The liberation of Europe
Britain declared war on Nazi Germany on 3rd September 1939, and by 6th June 1944, the world had been at war for nearly five years.
The brutal and repressive Nazi regime had conquered most of Europe, sent millions of people to die the death camps, worked people to death in concentration and work camps, sterilised and euthanized disabled people, and guillotined German dissenters.
They also killed over 2.8 million Russian prisoners of war. It was one of the blackest periods in mankind’s history. Hitler had come to power in Germany in 1933 and since that time had been building up his military forces in spite of the Versailles Treaty which forbade it. He had been a soldier in the Great War and many of his compatriots felt betrayed by the Generals. Many did not feel they were defeated on the field of battle and he rose to power during the vicious turmoil between the left and right after the Great War.
Invasion of Poland 1939
He invaded Poland on 1st September 1939 and set off a cataclysmic chain of events which would lead to the deaths of around 70 million people. It would become total war.
The Russian leader, Stalin, was adamant that the West set up a second front as Russia was bearing the brunt of the German army. A second front was decided upon and became known as Operation Overlord which would be launched in the spring or summer of 1944. Taking part would be mostly British, Canadian and American forces but Poles and Belgians also fought in the Normandy campaign.
In order for the Allies to gain a foothold in ‘Fortress Europe’, the Atlantic Wall had to be breached. Normandy was chosen because it allowed for a broad front and the coastal defences were less than those at Pas De Calais.
Field Marshall Rommel was in charge of Army Group B in France and he dramatically improved many of the defences along the Normandy coastline. He increased the number of mines, ditches, and coastal strong points, all designed to repel any invasion on the beaches. Despite the rush on fortifying the Normandy coast by Rommel, General Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander decided that H-Hour would be 06.30 hours on the 6th June. Destination Normandy.
Winston Churchill said that Operation Overlord was ‘undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult’ ever undertaken. With nearly three million troops involved in total, it would be an incredible feat of organisation and the first step towards the liberation of Western Europe and the defeat of Nazi Germany. On D-Day, over 133,000 soldiers were ready to land on the five assault beaches. It would be the first step and most vital towards freedom. Nazi Germany would not be defeated until 7th May 1945 when an unconditional surrender was signed at Reims in France by General Alfred Jodl.
Operation Overlord – strategic planning 1943
After two years of strategic planning and operational preparation by the British and the US, Operation Overlord was confirmed in August 1943.
US General Eisenhower was chosen as the supreme commander for Operation Overlord and British General Bernard Montgomery was appointed as the army commander-in-chief in the field.
The Allies had attacked North Africa in November 1942, Sicily in July 1943 and mainland Italy in September 1943. Winston Churchill viewed this as hitting at the ‘soft underbelly of Europe’, but Italy would prove be a very difficult and costly campaign for the Allies.
Because of these campaigns, any major assault on north west Europe would need to happen in 1944. Planning staff under British Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan prepared for an invasion in early Spring the following year.
It was decided an attack on a broader front with five divisions would go ahead on separate beaches. The coastline and beaches of Normandy would be ideal. This invasion force would be followed up with a further 37 divisions which would then break out of the bridgeheads and head into France to eventually liberate France and the rest of Europe.
The decision of the invasion date was made on 1st February 1944. For the planners tides were very important, 31 May would be D-Day with alternatives dates of 5th, 6th or 7th if the weather was bad.
Adolf Hitler believed the only place the Allies could attack was at the Pas de Calais, the shortest distance between France and the English coast. The ‘Atlantic Wall’, a complex network of formidable German defences was very strong in the Pas De Calais and the panzer divisions were also held in reserve here.
Hitler did not believe the main invasion landings would be in Normandy because any force would need resupplied with troops, fuel and supplies. The nearest deep water ports were Le Harve and Cherbourg and both were heavily defended, these would have to be captured for any invasion to succeed.
However, one of the best kept secrets and most amazing feats of engineering would solve that problem for the Allies – the Mulberry Harbours, artificial harbours that they brought with them.
Mulberry Harbours
To overcome some of the seemingly insurmountable problems of an invasion in Normandy led to the some amazing feats of technology.
Winston Churchill was trying to get a solution which would be alternative to capturing a port in which to supply ground troops. He sent a very famous memo to Lord Louis Mountbatten about constructing a floating pier head: “They must float up and down with tide. The anchor problem must be mastered. Let me have the best solution.”
