Unit 3 WWII – CHC2P Battles Part 3, Operation Overlord

The Tide Turns Russians destroy the German’s Sixth Army at Stalingrad 1. Americans recover from the attack on Pearl Harbor. Started to slow Island by Island campaign towards Japan 1. Allies launch Operation Overlord, starting with the Italian Campaign

Operation Overlord The Italian Campaign  Part of ‘Operation Overlord’   91,000 fought, 30,000 were killed or wounded  25,264 Canadians – 5900 killed

Italian Campaign continued  Allies encountered battle hardened Nazi German soldiers, not Italian  Fought mostly in the streets of towns using old abandoned buildings  Ortona – Canadian battle. House to house fights (1 month)  By June 1944 (D-day) Allied armies entered Rome (Italy’s capital city  Soldiers called ‘D-Day Dodgers’

Italian Campaign animation

Operation Overlord D-Day – June 6, 1944  Originally planned for June 5, 1944 – pushed back to June 6 due to bad weather  Highly secretive invasion – took years to plan  A massive invasion of over 100,000 soldiers (British / American / Canadian) – over 15,000 Canadians

D-Day - Planning 1. Assumed identity of captured German spies and fed the Germans false intelligence – (the attack would be at Calais – 200km farther south)  Nazis didn’t expect us to arrive in Normandy 1. Used empty tents and movie set props to trick German pilots into believing the invasion troops were collecting in Dover  Nazis didn’t know how large our invasion was or where it was coming form 1. Built landing harbours in Britain that could be assembled in Normandy to allow for easier landing  Nazis were unable to delay the Allied attack by destroying or fortifying already existing harbours

D-Day the battle  Europe the Fortress: Normandy beach was littered with German land mines, barbed wire, heavy artillery batteries and machine-gun nests.  On Land, By Sea, In the Air Allied aircraft paved the way for the landings, bombing coastal defences in the months leading up to the attack massive Canadian, British and American force crossed the English Channel Their destination: an 80-kilometre stretch of the heavily- defended coast Juno Beach (Canada); Gold Beach (United Kingdom); Sword Beach (United Kingdom and France); and Utah Beach and Omaha Beach (United States). Naval attack of ports, paratroopers landed before dawn on June 6 th to engage the enemy

D-Day continued D-Day animation