6th June 1944. D-DAY-INVASION OF FORTRESS EUROPE.
One of the many headlines to appear in Britain on D-Day.
Operation Overlord continued from Neptune, as the actual movement inland eventually to Germany.
D-Day was announced at 9.32 am on that fateful Tuesday by BBC Radio’s Chief Announcer, John Snagge: ‘Early this morning the Allies began the assault on the north-western face of Hitler’s European Fortress’.
General Montgomery (Monty) was Chief of Land Forces for the landings under the American General Dwight Eisenhower as Supreme Commander who had to make the final, momentous decision.
Today, in 1944, was Operation Neptune: D-Day, having been postponed by General Eisenhower for 24 hours owing to bad weather, but not before detailed consultation with Group Captain Stagg, the meteorological co-ordinator. Never before or since has a weatherman had such an onerous duty.
The ‘Fog’ of battle.
It appears that the Meteorological Office along with the Admiralty and US Army forecasters were at odds as the Americans wanted to go on 5th June as did Montgomery, but considering the stormy weather this would have been disastrous. The ‘Met. Office’ even warned about the next day’s weather, which would have delayed action until very much later. Key to many decisions were Bletchley Park, code-breakers as they desperately collated enemy intelligence.
Once into action, wooden Horsa gliders towed by bombers filled the skies to gain possession of the flanks of the five designated beaches. One successful mission, but with dreadful sacrifice, was that of the 9th Parachute Regiment, on Sword Beach when as a prelude to the amphibious invasion, it was detailed to attack with the aid of gliders.
The intention was to land inside the perimeter of the Murville Battery, but they landed outside, thus having the task of getting over the fearsome defences before storming the guns under murderous fire. About 60 survived out of the initial 700.
In the previous May tented camps sprung up along roadsides and ports and rivers. American GI’s massed in Dorset and Devon destined to occupy the right flank of the invading force; Kent, Sussex and Hampshire were the preserve of the British and the Commonwealth: all were confined to camps in complete isolation.
The big guns open up. In the invasion ships of the Royal Navy and US included: 7 Battle Ships,5 Heavy Cruisers, 17 Light Cruisers, 135 Destroyers and Escorts, 3 Troop Transports. There were 508 other ships as well as Mine-Sweeper Flotillas.
On land, shells, aircraft, transport of all types were massed in thousands along with the British ‘Matilda’ and American ‘Sherman’ tanks, soon to be matched against the formidable German ‘Tiger’.
Involved were 4,000 landing craft and 745 ships carrying 185,000 troops. 3,467 heavy and 1,645 medium-heavy bombers flew in support along with 100,000 vehicles.The 97 Pathfinder Squadron was told, not to fly below 6,500 ft; All through the night the bombers flowed; returning they saw the great invasion armada below.
Bomber Command committed 100 planes to destroy each of the ten vital major coastal batteries. As they turned for home they saw huge formations of US planes following them into attack.
After Axis forces had surrendered in North Africa in May 1943, we were ready to invade Fortress Europe with its Atlantic Wall and fifteen thousand fortifications, stretching from Norway to Spain. Now the 1,000,000 American and British and Empire troops on standby were ready for action in the greatest invasion in history
The Teheran Conference of November 1943 had set the timing of the assault, when Churchill accepted that Britain would accept the Super-Powers decisions to invade Europe via France.
Churchill had worried over a Second Front which had been urged particularly by Stalin, fearful of heavy casualties and more committed to the Italian campaign and reaching Vienna (the ‘soft underbelly’, allied with heavy bombing. The choice of Normandy with its five assault beaches, code-named Utah, Omaha, Sword Juno and Gold was preferred instead of the more obvious Pas de Calais.
The ruse deceived the Germans and meant that 450,000 German troops were pinned down in various parts of Europe, and in the South of France not to be re-positioned for ten days following the landings. The crack 21 Panzers, as a result, were not brought in fast enough, ground to a halt and were soon knocked out.
The American Omaha Beach casualties were high owing to the loss of all but two 35-ton Sherman tanks out of 29, which should have preceded the infantry and in the process 2000 were killed. The tanks had sunk after being released three miles off-shore due to the strong current. It appears that a message, which had reached the other Beaches, about releasing the tanks onshore, owing to poor conditions didn’t reach Omaha.
Next Post we look at how Disraeli ‘dished’ the Liberals in mid-19thc reform.
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