The Successful Landings in Normandy on the D-Day (6th June, 1944) (Essay Sample)

The Successful Landings in Normandy on the D-Day (6th June, 1944)
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The Successful Landings In Normandy On The D-Day ( 6th June, 1944)
The D-Day is the day that will ever remain memorable as a historic day in France and all over the world as the day that marked the beginning of the journey that saw the defeat of Adolf Hitler. It was on the 6th of June 1944, on a Tuesday. This is the day when massive combat troops invaded Franch in an attempt to fight against and defeat Hitler. This also marked one of the historic events that took place during the World War II. There were about 160,000 Allied troops composed of Americans, British and Canadians. The troops landed on the beaches of Normandy spanning from east to the west. They used aircrafts and warships to make this historic invasion. About 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft were involved. . The landings began very early in the morning of that day. By the end of the day, the troops had taken control over the beaches of Normandy. In this operation, there were many challenges. Some of the Allied soldiers lost their lives and others got wounded. However, a good number of them made it to the land and began marching across Europe to fight Hitler. Amid all these challenges, it is surprising how the entire operation was planned and executed until it became successful. Many factors contributed to its success. This paper seeks to bring to light some of the factors that came to play to make this operation successful..[Brooks, Stephen, and Eve Eckstein.Operation Overlord: The History of D-Day and the Overlord Embroidery. P. 12] [Connolly, Sean. The D-Day Landings. Chicago, Ill: Heinemann Library, 2003 P 36]
The timing of the landings was right. The weather was a bit unfavorable such that the Germans could not have expected such a massive operation. On the other hand, the weather conditions favored the Allied troops in order for them to mount the landings by surprise. On that day, there was a full moon. The moonlight was of great help for the navigation of the aircraft and gliders. They could easily spot their targets and land safely. . The assessment of the different roles of women during the War conveys an imperative issue of feminist empowerment in times of conflict.[Donovan, Michael J. Strategic Deception: Operation Fortitude P 21]
In addition, it was a Spring season where the tides were high in the sea. High tides provided deep waters that made it possible for the ships to navigate over the defensive obstacle that had been placed by the German forces along the beach. Moreover, during the Spring season, the clouds were not too low. It was thus possible for aircraft navigation without losing the focus of the target sites. It is important to note that the choice of the day was a carefully thought out plan and thus was not by accident. This is because the operation had been planned to be done a month earlier but cancelled until the historic D-Day. . Therefore, the weather, the presence of the full moon and the fact that the Spring tides were present made the D-Day (6th June, 1944) is the day that would be chosen for the landing operation.[D-Day: 'Operation Overlord' from Its Planning to the Liberation of Paris.P.13]
Furthermore, the planners of the landing were not oblivious of a possible counter-attack before the entire landing had been achieved. Therefore, as a way of ensuring successful landings, airborne operations were done. These included dropping paratroops to secure the target areas before the landing. In addition, aircraft assaults were involved in the destruction of the German division units in France. This way, there was less resistance by the Germans against the invasion by the Allied troops. Moreover, the landings were carried out by Divisions. . The US Airborne Divisions were supposed to take charge of the Western part of the region ( the Utah Beach) while the British and the Canadians Airborne Divisions were assigned the eastern region. The major objective of these airborne operations was to attack the German divisions at their target sites in order to make it easier for the landings. In addition, they were supposed to destroy all the bridges especially over the Dives River and sea to restrict movement of the ground German soldiers from the east. Having achieved this operation, it was finally easier for the landings of the aircraft and the warships.[Ford, Ken. D-Day 1944: Gold & Juno Beaches. P.23] [FranCois, Dominique. Normandy : From D-Day to the Breakout - June 6-July 31, 1944 P.23]
