Battle Of Normandy.

Site Issues 2006 Archive Room
#1

The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between the German forces occupying Western Europe and the invading Allied forces as part of the larger conflict of World War II. Sixty years later, the Normandy invasion, codenamed Operation Overlord, remains the largest sea borne invasion in history, involving almost 3,000,000 troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy in occupied France fighting against 700,000 german troops.

Twelve Allied nations provided units that participated in the invasion: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Normandy invasion began with overnight paratrooper and glider landings, massive air and naval bombardments, and an early morning amphibious assault on June 6, “D-day”. The battle for Normandy continued for more than two months, with campaigns to establish, expand, and eventually break out of the Allied beachheads. It concluded with the liberation of Paris and the fall of the Chambois pocket.

It was a bloody battle, with 209,000 causalties on the allied side.
90,349 on the german side with 198,616 taken prisoner.

topics

-landings
-Caen
-St. Lo
-Carentan
-Operation Jupiter

-Operation Epsom
-Operation Charnwood
-Operation Goodwood
-Operation Totalize
-Operation Cobra
-Falaise pocket
-Mortain
etc,etc, etc.



#2

Pegusus Bridge, one of the first attacks on German Occupied Territory was a bloody battle aswell.
Even though the Germans were greatly out-numbered they gave the Allies a hell of a fight, especially on the Beaches.

#3

Pegasus was the name given to a bridge over the Caen canal, near the town of Ouistreham. The bridge was a major objective of the British 6th Airborne Division, which was landed by glider near it during the Normandy Invasion on the 5th/6th June 1944. It was given the permanent name of Pegasus Bridge in honour of the operation.

The main objective of capturing Pegasus Bridge was to secure the eastern flank of the invasion, preventing a counter attack from rolling up the entire invasion force.

The initial assault was carried out by 181 soldiers – most of whom came from D Company, 2nd Ox & Bucks – in 6 Horsa gliders, led by Major John Howard. They landed within fifty metres (164 feet) of Pegasus at 16 minutes past midnight on June 6th. The bridge was lightly guarded and was captured in just ten minutes, becoming the first objective seized on D-Day. One of the men killed during the operation was Lt. Dan Brotheridge, the first Allied soldier to be killed on D-Day.
Pegasus Bridge in 1944
Enlarge
Pegasus Bridge in 1944

A few hundred yards to the east, spanning the river Orne, stands another bridge known as Horsa Bridge. This was the second objective of the Ox and Bucks, and was assaulted by glider in a similar fashion the same night.

Further elements of the 6th Airborne landed by glider and parachute throughout the day to reinforce the defenders, and the bridge was successfully held until relieved by British ground units. The first relief was from 6 Commando, led by Lord Lovat, who arrived to the sound of the Scottish bagpipes, played by 21-year-old ‘Mad Piper’ Private Bill Millin. Later in the day units of the British 3rd Division arrived, and the bridges were secured. The operation is frequently referred to as Operation Coup de Main, although since coup-de-main is a term frequently used for a swift pre-emptive strike it is not clear if this is a description or an official codename.

#4

I happened to have updated my website’s entries for Normandy at these two links:

http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=2
http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=112

Enjoy! :slight_smile:

#5

good stuff! :stuck_out_tongue:

#6

That pretty much sums up the Op. I think 9 Para (could be wrong on my number) relieved the Ox and Bucks at around 0200hrs and the 1st Allied forces to reach the bridge from the beach were Royal Engineers who were there to survey the area incase a pontoon bridge had to be built.

One of the great myths is that Lord Lovat was dressed in a White Polo, perpetuated in the film The Longest Day. He was actually dressed in normal Battle Dress.

Still, a well executed Op nonetheless.

#7

Sometimes the Falaise Pocket is considered a part of the Normandy Campaign, depends on who you ask. US Army Center of Military History, for example, officially uses 24 July as the end of the Normandy Campaign, therefore Falaise would fall outside of this campaign, though it is rather continuous of the fighting in nature.

So with that said, I have a question: Does anybody consider the Brittany operations (St. Malo, Brest, St. Nazaire, etc.) a part of the Normandy Campaign? In other words, despite the late date of the battle, Is Falaise Pocket considered for some a part of the Normandy campaign because much of it took place in the Basse-Normandie region? So with that logic, the Brittany campaign which took place in Bretagne region would not be considered a part of the Normandy campaign?

Let me know if this is a dumb question :slight_smile: All the actions were continuous anyway so classification/categorization into campaign really doesn’t matter much, though I’m just curious.

Thanks guys :slight_smile:

#8

I always thought that the Normandy campaign officially ended when Eisenhower took over command of the allied army from Montgomery.

I am quite prepared to be shown wrong though.

#9

Does anyone have any more to add before it is archived? Seems a pity as there is such scope for this Topic.

#10

I would like to know what’s happening in the last photo of the original post - appears to be a group of British/Commonwealth soldiers with a German officer and NCO/Soldier stood in front of a squadron of German tank destroyers (Jagdpanthers?).

#11

They look like JagdPanzer IV/70 perhaps Hosenfield can help?

#12

http://www.combatsim.com/review.php?id=692 re: one of the MOH winners on D-Day.

#13

I think the Allied number is inflated and the Axis number is low balled a tad bit.

Estimates on German casualties during the Normandy Campaign are 240,000 killed, wounded or missing and 200,000 captured.

Erik

#14

I would add Operation Tractable as an effect of Operation Totalize fiasco.

Best regards :smiley:

Greg