WORLD WAR 2 OMAHA BEACH HOW TO

American battleships supported by cruisers and destroyers and the British Royal Navy with a similar group of ships shelled gun emplacements and defensive positions around their designated beaches. The largest naval bombardment ever seen began at 5:30 AM, lasting only forty minutes. American airborne forces of the 82nd and 101st worked valiantly to achieve their inland objectives, including the capture of Sainte-Mere Eglise and securing key approaches to the Allied beachhead. Once daylight appeared, gliders brought in additional paratroopers. In the early hours of June 6, under the cover of darkness, American and British paratroopers dropped into Normandy from more than 1,200 aircraft. The Eyes of the World Are Upon You June 6, 1944 With his assault, naval, and air commanders all saying “go,” Eisenhower gave the order. British meteorologist James Stagg advised General Eisenhower of a temporary break in the weather, clearer skies, and lighter winds, which would potentially allow the invasion to commence twenty-four hours later. Planners set the date of June 5, 1944, for the landings, but a storm that day meant it would be too cloudy to bombard German coastal defenses and too windy for men to disembark from landing craft. They would be bolstered by parachute and glider landings and supported by some 5,000 ships and 11,000 airplanes. The final plan called for some 156,000 men to land on five beaches on the coast of Normandy: the Americans at Utah and Omaha in the west, and the British and Canadians at Gold, Juno, and Sword.

WORLD WAR 2 OMAHA BEACH HOW TO

Such questions as where and when to land how many soldiers, tanks, ships, and planes would be needed what equipment each man had to carry and the essential question of how to keep this a secret from the enemy were debated and planned. The invasion had to be the most intricately planned military operation in history. Forces from twelve Allied nations (most occupied by Nazi Germany) would take part. Soon American forces began arriving in England to train for the invasion.Īt the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Allied leaders decided the cross-Channel invasion would occur in the spring of 1944 with American general Dwight Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander of the multinational operation. into the Alliance meant the scope of the planned cross-Channel invasion would grow. Also, by the end of that year, the United States entered the war after Japan (an ally of Germany) attacked the American base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, formerly a partner. Understanding the threat such an invasion would pose, Hitler began to build formidable defenses along the entire Channel coast, which he called his “Atlantic Wall.” While Britain was able to evacuate many of those forces from the area around Dunkirk, it left Nazi Germany dominant on the continent of Europe.Īlmost immediately, British leaders began envisioning ways to get back across the Channel in an amphibious assault, eventually code-named Operation Overlord. German armies then moved into France, rapidly breaking through border defenses and pinning much of the British and French armies against the English Channel. In the spring of 1940, German leader Adolph Hitler staged successful invasions of Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, and other nations. Britain and France declared war in response but could do little to help the Poles. World War II in Europe began with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in September 1939. The largest land, sea, and air invasion ever attempted was years in the making. Toward Which We Have Striven The Planning of D-Day

D-Day Participant Identification Program.

World war 2 omaha beach