June 1944 at Normandy in 5
beaches British forces at Gold, Juno and Sword and American forces at Omaha and
Utah were planned for landing. The allied forces selected a full moon day for
the attack. In darkness targeting the German defence would have been very
difficult and that is why they selected a full moon day.
Two days before full moon a
huge downpour started and the allied Supreme Commander Eisenhover wanted to
delay the operation. However, if the operation is delayed it has to wait for
the next full moon and if that happens Hitler may get intelligence on the
operation in which case it would be impossible to defeat the Germans. However,
the British meteorologist predicted that the rain would cease on 6th.
With that Eisenhover gave a green signal for the attack on the scheduled date.
6000 ships started their journey for the mission along with minesweepers in the
front. For a few weeks before the invasion the allied airforce continued to
attack the Luftwaffe with airstrikes. With that the strength of the Luftwaffe
almost dwindled to zero and it had no means to counter any allied air attack.
The allies dropped para
troopers one day before behind the beaches at Normandy to support the landing
troops. The Normandy region too had bunkers and fortifications that can be used
to attack the allied troops. Unless they are neutralized it would be impossible
for the allied armies to progress. On the midnight of June 5th 17000
paratroopers landed at Normandy. The para troopers had a tough fight
neutralizing the German defences and they incurred heavy losses. Yet they
accomplished their mission which is to destroy as much as German defence as
possible. The paratroopers destroyed the communications and defences of the
Germans so that the German reserves are prevented from coming to the help of
German defences.
After they received a green
signal from the paratroopers the allied forces mounted a big air strike on
Normandy with the allied ships too firing on them. June 6th 1944
morning 6.30 AM the invasion began and thousands of American and British forces
made landings on the Normandy beach.
Out of the 5 beaches in 4
beaches the defences were fully neutralized by the paratroopers but in 1 beach
named Utah beach they failed. American forces died left and right on that beach
from the German defence. The allied forces were being killed left and right
when they attacked. But the American forces had been very fortunate because
some soldiers by mistake has landed on another beach which was deserted. There
was not a single German soldier on that beach. They understood that they have
come to the wrong beach. Teddy Roosevelt Junior was among them and he was
general on the verge of retirement. He shouted hey come and fight with guys but
no one was there at all. Then one junior officer said sir let us go back as no
one is there. Roosevelt smiled and said this is an opportunity we got man let
us fight. The soldiers then put paid to the minor German defence in the area.
Roosevelt then messaged Eisenhover who then messaged the troops fighting in the
Utah area to divert their attack to the new beach. It seems even today one can
find the statue of Roosevelt on that beach.
In Omaha beach too the
American forces failed to neutralize the German defences and all the
paratroopers were killed. When the Sherman DD tanks were landed on Omaha beach,
of the 27 tanks only 2 managed to get ashore and the rest were waterlogged. In
the Omaha beach alone 4000 American soldiers died. However, with the
coordination of the British army the Omaha beach was finally captured. The
allied troops then brought in lakhs of troops through the beaches to attack
France and Hitler. Slowly the allied forces took control of entire France. Next
target is Belgium. There the allied army and the Germans had a great fight
which the allies finally won. The American forces were heavily attacking
Netherlands when Hitler brought forth his master plan again.
No comments:
Post a Comment