D day Flashcards
Situation in 1944
Russians have defeated the Germans and the are advancing east
The Allies are victorious in Africa and launched an attack on Italy through Siciliy
Germany was busy fighting in Italy when the Allies planned to attack for D day
The Plan
what did the allies do to suprise the Germans
and also how long spent planning D-Day
The British and The US agreed it was time to open up a front in the West beaches of France
The obvious choice for a landing area was the Pas de Calais so the Allies decided to attack in Normandy instead to deceive the Germans
Spent two years planning D-Day
Who was involved
Canada, USA, Britain vs Germany
What was the Criteria for D-Day
- The enemy must not know the landing site
- Enemy prevented from bringing reinforcements once allies arrive
- Complete Allied air and naval superiority in the English Channel
- Local defenses must largely be destroyed by air and sea bombardment
Operation Overlord
which team almost faced defeat
There would be five sectors that would be attacked: Utah – American Omaha – American Gold – British Juno – Canadian Sword - British
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Before the invasion of D-Day
the days leading up to the main invasion, Allied planes bombed the Atlantic Wall defenses all along the coast of France
Destroying these targets would cripple Germany’s military operations. The Allied Power achieved their goal of gaining air supremacy by the time the cross-Channel invasion was ready. This was crucial to victory.
The invasion
When was it?
What was the initial attack
what was it followed by
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and what followed that at 6:30am
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the operation started at 2 a.m. with the landing of parachute troops in strategic inland positions. Targeted railroad lines and communication lines.
This was followed by the arrival of 5,000 warships of all kinds, which began shelling the German coastal forts.
At 6:30 a.m. the first set of troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, the northwest province of France. Within 24 hours, 120,000(not total cuz only in first 24h) troops were landed at five different beaches.
date of D-Day invasion
D-Day, June 6, 1944,
What happened when during the invasion of D-day
On June 6, 1944 more than 150,000 Allied soldiers crossed the English Channel
They attacked the German military along a 60 mile stretch of the coast in Normandy, France.
LARGEST SEA INVASION TO DATE
THE GERMANS WERE SUPRISED BY LOCATION AND TIME
Soldiers faced intense opposition from the Germans when they landed
Many men were killed or injured before they even reached the beaches
Canadas involvement - Juno beach
how many Canadians stormed juno beach?
How many young men in first wave?
What did they face?
What was so special about them compared to any other attack on beach
Why was this victory so important
a total of 14,000 Canadians stormed Juno Beach on D-Day, there were not more than three thousand young Canadians in the first wave - all ranks
The 14,000 Canadians who stormed Juno Beach faced heavy shelling and deadly machine gun fire
The Canadians fought their way past the German defences
At the end of the day, Canadians had penetrated farther inland than any other Allied Force
The victory was a turning point in World War II and led to the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The battle for Normandy
in Normandy what was the situation
In july what did the Canadain troops help capture and what did they do after that?
What was the situation for the Germans by Aug 21st
How many casualties did The Candians alone face alone more than
For the first month following the D-Day landings, a stalemate developed during which the Allies built up their forces
-In July Canadian troops helped capture Caen and then turned towards Falaise where THEY AIMED AT JOINING AN AMERICAN ADVANCE from the south to encircle the German forces in Normandy.
-By August 21, the Germans had either retreated or been destroyed between the Canadian-British and American pincers movements.
The ten-week Normandy Campaign cost the Canadians alone more than 18,000 casualties, 5000 of them fatal.
why did D-Day happen
The Allies wanted to free France from German control
They had to first conquer the coast of France so that they could then liberate western Europe and defeat Hitler
how did D-Day impact the war
D-Day was the beginning of the end of the war in Europe
-The Allies were able to liberate France from German control after several months of fighting
thousands of allied soldiers were killed under fire
- The Allies eventually took over all five of the beaches
- By August, Paris had been liberated! By September the Germans were completely out of France.
