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N0KFQ > TODAY 06.06.13 17:36l 57 Lines 2590 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Jun 6
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Sent: 130606/1455Z 40888@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.54
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Jun 6, 1944:
Allies invade France
On this day in 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D.
Eisenhower gives the go-ahead for the largest amphibious military
operation in history: Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, the
Allied invasion of northern France.
By daybreak, 18,000 British and American parachutists were
already on the ground. At 6:30 a.m., American troops came ashore
at Utah and Omaha beaches. At Omaha, the U.S. First Division
battled high seas, mist, mines, burning vehicles_and German
coastal batteries, including an elite infantry division, which
spewed heavy fire. Many wounded Americans ultimately drowned in
the high tide. British divisions, which landed at Gold, Juno, and
Sword beaches, and Canadian troops also met with heavy German
fire, but by the end of the day they were able to push inland.
Despite the German resistance, Allied casualties overall were
relatively light. The United States and Britain each lost about
1,000 men, and Canada 355. Before the day was over, 155,000
Allied troops would be in Normandy. However, the United States
managed to get only half of the 14,000 vehicles and a quarter of
the 14,500 tons of supplies they intended on shore.
Three factors were decisive in the success of the Allied
invasion. First, German counterattacks were firm but sparse,
enabling the Allies to create a broad bridgehead, or advanced
position, from which they were able to build up enormous troop
strength. Second, Allied air cover, which destroyed bridges over
the Seine, forced the Germans to suffer long detours, and naval
gunfire proved decisive in protecting the invasion troops. And
third, division and confusion within the German ranks as to where
the invasion would start and how best to defend their position
helped the Allies. (Hitler, convinced another invasion was coming
the next day east of the Seine River, refused to allow reserves
to be pulled from that area.)
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, commander of Britain's
Twenty-first Army Group (but under the overall command of General
Eisenhower, for whom Montgomery, and his ego, proved a perennial
thorn in the side), often claimed later that the invasion had
come off exactly as planned. That was a boast, as evidenced by
the failure to take Caen on the first day, as scheduled. While
the operation was a decided success, considering the number of
troops put ashore and light casualties, improvisation by
courageous and quick-witted commanders also played an enormous
role.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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