Introduction
The invasion of D-Day is the largest joint sea born invasion in the history of the world. Although very well planned, the amphibious landings were a gamble made by the Allied forces to gain foothold in Europe. Every American has heard about the Allied invasion of German-occupied Western Europe on D-Day. However, how many Americans stop and think about how much planning, preparation and luck that went into making it the success that it is remembered for? I will attempt to depict what it took to conquer the Normandy beaches using historical and military facts that make it such an iconic event in the world’s history still today.
History
Japan’s surprise attack on the United States came as a complete shock. The attacks cost the nation 18 warships, 164 aircraft, and more than 2,400 lives.1 The next day President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed congress asking for a declaration of war on Japan, labeling their attack “…a day which will live on in infamy”.2 The declaration was passed on 8 December 1941. Three days later, Germany and Italy, Japans’ allies, declared war on the United States on 11 December 1941.3
In December 1941, Hitler gave a speech boasting that he controlled all of the western coast of Europe. He then said “It is my unshakeable decision to make this front impregnable against every enemy”.4 He then started construction on 15,000 strongpoints that he manned with 300,000 troops. This stretch of 1,670 miles became known as the “Atlantic Wall”. The defenses were multiplied and fortified after Field Marshall Erwin Rommel’s inspection.5
Planning and Preparation
Immediately following the declaration of war, the Allies created the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS). From March 1942 on, their job was to plan the ...
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...ations Command. n.d. Operation Overlord TheD-Day Landings. Accessed March 2, 2014. http://www.combinedops.com/Overlord.htm.
Ford, Ken, and Steven J. Zaloga. 2009. Overlord The D-Day Landings. New York: Osprey Publishing.
History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. n.d. "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy”: FDR Asks for a Declaration of War. Accessed March 2, 2014. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5166/.
Holderfield, Randy, and Michael Varhola. 2000. D-DAY: The Invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944. Conshohocken, PA: Savas Publishing Company.
2010. Battle Field, WWII INVASION!, The Battle of Normandy. Directed by Andrew Aitken, Dave Flitton and Justin McCarthy. Performed by Tim Smith.
The National WWII Museum. n.d. America Goes to War:. Accessed March 3, 2014. http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/america-goes-to-war.html.
Man, John, The Facts on File D-Day Atlas, The Definitive Account of the Allied Invasion of Normandy (Swanston Publishing Limited 1994)
Noonan, P. (1984, June 6). Remarks at a United States-France Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-Day, June 6, 1984 . Retrieved March 24, 2014, from The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library: http://www.reaganfoundation.org/tgcdetail.aspx?args_a=cms&args_b=1&argsb=N&h1=0&h2=0&lm=reagan&p=TG0923RRS&sw=&tx=1742
Brennan, L. (2011). The battle of arracourt [Television series episode]. In Brennan , L. (Executive Producer), Greatest Tank Battles. Military Channel.
The Battle of Pearl Harbor was one of the most atrocious events that happened in U.S. history. On December 7, 1941, Japan made a surprise aerial attack on the United States naval base and airfields at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than two thousand Americans died and a thousand two hundred were wounded. Eighteen ships were badly damaged, including five battleships. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt with the support of the Congress, declared war on Japan. It led United States’ official involvement in World War II. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of a deteriorating relationship with the U. S. The “New World Order”, expansion and resources, and economic sanctions were factors that conducted to another disaster on the Second World War.
The 1944 Allied landing at Normandy met a strong, networked German defense that initially disrupted the timing of the invasion, slowed down the Allied advance, and inflicted extensive casualties. The German shore defenses were a result of extensive preparations that began when the German High Command appointed Field Marshal Rommel to defend the western European coast. Rommel believed the best strategy against an Allied inv...
There are several terms associated with D-Day. The first is D-Day, a military term used to indicate the unknown date in the future when an attack will be launched. It is most commonly used for the invasion of Normandy. The second term is H-hour, which is the hour that D-Day is supposed to start. H-hour for the three Normandy invasion sites varied by as much as eighty-five minutes due to weather conditions.
December 7, 1941 was a day of great tragedy. At 07:48 in the morning the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. This attacked caused the destruction of seventeen ships and one hundred and eighty eight aircraft as well as killing two thousand four hundred and three Americans. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt took to the microphone to address congress and the American people. This speech by President Roosevelt was effective in convincing congress to declare war on Japan by using ethos, pathos, and also logos.
