Where the Americans landed in France. End of the Normandy operation

The landing of Anglo-American troops in Normandy was the largest amphibious operation in history, in which about 7,000 ships took part. It owes much of its success to careful preparation.

The decision to open a Second Front - a large-scale invasion of Western France - was taken by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In January 1943, at a conference in Casablanca, the leaders of the two countries of the Anti-Hitler Coalition discussed current problems along with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Great Britain. In pursuance of the decision, the General Staffs of both countries formed a working group headed by British General Frederick Morgan, which began to develop a plan for a future operation.

OPERATION OVERLORD

The preparation of the operation, called "Overlord" (Overlord), was carried out by the Anglo-American command carefully and on a large scale. The production of landing and anti-submarine weapons, special equipment and weapons necessary for landing was sharply expanded, extremely expensive collapsible artificial harbors "Mulberry" were developed and built, which were then planned to be assembled on the French coast. In England, special access roads for equipment were brought to the places of intended loading. At the end of May 1944, the troops were concentrated in the assembly areas, after which emergency measures were taken to ensure secrecy. At first it was planned to start the operation in May, but then Bernard Montgomery insisted on landing also on the Cotentin Peninsula (the future Utah site), so D-Day, the landing date, had to be slightly shifted. The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe, American General Dwight Eisenhower, on May 8, 1944, set the final date - June 5. But on June 4, the weather suddenly deteriorated and the landing was canceled. The next day, the weather service reported to Eisenhower that the weather would improve slightly on June 6. The general ordered to prepare for the landing.

D-DAY

The operation in Normandy, called "Neptune" (Neptune), was an integral part of the larger-scale operation "Overlord", which provided for the clearance of German troops from all of North-West France. During Operation Neptune, 156,000 British and American troops were to land on the Channel Coast. Previously, in the first hour of the night, 24,000 paratroopers were thrown behind enemy lines, who were supposed to cause panic in the ranks of the enemy and capture strategically important objects.

The main stage of the operation - the very landing of British and American troops from the ships - began at 6:30 in the morning. For landing, the Allied command, after much thought and discussion, chose the 80-kilometer section of the Normandy coast from the mouth of the Orne River to the commune of Ozville (Montbourg canton, Cherbourg-Octeville district, Manche department). In total, the landing was carried out at five sites: on three - "Gold" (Gold), "Juno" (Juno) and "Sword" (Sword) - the troops of the 2nd British Army landed, on two - "Utah" (Utah) and " Omaha "(Omaha) - 1st US Army.

LANDING OF THE BRITISH TROOPS

83,115 people landed on British sites (including 61,715 British, the rest Canadians). In the "Gold" sector, the British troops managed with relatively small losses to suppress the German units defending here and break through the line of their fortifications.

The fact that the British troops in this area managed to successfully break through into the depths of French territory was largely made possible thanks to the use of special equipment - Sherman tanks, equipped with Hobbart trawls for clearing minefields. In the Juno sector, the brunt of the fighting fell on the shoulders of the Canadians, who faced fierce resistance from the German 716th Infantry Division. Nevertheless, after a heavy battle, the Canadians still managed to gain a foothold in the coastal bridgehead, and then push the enemy back and establish contact with British troops landing in neighboring areas.

Despite the fact that the Canadians failed to fully fulfill the task, they managed to gain a foothold in their positions and did not jeopardize the further course of the operation. At the Sword sector, the British troops quickly crushed the enemy's weak parts on the coast, but then went to the 2nd, stronger, line of defense, where their advance stalled. Then they were counterattacked by motorized units of the 21st German Panzer Division. Although the losses of the British were generally small, they could not complete the main task - to take the French city of Caen - they could not reach it only six kilometers.

By the end of D-Day, despite some setbacks, it could be stated that the landing of the British troops had taken place, and the losses for such a complex operation were quite low.

D-Day: American Sectors

The landing of American troops on June 6, 1944 took place in difficult conditions, and at some point the American command even considered canceling the operation and withdrawing the troops that had already landed.

In the American sector of the Channel Coast, units of the 1st US Army landed - a total of 73 thousand soldiers, including 15,600 paratroopers. During the first stage of Operation Neptune, an airborne assault was carried out, which made up parts of the 82nd and 101st American airborne divisions. The landing zone is behind the Utah site on the Cotentin Peninsula, north of the city of Carentan.

UTAH PLOT

The task of the American paratroopers was to capture the dams through the meadows and bridges flooded by the Germans in the area of the cities of Saint-Mer-Eglise and Carentan. They were successful: the Germans did not expect a landing here and did not prepare for a serious rebuff. As a result, the paratroopers reached their intended targets, pinning down the enemy at Sainte-Mer-Eglise. This town became the first French settlement liberated during the Normandy campaign.

The amphibious landing on the Utah sector was carried out almost perfectly. First, shells from the main caliber of American warships hit the positions of the weak 709th German stationary division. They were followed by an armada of medium bombers, completely undermining the will to resist the already not very reliable enemy units. Exactly at 6:30, as planned, elements of the 4th American Infantry Division began to land. They approached a few kilometers south of the planned area, which played into their hands - the coastal fortifications here turned out to be much weaker. One after another, waves of landing troops landed on the shore, crushing the demoralized German units.

