The Beginning of the End D-Day June 6, 1944 The Beginning of the End

Second World War to 1944

Planning the Invasion Operation Neptune "You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.“ Dwight D. Eisenhower Your group has one important part of the invasion to plan. Come up with one definite answer and plan that would most likely lead to success.

Element of Surprise Spies: led by British intelligence, the Allies spent years rooting out German spies. They became very good at capturing them, giving them wrong information to filter through, or turning them into double-agents who gave the German intelligence wrong information that they believed. Time: Like Dieppe, the best time of day for surprise was early in the morning. They attacked with several thousand paratroopers just after midnight, with the amphibious launch at dawn.

Element of Surprise Where the attack took place and what day were also extremely important to gain the element of surprise. Operation Bodyguard spent two years successfully confusing German command about where and when the attack would happen. Hitler thought that the landings were a diversion from a bigger attack even after over 100 000 soldiers landed.

Where Port: as Dieppe showed, Germany defended port towns very heavily. The Allies decided that attacking a port was a bad idea, and decided on the Beaches of Normandy near Caen. Normandy was more dangerous because of the distance from Britain, but more of a surprise because of it.

Beaches of Normandy The Allies landed with 160 000 soldiers (21 400 CDN) on 5 beaches (4 connected) about 80km long. Nearly 200 000 naval personnel and 5000 ships were involved as well.

Who and How to Attack A multi-faceted attack was completely necessary for success. Dieppe did not use one and failed; North Africa and Sicily used naval bombardment and succeeded. At Normandy, the Allies used air, naval and land invasion. British, American and Canadian airborne troops used parachutes and gliders just after midnight hours before the beach landing to start the invasion. Their missions were to destroy bridges, secure other bridges and take small towns nearby. They were very successful.

Supplies In order for the attack to be successful for a long-term invasion, they needed to get supplies. Food, ammunition, tanks, more soldiers, hospitals and commanders still needed to come ashore. They did not attack a port and had no ready way to get supplies. The British developed an artificial harbour called a ‘Mulberry Harbour’ to fix the problem.

Supplies – Mulberry Harbour http://www.britishpathe.com/video/factory-made-invasion-harbour/query/mulberry+harbour

Bloody Normandy