D-Day

On May 8, 1944, General Eisenhower, designated D-day as June 5, but because of bad weather he decided on June 4, to postpone the invasion to June 6. Though the weather remained poor, further delay would have necessitated waiting until June 19, when tidal conditions and the light of the moon would again be propitious (Encyclopedia Americana, 1998, p. 401). Few people knew that the most important battle in Western Europe during World War II was about to unveil in Normandy.

Meanwhile, the invasion troops had moved to concentration areas in the United Kingdom. There they received special equipment and waterproof their vehicles. Then they marched to marshaling areas close to the embarkation points where they received additional supplies, maps, and final briefings (Encyclopedia Americana, 1998, p. 402).

Thirteen miles across the English Channel, the embattled Germans gathered behind their own defensive barriers. It would be the last chance for Hitler to salvage his crumbling empire. Germany had known that an Allied invasion of northern France was inevitable ever since the United States entered the war. During 1943 and 1944, the Germans constructed the "Atlantic Wall" to repel the attack. The Germans placed mines on the beaches and in the coastal waters. Jagged wooden logs and metal stakes, all topped with mines; were all along the shores. Mortars and machine guns were in position on the bluffs over looking the beaches (Vail, 1991, p. 86).

Although they knew an attack was coming, the Germans had a major disadvantage. They could not predict where or when the attack would take place. The Allies had decided upon landing in Normandy, but they mounted a gigantic decoy plan to fool the Germans into thinking that the invasion would come from Calais. While the German Chief of staff maintained that the attack would come in Normandy, Hitler became convinced that the main invasion would fall in Calais. He refused to send his most experienced troops to the Normandy region. Instead, elderly or sick soldiers from the eastern front chiefly staffed the German ground forces in Normandy (Vail, 1991, p. 87).

The problem that remained for the Allies was deciding when to launch the invasion. The weather was of key importance. Sea landings required low tides, and the air borne operations needed a cloudless, moonlit night. The Allied meteorological staff calculated that June 5 and 6 met these ideal conditions. All preparations were targeted for those dates (Vail, 1991, p. 87).

Unfortunately, bad weather on June 4 forced a postponement. This delay greatly increased the physical and mental strain on the soldiers. The men had been cooped up on ships for weeks awaiting the invasion. They were tired of the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, and many were constantly seasick (Vail, 1991, p. 87).

The Allies chief meteorologist told Eisenhower and his generals that there was a slight gleam of hope. He believed conditions would improve over France from late at night on June 5 through the Afternoon of June 6. It might be possible to make the invasion during this period. Eisenhower went around the room and asked each general his opinion. The invasion was set for June 6, 1944. News of the decision quickly circulated among the Allied troops. Many were relieved that the agonizing waiting was finally over. Even a bloody battle, the soldiers said, could be worst them sitting on the ships for another month. Shortly after the BBC code announcing the invasion was on. They immediately leaped into action, cutting telephone and telegraph wires thought Normandy (Vail, 1991, p. 88).

The naval bombardment that began at 0550 that morning detonated large mine fields along the shoreline and destroyed a number of the enemy's defensive positions. To one correspondent, reporting from the deck of the HMS Hillary, "it sounded like the rhythmic beating of a gigantic drum all along the coast" (Battle of Normandy, 2006, website).

Many German units were unable to contact or receive information from army headquarters for hours at the start of the invasion (Vail, 1991, p. 89). At 2:00 A.M., paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions landed in the eastern part of the Cotentin Peninsula astride the Merderct River to facilitate the sea borne landings of the 7th Corps (Encyclopedia Americana, 1998, p. 402). Their mission was incredibly dangerous. They had to parachute miles into enemy territory and then seize the main bridges and roads leading to the beaches. They had to prevent German tanks and reinforcements form reaching the landing sites. Outnumbered three to one the soldiers hoped the element of surprise would be in their favor. The air borne assault confused the Germans. No one could tell for sure how many men had landed of whether this was the prelude to the big invasion. Communications were difficult because of the work of the French Resistance (Vail, 1991, p. 89).

The American paratroopers faced huge problems right from the start. Due to the inexperienced pilots, their forces were wildly scattered though out the Normandy county side. Some had landed as far as twenty miles from their planned destination. Hundreds of Americans were dropped into the artificial swamps that the Germans had created to slow down the Allied offensive. Some soldiers, loaded down with equipment and supplies, drowned in only three feet of water. Half of the ammunition and heavy artillery of the American forces disappeared in these swamps. The American forces had to quickly reassemble into fighting units (Vail, 1991, p. 90). The 101st division secured its objectives with surprisingly, taking heavy casualties, to secure Ste.- Mere-Eglise. At the same time the British Airborne Division was securing the other Allied flank between the Orne and Dives rivers. As dawn approached, while fighter squadrons flying at from three thousand to five thousand feet maintained an aerial umbrella, the landing craft came toward shore through the heavy sea (Encyclopedia Americana, 1998, p. 402).

About sixty thousand men and 6,800 vehicles were scheduled to go ashore on D-day at Omaha Beach and equal numbers at Utah. On D plus one and two, an additional total of 43,500 troops and six thousand vehicles were scheduled to go ashore at both beaches. Altogether in the United Kingdom, General Eisenhower had a force of 2,876,000 men, including forty-five divisions (Encyclopedia Americana, 1998, p. 402).

During the night of June 5, despite a gusty wind blowing at a rate of fifteen the twenty knots and churning up waves in mid- channel as high as five to six feet, the invasion fleet took assigned places in the transport areas of the coast of France in the Seince Estnory (Encyclopedia Americana, 1998, p. 402). The