Should The Allies Take Normandy Beaches?

Landing would simply not be enough. From the moment planning began, the Allies knew that taking Normandy’s beaches would not be sufficient to secure their invasion of France. Outlying towns, strategic roads, railways and geographical barriers like rivers were necessary objectives to protect the Allied advance, and prevent a German counterattack (D’Este, 72). The Allies would have to capture these objectives if their invasion was going to be a success. While the American’s were faced with Carentan, St. Lo and Cherbourg in the west, the British objective in the east was Caen. Caen’s early strategic importance to the Allies was of extreme importance (Gerrard, 63). Not only was Caen the political capital of Normandy, but also it was a vital transportation and strategic hub (Gerrard 63), more will be said about this later. What the British would attempt to do was to seize Caen immediately after the beach
In the span of five minutes Wittmann attacking alone (his other tanks were not yet in position), “had destroyed nineteen tanks, fourteen half-tracks, and fourteen Bren gun carriers and blunted the division’s advance (Kelly, 84).” He returned again after rearming and refueling, this time with the rest of his tanks to finish off the British. This time, Wittmann’s tanks destroyed twenty Cromwell tanks, four Sherman Fireflies (a Sherman tank equipped with a 17 pound, more powerful, British gun), three light tanks, three scout cars and a half-track, essentially the remainder of the British squadron that had first entered Villers-Bocage (D’Este 182). Eventually a larger German counter-attack would move into Villers-Bocage and retake the town, destroying the allied opportunity for a swift capture of Caen (D’Este, 197) and send the entire 7th Armored into retreat (Keegan,