The other tactic that the Allied troops used to make the landings successful was the use of the deceptive method. The deceptions used were aimed at distracting the attention of Hitler from the impending invasion of France through the Normandy. One way they managed to cause this distraction was by planning an attack in Pas de Calais. The attacks were to occur across the Strait of Dover. As intended, Hitler shifted his full attention to protect the Strait. He was made to believe that this is where the intended invasion was to take place and that the Normandy landings were just but diversionary tactics. This is an interesting observation because it is ironic that Hitler thought that the Normandy landings were a diversionary tactic whereas the actual invasion was to take place in Normandy and not in Pas de Calais. This operation was codenamed Operation Bodyguard. In addition, two more operations were carried out with an intention to distract Hitler even more. These were Operation Glimmer and the Operation Taxable. What is unique about these two operations is that they were carried out at the same time as the Landings were taking place. They were also carried out on the Straits of Dover. They involved heavy bombers that flew over the region dropping radar-reflecting aluminum strips that were able to distort the German’s radar's ability to detect aircraft. The distraction was successful because the landings had been accomplished by the time Hitler realized that indeed the attacks in Pas de Calais were diversionary tactics.[Goddard, Lance, and Peter Saxton.D-Day, Juno Beach Canada's 24 Hours of Destiny. P.41] [Green, Michael, and James D. Brown.War Stories of D-Day: Operation Overlord : P.41]
Moreover, the Germany army was spread all over the place because of the confusions that had been created following the impending invasion. This scattering made it possible for the landings to take place in Normandy. This is because there was less resistance in Normandy owing to the fact that there were few division units in the region to result to a significant counter-attack. In addition, the release of armored units required the approval of Hitler. This approval was slow to come by because Hitler needed to be convinced first that the real invasion was taking place in Normandy. As a result, it was easy for the landings and the subsequent invasion by the Allied troops. The problem was compounded by the fact that there was no clear chain of command within the Germany Forces. For this reason, it was not possible for the quick assembly of the forces and direct the focus in Normandy in time to prevent the invasion. Thus, this defect in the Germany Forces worked to the advantage of the Allied Soldiers who were able to land and invade the Hitler’s territory.[Hamilton, Nigel. Monty: The Battles of Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. P 21-26] [Holderfield, Randy, and Michael O. Varhola.D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy. P 216-217.] [Keegan, John, Williams, and Fred.Six Armies in Normandy From D-Day to the Liberation of Paris P. 19]
Another tactic that played well for the success of the landings in Normandy was the use of the coded language by the Allied troops. For instance, they used code names to refer to the operations that they intended to carry out. The major operation that culminated in the actual landings on the D-Day was codenamed Operation Overlord. The actual assault phase was codenamed Operation Neptune. The deceptive operations that were carried out had code names too. For instance, Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable were the two operations that were carried out on the same day as the landings.
Operation Fortitude had been carried out earlier before the D-Day in order to shift the attention of Hitler from Normandy to Pas de Calais. This tactic of using code names helped the Allied troops conceal their intentions from the enemy. Furthermore, there were code names for the target sites marked for the attacks. For instance, the center of landings on the Normandy coast was codenamed Gold Beach. Messages passed among the soldiers were composed of the codes. In the end, the Allied troops were able to make the surprise landings and the subsequent invasion in Normandy. The tactic was successful because Hitler was caught off-guard by this invasion. Moreover, the fact that the operation was done by many nations united together made the entire operation successful. This unity helped the landings accomplishment in two main ways. First, the big nations pulled their resources together.[Kemp, Anthony. Official Guide: The D-Day Landings and the Battle of Normandy. P. 19] [Ibid., P. 21]
The United States of America, the British and Canada were at the forefront in this operation. It is in no doubt that the three nations are rich in terms of economic achievements. They came together united for a common goal. They contributed the necessary material resources such as the war equipments, ships and the aircraft. They also contributed the human resources in form of the soldiers who were to make the overall operation a success. Based on this knowledge, it is clear that the operation was done using sophisticated and the most expensive equipments available in those nations. Take for instance the number of aircraft involved and the number of the ships used. A single nation could not carry out such an operation because none ...