World War II: D-Day, Research Paper Example

D-Day is one of the most important events in World War II.  Also known as the Normandy Landings and Operation Neptune, D-Day summarizes the landing operations of the Allies against Germany (the exclusive Axis force relevant to D-Day).  While D-Day is used commonly in the military to refer to a day of landing, it has become synonymous with the event in World War II due to its prominence.

Leading to D-Day

The Allied forces were previously unable to mount any threatening attack in Europe. Previously, no mass of men and material to risk in such an attack was available.  Imminent to change the tide of the war, Allied forces needed to mount a major attack on Germany; in other words, it was necessary to liberate the significant ground in Europe for the Germans.

D-Day was not a drastic turning point in World War II, in a certain regard.  The momentum had already begun to swing in the favor of the Allied forces.  In 1944, when D-Day took place (June 6, 1944), the United States and Great Britain was consistently bombing Germany.  The frequency of these bombings if of particular mention: “Whereas an air raid by 200 planes had been considered large in June 1943, the average strike a year later was undertaken by 1,000 heavy bombers (World War II History).”  The specific targets were German industry and communications.

Once the target was set for the beaches of Normandy, east of the Cherbourg Peninsula, an air campaign was devised to prepare the impact of the attacks.  The region of France between the Seine and Loire Rivers was a particular emphasis, along with a plan to lead the Germans into thinking the landings would occur farther north (as a landing was imminent).  The air campaign targeted French and Belgian railways, bridges, and opposing airfields in a 130-mile radius of the landing beaches.

Although weather conditions were not optimal, the decision was soon made for a concrete date for the advance.  General Eisenhower decided on June 6, 1944, where they would begin the assault on Normandy.  This launched what is now commonly known as D-Day.

The Landings

Overall the landings on D-Day were indeed great in number.  It was the largest amphibious invasion in history, with over 160,000 troops landing on the sixth of June (U.S. Army).  Over 5,000 ships were involved as well (Ambrose).

D-Day can be seen in two phases, in terms of the actual assault.  The first involved the landing of over 24,000 troops just a bit after midnight, from Canada, Britain, America, and Free French troops.  The second phase began at 6:30 AM, which involved Allied infantry on the coast of France.  In addition to this, decoy operations – dubbed Operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable – were used to distract the Germans from the primary landing areas, according to Hakim (157-161).

There were several sites for the invasion, which can be divided into five primary areas.  The United States was responsible for the westernmost and easternmost beaches in the Bay of Seine, the site of the invasions in Normandy.  With help from navies of Great Britain, the US had the “Utah”(western) and “Omaha” (eastern) areas.  British and Canadian forces were responsible for “Gold,” “Juno,” and “Sword” areas that ran twenty miles east of “Omaha” (Naval History & Heritage Command).  The landings overall took place over a 50-mile stretch in these five major areas.

These landing areas only comprised a small portion of the space of each area.  However, this was by design, along with the lack of bombardment to German shore defenses.  This was to provide enough of a foothold for reinforcement and expansion to the former point.  The latter, in the lack of bombardment, was decided upon to keep the element of surprise intact – something that would be troubling to deal with for the forces.

Impact of Navies

The Invasion Fleet comprised of eight different navies and played an extremely important role in D-Day.  Sources report around 12,000 ships, where transport vessels, warships, and other types of ships were involved.  Under the command of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who planned the invasion of North Africa in 1942, the Invasion Fleet would prove invaluable to the invasion.

The Home Fleet of the Royal Navy had an incredibly important objective, found in screening the German Navy, the Kriegsmarine.  Allied forces feared that German ships, either U-boats from the Atlantic or capital ships from Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea, most notably, could interfere with the invasion routes.  Sealing off routes via minefields, patrols, radar, and bombing raids, the screen was affective.  No U-boat attacks and few surface ships made any attempts that could interfere with Allied shipping.

A second primary role could be found in warships during the invasions.  The general theme of providing support was found in great intensity.  Warships were able to bombard areas that would give support to land forces.  They were successful and even able to break up movement of enemy forces.

