the Odon. Even though the operation did not reach its goals, the Germans lost many tanks after using every Panzer unit they had. Rundstedt was removed on July 1 and replaced as OB West by Field Marshal Günther von Kluge after saying the war was now lost. The northern parts of Caen were bombed on the evening of July 7 and then taken north of the River Orne in Operation Charnwood on July 8–9. Operation Atlantic and Operation Goodwood took the rest of Caen and the high ground to the south from July 18 to 21, by which time the city was almost destroyed.

Breakout from the beachhead

After taking land in the Cotentin Peninsula south to Saint-Lô, the U.S. First Army began Operation Cobra on July 25 and moved further south to Avranches by August 1. The British began Operation Bluecoat on July 30 to take Vire and the high ground of Mont Pinçon. Lieutenant General Patton’s U.S. Third Army, started on August 1, quickly took most Brittany and land as far south as the Loire, while the First Army kept pushing east toward Le Mans to protect their side. By August 3, Patton and the Third Army were able to leave a small group in Brittany and move east toward the main group of German forces south of Caen. Over Kluge’s objections, on August 4 Hitler ordered a counter-attack (Operation Lüttich) from Vire toward Avranches.

While II Canadian Corps moved south from Caen toward Falaise in Operation Totalise on August 8, Bradley and Montgomery saw a chance to trap most of the German forces at Falaise. The Third Army continued the surround from the south, reaching Alençon on August 11. The German forces were hurt a lot by Hitler’s choice to make all big decisions himself, which left his forces without orders for as long as 24 hours while information was sent to and from the Führer’s home at Obersalzberg in Bavaria. On the evening of August 12, Patton asked Bradley if his forces should keep moving north to close the gap and trap the German forces. Bradley said no because Montgomery had already told the First Canadian Army to take the land from the north. The Canadians met strong fighting and took Falaise on August 16. The gap was closed on August 21, trapping 50,000 German soldiers but more than a third of the German 7th Army and the remains of nine of the eleven Panzer divisions escaped to the east. Montgomery’s decisions about the Falaise Gap were criticized at the time by American leaders, especially Patton, although Bradley was more understanding and thought Patton would not have been able to close the gap.

The French Resistance in Paris stood up against the Germans on August 19. Eisenhower at first wanted to go around the city to go after other targets, but because reports said the people were hungry and Hitler said he would destroy it, de Gaulle said it should be taken right away. French forces of the 2nd Armoured Division under General Philippe Leclerc arrived from the west on August 24, while the U.S. 4th Infantry Division came up from the south. Scattered fighting continued through the night, and by the morning of August 25 Paris was liberated.

Operations kept going in the British and Canadian areas until the end of the month. On August 25, the U.S. 2nd Armored Division fought its way into Elbeuf, meeting British and Canadian armoured divisions. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division moved into the Forêt de la Londe on the morning of August 27. The area was strongly held; the 4th and 6th Canadian brigades lost many soldiers over three days as the Germans fought to leave. The Germans pulled back on August 29, moving over the Seine the next day. On the afternoon of August 30, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division crossed the Seine near Elbeuf and entered Rouen to a happy welcome.

Campaign close

In September, the leader of the Allied forces decided to keep moving forward on a wide area instead of focusing on narrow paths. This helped the troops from Normandy meet up with others who had landed in southern France. Later that month, an attempt to capture bridges in the Netherlands failed. The advance slowed because of strong German resistance and a lack of supplies.

In December, the Germans made their last big attack in the west, known as the Battle of the Bulge. In January, Soviet forces began pushing forward. The leader of Germany passed away in April as Soviet troops approached Berlin, and Germany gave up in May 1945.

The Normandy landings were the biggest sea invasion ever, using thousands of ships. This was a big surprise for Germany. The success in Normandy was helped by several things. The German defenses along the coast were not fully built. Tricks used by the Allies made the Germans defend a large area. The Allies controlled the air, stopping German planes from interfering. Bombings and local resistance made it hard for Germany to send help. The German leaders' unclear plans also helped the Allies succeed.

Casualties

From D-Day to 21 August, the Allies landed over 2 million soldiers in northern France. The fighting was tough for both sides. Many soldiers were hurt or killed.

Allied forces captured around 233,000 Germans during the operation. German losses were very high.

During the fighting, many French civilians were killed, and towns and cities in Normandy were damaged by bombings and fighting. Efforts were made to protect important buildings and treasures, like the Bayeux Tapestry, but many structures were still damaged or destroyed.

War memorials and tourism

The beaches of Normandy are still called by their old invasion names. Important places have signs, memorials, or small museums. Some old German defenses, like Pointe du Hoc, still look like they did in 1944. The remains of a special harbor are still in the water at Arromanches. Many big cemeteries in the area remember soldiers from both sides who died during the fighting in Normandy.

One famous site is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Omaha Beach. It covers a large area and holds the remains of many American service members who died during the Normandy invasion and later battles in World War II.