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June 6 th , 1944. D-Day. 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.
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June 6th, 1944 D-Day
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 • The Germans are too strong at their ports, so don’t land there • Therefore, the Allies BUILT two complete harbours in Normandy for their troops to land • Bombers must pound the coastal defence • 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 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.
