Remembering D-Day: June 6, 1944

June 6, 1944. 80 years ago today. Operation Overlord is in full swing. The most famous amphibious landing in history is about to take place along the Normandy coastline. The Allies plan to punch through Hitler’s Atlantic Wall along the French coast and begin the push through France and into the heart of Germany. If successful, these landings will be the beginning of the end for the Third Reich.

“You are about to embark upon the great crusade towards which we have striven these many months. The Eyes of the world are upon you… I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force

Hours before the beginning of the amphibious assault, under the cover of darkness, men of the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and the British 6th Airborne Division dropped behind the German lines. Even with most paratroopers misdropping far from their intended objectives, they still were able to do what they did best: create confusion and chaos behind enemy lines.

In the morning, following a massive Allied air and naval bombardment, five designated beachheads had to be taken. Running from north to south they were given the names Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, and Utah. The British were to take Sword and push into Caen. Juno went to the Canadians. Gold also belonged to the British, with the task of taking Arrolnanches and making contact with the Americans and Canadians on either side of them. Omaha was the most heavily defended beachhead and would prove to be the most difficult to take. The daunting task of securing this beach fell to the Americans. Utah, the southernmost beachhead, also was to be taken by the Americans to gain proximity to Cherbourg, a major port city only 60 kilometers away.

When the landings commenced, some of the beachheads were taken easily and with minimal casualties, allowing for a faster push inland. Utah, Gold, and Sword beaches proved to be relatively easy to take largely due to terrain, lighter defenses, and successful Allied air and naval bombardment. Juno and the infamous Omaha would prove to be much more difficult to take.

The Canadians at Juno were met with a host of problems before and during their assault. The weather had delayed the first wave of landings, the Allied bombardment in the area had been far less than effective, and the beach was defended by a veteran German division. The Canadians of the first wave were directly in line with the German’s machine guns as the landing crafts’ ramps dropped. The Canadians took heavy casualties in the opening minutes. However, the Canadians were able to continuously land more and more men on the beach, and around two hours after the first weave made landfall they had secured the beachhead and were moving inland.

As for Omaha, Murphy’s Law would be the lesson of the day. Just about everything that could go wrong would go wrong. Going into the assault, the Americans knew the beach had some of the most difficult terrain and heaviest defenses. They couldn’t let that deter them; the beach had to be taken no matter the cost. What they didn’t know was that the beach would be guarded by fresh battle-hardened Germans who had arrived just the night before. As the assault commenced, the landing craft would be pushed far off course due to the strong currents. Many of the Americans landing on the beach were nowhere near their designated landing area. On top of this, all of the armor that was supposed to land in tandem with the infantry sank in the channel or was forced to turn back.

It was chaos. Interlocking machine gun fire ripped through the men moving up the beach. Artillery and mortars fell everywhere. Nobody was where they were supposed to be, casualties were heavily racking up, and the shingle up the beachhead offered little, yet the only, cover. Many of the units, especially the ones at the ends of the beachheads, would be cut to pieces or completely eliminated as effective units. Some had above a 50% casualty rate before even reaching the shingle. It became a disorganized mob of men pinned down with no unit cohesion. The Omaha assault was on the verge of collapse.

The subsequent waves that landed were able to reinforce those already on the beach, but the chaos remained. Eventually, the Americans were able to move up into the draws off the beachhead and begin their push inland. Omaha would eventually be secured, but it would take a lot longer than the other beaches and at the cost of many more men.

The Allies had secured their foothold in France. Many men paid the ultimate price that day, but Hitler’s days were numbered. However, there was still much fighting to be done. The Allies would have to make their way through France, Belgium, Holland, and then across the Rhine into Germany.