WWII in Europe D-Day to Surrender Operation Fortitude (intelligence success) • Physical deception: to mislead the enemy with nonexistent units through fake infrastructure and equipment, such as dummy landing craft, dummy airfields, and decoy lighting. • Controlled leaks of information through diplomatic channels, which might be passed on via neutral countries to the Germans. • Wireless traffic: To mislead the enemy, wireless traffic was created to simulate actual units • Use of German agents controlled by the Allies through the Double Cross System to send false information to the German intelligence services • Public presence of notable staff associated with phantom groups, such as FUSAG (First U.S. Army Group), most notably the well-known US general George S. Patton. • • • • D-Day Innovations Mullburries- artificial harbors Hobart’s “Funnies” Fuel pipelines under the channel Dummy paratroopers Operation Overlord • 160,000 allied men landed in one of the five sections of the beaches Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. • 5,000 ships and 13,000 Aircraft. • 23,000 US and British paratroopers landed by parachute and glider. • 50,000 vehicles • 10,000 men were killed during the invasion. 6 June 1944 Problems encountered on D-Day • Weather postponement • Airborne miss drops. • Omaha beach reinforced by 352nd German Infantry Division from Eastern front. • Bombers missed beach fortifications. • French hedgerows. • British taking Caen on D+1! Breakout at ST LO • Hedgerow (Bocage) fighting • Heavy Bombers in close air support • LTG McNair KIA +500 • 1 Aug ‘44 3rd U.S. Army Patton is back in the fight! • Race across France begins Falaise Pocket Patton vehemently protested the order he obeyed, leaving an exit—a "trap with a gap"—for the remaining German forces. 20,000-50,000 Germans escaped Results of Faliase 80,000 - 100,000 German troops were caught in the encirclement of which 10,000–15,000 were killed, 40,000–50,000 taken prisoner, and 20,000–50,000 escaped. Results of Normandy The German forces lost a total of around 450,000 men, of whom 240,000 were killed or wounded. The Allies had achieved this blow at a cost of 209,672 casualties among the ground forces, including 36,976 killed and 19,221 missing. In addition, 16,714 Allied airmen were killed or went missing in direct connection with Operation Overlord Operation Market Garden 17-25 Sept’44 Monty’s plan • • Seize bridges w/Airborne forces • Strong British Armor force to follow and assume the battle • A bridge too far? • Of approximately 10,600 men of the 1st Airborne Division and other units who fought north of the Rhine, 1,485 had died and 6,414 were taken prisoner of whom one third were wounded. A loss rate of 75%! The Plan for Market Garden Market Garden • 3,664 dead; 1,000’s wounded, 1000’s captured • Red Ball Express- outrunning our logistics. •V1-V2 launch sites. •Poor Intell. • Seize ports. •Rebuild for final offensive? Battle of Hürtgen Forest • 19 September 1944 to 10 February 1945. Part of the Siegfried line • 54 sq mi of heavily wooded hilly terrain with few roads, which negated close air support. • It was the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and is the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought • The Hürtgen Forest is a strategically insignificant corridor of barely 50 square miles, east of the Belgian-German border. The Allied commanders wanted to clear out the forest of German’s. But the German’s were well dug in and the thick forest gave them a strategic advantage over the advancing troops. The US Official History estimated that 120,000 troops, plus replacements, were committed to Hürtgen. By the end there had been 24,000 battle casualties plus 9,000 non-battle. Two divisions, the U.S. 4th Infantry Division and the U.S. 9th Infantry Division, were so badly mauled that they were withdrawn from the line to recuperate. Battle of the Bulge • • • • • • • Ardennes forest Poor Intel, Patton’s G-2 saw it coming 106th ceased to exist Last true offensive of Germans December 16, 1944 through January 25, 1945 101st ABN DIV rushed to Bastogne (crossroads) 19,276 dead; 47,493 wounded; 23,218 POW/MIA Bridge at Remagen/Crossing the Rhine • The Ludendorff Bridge, the last standing on the Rhine, was captured by soldiers of the U.S. 9th AD on 7 March 1945. • General Eisenhower - "the bridge is worth its weight in gold". • Ultimately, only a limited number of troops were able to cross the Rhine before the bridge's collapse. However, the psychological advantage of having crossed the Rhine in force and in pursuit of the retreating Wehrmacht improved Allied morale while communicating disaster to the retreating Germans. The Holocaust • Allied units liberated many Concentration/death camps, the Russians liberated the most. • Accounts of Allies conducting unauthorized executions of SS guards on the spot • Well over 6 million Jews, Gypsies, mentally ill, Catholics, homosexuals executed • Local Germans who claimed they didn’t know were ordered to collect and bury thousands of the victims • Many battled hardened American soldiers claimed it was their worst experience of WWII Generals Eisenhower, Bradley and Patton at Dachau sub camp 1945 Battle for Berlin • Russian General “The German woman await you with legs spread”. • Eisenhower allowed Red Army to move on Berlin. Up to 500,000 Russian casualties. • 20 April 1945 - morning of 2 May. • Hitler commits suicide shortly after his Birthday on 20 April. • Allies link up with Reds on the Elbe River • Germany Surrenders!