. F.A. Osmanski, The Logistical Planning of Operation OVERLORD.” Military Review Vol. XXIX No. 8, (November 1949) accessed at http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p124201coll1/id903 (accessed 23 Oct 2013) p.41
In 1943 the British and American Allies shared a common language and a common enemy, but they disagreed on the war’s grand strategy. (site) These strategic differences culminated in the Sicily Campaign, with Allied command and control exercise by Allied Commander, General Eisenhower, failed to employ the three essential attributes of mission command: commander’s intent, full understanding, and mutual trust among partners, as discussed in General Dempsey’s white paper. These failures in Mission Command also limited the Allies’ ability to effectively integrate the vital joint functions like Fires, Maneuver, and Protection. This essay will evaluate the Allies’ Command and Control and the other vital Joint Functions and expound on General Eisenhower
Of particular note among the interviews are those with Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, President Eisenhower, and General Simpson, all from 1963. Doug McCabe   The period covered in this book is a very short one, covering the building of the Atlantic wall in little detail, and in great detail, the few days before D-Day and the initial attacks on D-Day itself. On the German side, Hitler has ordered the building of a massive Atlantic Wall to stop any Allied attackers from landing on the western seaboard, from the Kirkenes to the Pyrenees.
On June 6th, 1944 the Battle of Normandy began. This day is also marked as D-Day. D-Day is when 156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces invaded on five beaches along a fifty-mile stretch. It took place on the Bay of the Siene, on the south side of the English Channel. Normandy Landings have also been called the “beginning of the end of the war.” Although they landed on June 6th, the invasion did not take place until later, due to bad weather. They called this invasion “Operation Overlord.” General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed commander of “Operation Overlord.” (History.com Staff D-Day) Eisenho...
World War II was a time of heightened tension. The entire world watched as fascism and dictatorships battled against democracy and freedom in the European theater. The United States looked on, wishing to remain neutral and distant from the war. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, officially drawing the U.S. into the war. Thousands of young sailors died in the attack and several U.S. Navy vessels were sunk. The attack marked the beginning of the United States’ involvement in World War II as well as the beginning of the persecution of Japanese Americans in the U.S. Hysteria and outrage increased across the country and largely contributed to the authority’s decision to act against the Japanese. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, allowing the military to place anyone of Japanese lineage in restri...
It’s a beautiful sunny morning, on a tropical island that everyone would love to take a vacation at. It’s approximately 6:00 am, December 7, 1941, when a first group of 181 kamikaze planes attacked; targeting key naval bases stationed at Hawaii; a sustained crippling of U.S. naval forces for about 6 months. The death toll was 2,500. Out of the 9 battleships, 8 were heavily damaged by the assault on Pearl Harbor and out of the 8, three were unrepairable, USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah. 160 aircrafts were put out of commission, and nearly 130 were heavily damaged. This was the first incident in which there was an act of war, committed on U.S. soil, outside of the American Revolution and the Civil War. The world was at war, and the U.S. remained neutral until now. Before the attack, the U.S. was in great debate whether to enter the war or to stay out of it. The act of war forced the U.S. into the War and triggered a controversial debate in whether to retaliate against Japan with the use of nuclear arms.
Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. On that fateful day American troops storm the beaches of Normandy for the largest invasion of world war two. As General Patton watches over his men through the steadily held binoculars, the German bunkers flash through the muzzles of MG-42 machine guns. As the ramps of the landing crafts open men fall left and right as Patton studies his Omaha beach map. The Invasion of Normandy was home to a massive force of men all as planned by General Patton under the President Dwight D Eisenhower. The large scale invasion was the first step to gaining a foothold to fight against Nazi occupied Germany and this invasion tactic would prove to be successful earning General Patton much respect. On D-day 448,000 tons of ammo was present leading to shell casings and fragments to lie across the baron and bloody beach. 12,000 allied airmen and 2,000 aircraft were lost in the sky of burning fury. 9,386 allied men still lie in Normandy in present day all facing west towards the U.S. 307 of these men have no engraving on their tombstones and are unknown to this day for their families and friends
President Roosevelt’s “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy” speech is one of most momentous speeches in U.S. History. From the first sentence, Roosevelt uses powerful language such as his continuous use the words “deliberately”, “suddenly” and “unprovoked” to convey the betrayal of the Japanese Empire. Roosevelt’s honesty in this speech by saying that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor suddenly and deliberately manifests the spirit of America in that moment in time. His words are forever engrained in the minds of the youths of future generations since it declared the United States as the superpower that it is today. Roosevelt’s timing was perfect when he met with the Congress during their joint session and pleaded with them to declare war on Japan. The