Invasion of the Normandy Beaches
Sometime during May of 1944, allied forces came together and agreed on a date and time for the Normandy invasion. The date was June 5th and the time was 6 in the morning. British, Canadian, and U.S. forces were assigned five beaches to invade code named Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword Beach. All communication from U.S. troops to the United States was cut off so that the word couldn’t get out that they were planning an attack. On June 4, the allies came up against some rough seas and bad weather while heading through the English Channel. They only had one choice and that was to postpone the invasion until June 6 when the weather changed. (Fein, page 12-15)
The invasion began with 13,000 paratroopers jumping into the Normandy invasion area. The mission that had been assigned to them was to protect the main landing forces and secure the surrounding bridges. Directly after the paratroopers, came approximately 2000 allied bombers that were sent to attack German positions that were farther inland. By 6:00 A.M. a large incoming fleet of nearly 5,000 ships were visible from the Normandy beaches.
The First beach that was invaded was code named Omaha Beach. Omaha Beach being about 3 miles long was invaded by nearly two-thirds of the entire U.S. force. This was about 45,000 troops. The previous allied bombing had not accomplished their mission to take out the German defenses that lined the beaches. The invading U.S. troops were extremely easy targets for the German defenses that allied bombings had failed to destroy. This was one of the bloodiest battles on D-Day. Nearly two thousand soldiers lost their lives on Omaha Beach, which was nick named “Bloody Omaha”.
The next beach that was invaded was Utah Beach. This beach had a far different outcome than that of Utah beach. The soldiers landing on Utah beach met little resistance from German soldiers. The only difficulties U.S. troops encountered was that once they had crossed the beach, they found themselves wading
The invasion began with 13,000 paratroopers jumping into the Normandy invasion area. The mission that had been assigned to them was to protect the main landing forces and secure the surrounding bridges. Directly after the paratroopers, came approximately 2000 allied bombers that were sent to attack German positions that were farther inland. By 6:00 A.M. a large incoming fleet of nearly 5,000 ships were visible from the Normandy beaches.
The First beach that was invaded was code named Omaha Beach. Omaha Beach being about 3 miles long was invaded by nearly two-thirds of the entire U.S. force. This was about 45,000 troops. The previous allied bombing had not accomplished their mission to take out the German defenses that lined the beaches. The invading U.S. troops were extremely easy targets for the German defenses that allied bombings had failed to destroy. This was one of the bloodiest battles on D-Day. Nearly two thousand soldiers lost their lives on Omaha Beach, which was nick named “Bloody Omaha”.
The next beach that was invaded was Utah Beach. This beach had a far different outcome than that of Utah beach. The soldiers landing on Utah beach met little resistance from German soldiers. The only difficulties U.S. troops encountered was that once they had crossed the beach, they found themselves wading
Cited: Fein, Eric. D-Day, The Battle of Normandy. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press, 2009 Hynson, Colin. Days That Changed the World, D-Day. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2004 Isserman, Maurice. America At War, World War II. New York, NY: Facts On File