Few losses occur to the navies of the Allied forces.  The only contact occurred when four torpedo boats launched eighteen torpedoes, which would sing Norwegian destroyer off of Sword beach.  However, it missed battleships HMS Warspite and HMS Ramillies.  Eight vessels were lost due to mines.

Impact of Airborne Operations

As previously mentioned, the first wave of D-Day consisted of many airborne operations.  These again took place just after midnight, with a force of 24,000 troops from different forces of the Allies.  These proved to be very effective, where they were able to seize important elements for the second wave of the invasion on ground.

British paratroopers had a number of important objectives, notably along the eastern flank.  Able to accomplish each of its objectives – destroying German artillery and bridges, defending crossings of counter-attacks and more – reinforcements arrived of the 1^st Special Service Brigade.  Both British and German forces took heavy casualties during this period, however.

The Americans were less fortunate in carrying out their main objectives.  45% of the force was scattered due to the Americans parachuting at night, which was something that would not happen again during the war.  Many troops roamed and/or consolidated into smaller groups to be able to fight.  However the flawed planning would certainly be a dark spot for the parachuting operations that occurred during this time.

Overall, and along with other forces (such as the Canadians), the airborne forces certainly had an important role.  While all were not successful in their objectives, they were able to put some pressure off of the invading forces.  They were also able to seize key bridges and crossings.

Success of D-Day

Overall D-Day is remembered as a success, a breaking point in the war.  The landings allowed the Allied forces a military presence on the ground, which led to the recovery of cities in France, such as Caen which was liberated after a hard fight in the days following D-Day.  There were a number of factors that contributed to its success.

The surprise and planning was significant to the success of D-Day.  The Germans thought that the attack would have occurred farther along the coast of Calais, as this is the shortest route by seas; even after the attack, Hitler was still convinced of this.  False intelligence, including elements previously (and others, including wooden guns on the South Coast of England), also fooled the Germans.

The weather, interestingly enough, was involved as well.  The Germans never would have believed that the Allied forces would attack on such a bad day, in terms of the weather.  The overcast also likely prevented significant air attacks from the Germans, which could have increased the resistance.

Also, the sheer force of the attack was impressive.  15 months of planning and the significant plans – from false intelligence to concrete attacks across France – mad e it difficult for the Germans to match.  The meticulous plans made for a devastating surprise to the Germans, who were additionally spread out in Europe.

While D-Day was successful, there were significant losses.  Many estimates are placed on the Allies side of around 12,000.  However, considering the sheer size of the invading force, this number was an unfortunate necessity for D-Day and World War II.

Conclusion

The buildup to D-Day is a very interesting topic.  Not only was an invasion of this force inevitable, but many months (over a year) went into its planning.  It took a significant amount of planning, coordination, and intelligence, in addition to the manpower and materials, to pull off the invasion.

The surprise of the invasion is another primary topic that is only covered briefly here.  However, a lot of factors were involved, including false intelligence, decoy invasions, the weather, and the site of the general invasion.  The Germans were at a significant disadvantage when these and other factors are considered.

On every level of action, the invading forces were complementary.  The air and water support allowed the Allies advantages in being able to invade Normandy, and in going forward from there.  These forces helped keep the opposing side on their toes as they went forward to liberate parts of France and find the turning point in World War II.

D-day is certainly one of the most significant points of World War II.  It provided a great deal of momentum and progress for the Allies.  Overall it made a significant difference – as it was a success – in the victory found later in World War II.

Works Cited

Ambrose, Stephen E.  D-Day.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994.

Hakim, Joy.  A History of Us: War, Peace and all that Jazz.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Naval History & Heritage Command.  Normandy Invasion.  US Navy Official Website.  2011.  Web.  May 19, 2011.

World War II History, D-Day, 2010.  Web.  May 19, 2011.

U.S. Army.  D-Day June 6, 1944.  US Army Official Website.  2011.  Web.  May 19, 2011.