D-Day
June 6th, 1944
What was the situation in 1944?
• The Russians have
•
defeated the Germans
and are advancing in
the East
The Allies are
victorious in Africa
and launch an assault
on mainland Italy
through Sicily
The Plan
• Winston Churchill and
•
Franklin Roosevelt agreed
it was time to open up a
new front in the West
through the beaches of
France
They tricked the Germans
into thinking they
intended to attack
somewhere else, other
than Normandy.
The Plan – How do you do it?
• How do you trick an
•
entire army?
They kept the American
General, Patton, in
England, in the WRONG
spot, where they wanted
the Germans to THINK
they were attacking from
The Plan – How do you do it?
• They created a
huge FAKE army
where Patton was
– with thousands
of plywood
airplanes,
inflatable tanks –
you name it
Normandy It Is!
• Normandy
is a
peninsula
on the
French
Coast
• It was 200
km. South
of the
Pas de
Calais –
where the
Germans
expected
the
attack.
Lessons of Dieppe
1. The Germans are too
strong at their ports, so
don’t land there
2. Therefore, the Allies
BUILT two complete
harbours in Normandy
for their troops to land
3. Bombers must pound
the coastal defence
4. Paratroopers drop
behind the enemy lines
to secure things like
bridges.
Operation “Overlord”
• There would be five
•
•
•
•
•
sectors (beaches)
that would be
attacked:
Utah – American
Omaha – American
Gold – British
Juno – Canadian
Sword - British
The Attack – June 6th, 1944
• Operation Overlord Simulation
The Atlantic Wall
• The Atlantic Wall was
an extensive system of
coastal fortifications
built by the Germans
between 1942 and
1944
The Atlantic Wall
• Minefields and antitank
•
obstacles were planted on
the beaches, and
underwater obstacles and
mines were planted in the
waters just off shore to
destroy incoming craft
By the time of the invasion,
the Germans had laid almost
6 million mines in northern
France.
The Atlantic Wall!
The Time Has Come
• On the evening of
June 5th,
paratroopers
dropped in to secure
bridges for the allied
advance
• Heavy bombers
dropped their
payloads on what
was supposed to be
the beach defences
• In the early morning,
June 6, the largest
armada of ships left
Britain for the French
coast
The Canadians on D-Day
• Of the nearly
•
150,000 Allied
troops who
landed or
parachuted into
the invasion
area, 14,000
were Canadians
The first to land
were the
Queen’s Own
Rifles
The Canadians on D-Day
• Juno Beach had
guns which
aerial
photographs
had not picked
up – these guns
wiped out
nearly the
entire platoon
before they
were destroyed
The Canadians on D-Day
• The Royal Canadian
•
Navy contributed
110 ships and
10,000 sailors in
support of the
landings while the
R.C.A.F. had helped
prepare the
invasion by
bombing targets
inland
Canadians suffered
1074 casualties,
including 359 killed.
The Canadians on D-Day
• Over the entire
Normandy
Invasion, 5,000
Canadians were
killed and many
thousands
wounded
The Battle for Normandy
• For the first month
•
following the D-Day
landings, a stalemate
developed during which the
Allies built up their forces
In July Canadian troops
helped capture Caen and
then turned towards
Falaise where they aimed
at joining an American
advance from the south to
encircle the German forces
in Normandy.
The Battle for Normandy
• By August 21, the Germans
•
had either retreated or
been destroyed between
the Canadian-British and
American pincers
The ten-week Normandy
Campaign cost the
Canadians alone more than
18,000 casualties, 5000 of
them fatal.