This problem was overcome with the secret construction of artificial harbours built in Britain and reassembled of the coast of Normandy. There would be two artificial harbours (Mulberry A at Omaha and Mulberry B at Arromanches) and they would be comprised of floating roadways and pier heads.
In order to shelter them from the heavy seas, huge hollow reinforced concrete blocks, called Phoenix caissons, and old ships would be sunk to create breakwaters. The Mulberry Harbours were a tremendous feat of engineering and took less than nine months to complete in Britain, despite a war industry that was overstretched.
To supply fuel for the invasion several underwater pipelines would be laid including one from Shanklin, in the Isle of Wight to Port-en-Bessin. It would become widely known as PLUTO, the Pipeline Under The Ocean.
Many lessons were learned after the terrible losses at the failed Dieppe raid in 1942, where any tanks that did manage to land were unable to scale the sea wall or were destroyed.
Armour was essential to tackling the Widerstandnests (German fortified resistance nests) and special tanks were designed to do this by General Percy Hobart. These tanks were also adapted to tackle the many various types of obstacles on the beach thus clearing a path for the infantry.
Drive Duplex tanks were tanks which could swim to shore. They had a flotation apron around them and a propeller driven by the tank’s engine when it was in the water. They were also known as DD tanks or Donald Duck Tanks.
All of these new assault tanks were collectively known as ‘Hobart’s funnies’.
Operation Fortitude – the greatest hoax
Operation Fortitude was probably the greatest hoax of the Second World War. It was designed solely to mislead the Germans about where the D-Day landings would take place. It worked so convincingly that when the landings did occur that Hitler still believed Normandy was a diversionary attack and the main landings were still to come at the Pas De Calais.
It was in two parts, North and South, both creating false armies. One based in Edinburgh in Scotland which would attack Norway and one which would attack the Pas de Calais. There were many strands to accomplishing this overall deception. The Spanish double-agent Juan Pujol (code name Garbo) sent wireless messages relaying false and misleading information to Berlin, particularly the build up of General Patton’s fake 1st Army Group in the south of England.
Reginald Victor Jones was Assistant Director of British Intelligence (Science) and instrumental in tinfoil confetti being dropped by Lancaster bombers which led the Germans to believe that a flotilla of ships was going in the opposite direction of the real invasion fleet. To deceive German observation planes, rubber tanks, vehicles, landing craft and guns made out of plywood and canvas were placed in fields, rivers and road of the south east coast lending weight to an invasion force being prepared. General Patton would often be photographed around these areas.
Lorries would drive back and forth on the same roads, and radio traffic would be sent between fake units. Bletchley Park was the home of the British code breakers; with the use of Ultra decrypts they could read the Enigma coded messages from the German High Command and the Allies knew that Operation Fortitude was being effective.
Just before the invasion landings a further deception took place called Operation Titanic, in which 500 dummy paratroopers were dropped in four locations around Le Havre, east of the invasion beaches. Nicknamed ‘Rupert’ they were fabricated with sack cloth, and contained an explosive that burst the dummy into flames on landing. The few that did not catch fire on landing are now in museums.
The Landings – 6th June 1944
The landings by the Allies on 6th June 1944 in Normandy, was a joint services operation which included the navy, the air force, the army and the airborne paratroopers.
After the 24 hour postponement due to bad weather, the invasion was on but with only 50% cloud cover this would hamper bombing some of the German defences on the ground. It was not the ideal conditions and General Eisenhower had already prepared a statement if the invasion failed.
After minesweepers had cleared ten lanes through the Channel the huge amphibious force set off for Normandy. The French Resistance had been alerted and the deception operation swung into operation with increased fake radio traffic. Fake radar deception measures also took place and dummy paratroopers were dropped over Le Havre.
The British and US Airborne paratroopers, some in gliders would land in the east and west of Normandy and despite heavy losses achieved most of their objectives.
Then at 05.30 am 200 Allied ships began firing on the German coastal defences in Normandy along the five beaches.
Operation Fortitude and Operation Titanic were confusing the Germans and they still believed the main invasion would be Pas de Calais. Hitler was not awoken, nor was Rommel. Previous time had been wasted and their ability to repel the invasion had been severely damaged. Even though Hitler gave the order for four panzer divisions to be moved they would not reach Normandy to play any effective part in the first day’s fighting.
The Allies also had near total control of the skies above Normandy which helped hamper the Germans trying to bring in reinforcements.
The liberation of Europe had begun.
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