The losses of American troops in the Utah sector amounted to only 197 people killed; even the losses of the US fleet were greater - a destroyer, two infantry landing boats and three small tank landing ships were blown up and sunk by mines. At the same time, all the goals set for the troops were achieved: more than 21 thousand soldiers and officers, 1,700 pieces of equipment landed on the shore, a 10 x 10 km bridgehead was created and contacts were established with American paratroopers and troops in neighboring areas.

OMAHA PLOT

Whereas on the Utah section events unfolded according to plan, on the eight-kilometer section Omaha, stretching from Saint-Honorine-de-Perthe to Vierville-sur-Mer, the situation was completely different. Although here the German troops (352nd Infantry Division) consisted largely of inexperienced and poorly trained soldiers, they occupied fairly well-trained positions along the coast. The operation went wrong from the start.

Because of the fog, naval artillery and bomber aircraft, which were supposed to suppress the enemy's defenses, could not find targets and did not inflict any damage on the German positions. Following them, difficulties began for the crews of the landing ships, who also could not bring them to the planned targets. When the American soldiers began to get ashore, they came under heavy fire from the Germans who occupied convenient positions. Losses began to grow rapidly, and panic began to develop in the ranks of the landing troops. It was at this moment that the commander of the 1st American Army, General Omar Bradley, came to the conclusion that the operation had failed and was going to stop the landing, and evacuate the troops that had already landed on the Omaha from the Normandy coast. It was only by a miracle that Operation Neptune did not fail. With great efforts, American sappers managed to break through several passages in the defenses and minefields of the enemy, but traffic jams immediately formed at these narrow passages. Pandemonium on the coastal line did not allow new troops to land.

On June 6, 1944, the long-awaited landing of the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition on the northern coast of France began, which received the general name "Suzerin" ("Overlord"). The operation was prepared for a long time and carefully, it was preceded by difficult negotiations in Tehran. Millions of tons of military cargoes were delivered to. On the secret front, the Abwehr was misinformed by the intelligence services of Britain and the United States regarding the landing area and many other activities that ensured a successful offensive. At different times, both here and abroad, the scale of this military operation, depending on the political situation, was sometimes exaggerated, sometimes underestimated. The time has come to give an objective assessment of both it and its consequences in the Western European theater of the Second World War.

Stew, condensed milk and egg powder

As is known from the movies, Soviet soldiers, participants in the war of 1941-1945, called the "second front" American stew, condensed milk, and other food products that came to the USSR from the USA under the Lend-Lease program. This phrase was pronounced with a somewhat ironic intonation, expressing little hidden contempt for the "allies". The meaning was invested in it: while we are shedding blood here, they are delaying the start of the war against Hitler. They sit out, in general, wait to enter the war at the moment when both the Russians and the Germans weaken and exhaust their resources. That's when the Americans and the British will come to share the laurels of the winners. The opening of the Second Front in Europe was being postponed, the main burden of hostilities continued to be borne by the Red Army.

In a way, that's exactly what happened. Moreover, it would be unfair to reproach F. D. Roosevelt for not hastening to send the American army into battle, but waiting for the most opportune moment for this. After all, as the President of the United States, he was obliged to think about the good of his country and act in its interests. As for Great Britain, without American help, they were technically unable to carry out a massive invasion of the mainland. From 1939 to 1941, this country alone waged war with Hitler, she managed to survive, but there was not even a talk of the onset. So there is nothing particularly to reproach Churchill with. In a sense, the Second Front existed throughout the war and until D-Day (day of landing), it fettered significant forces of the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. Most (about three-quarters) of the German navy and air fleet was engaged in operations against Britain.

Nevertheless, without detracting from the merits of the Allies, our participants in the Great Patriotic War always rightly believed that it was they who made a decisive contribution to the common victory over the enemy.

Was it necessary

A condescending and contemptuous attitude towards allied assistance was cultivated by the Soviet leadership throughout the post-war decades. The main argument was the ratio of Soviet and German losses on the Eastern Front with similar numbers of dead Americans, British, Canadians and the same Germans, but already in the West. Nine out of ten killed Wehrmacht soldiers laid down their lives in battles with the Red Army. Near Moscow, on the Volga, in the Kharkov region, in the Caucasus mountains, on thousands of nameless skyscrapers, near obscure villages, the backbone of the army that easily defeated almost all European armies and conquered countries in a matter of weeks, and sometimes even days, was broken. Maybe the Second Front in Europe was not needed at all and could have been dispensed with? By the summer of 1944, the outcome of the war as a whole was a foregone conclusion. The Germans suffered monstrous losses, human and material resources were catastrophically lacking, while Soviet military production reached unprecedented speed in world history. The endless "leveling of the front" (as Goebbels' propaganda explained the constant retreat) was essentially a flight. Nevertheless, I. V. Stalin persistently reminded the allies of their promise to strike at Germany from the other side. In 1943, American troops landed in Italy, but this was clearly not enough.

Where and when

The names of military operations are chosen in such a way as to put into one or two words the entire strategic essence of the upcoming action. At the same time, the enemy, even recognizing him, should not guess about the main elements of the plan. The direction of the main attack, the technical means involved, the timing, and similar details for the enemy necessarily remain a secret. The upcoming landing on the northern European coast was called "Overlord". The operation was divided into several stages, which also have their own code designations. It began on D-Day with the Neptune, and ended with the Cobra, which involves moving deep into the mainland.

The German General Staff had no doubts that the opening of the Second Front would take place. 1944 is the last date when this event could take place, and, knowing the basic American technical methods, it was difficult to assume that the allies of the USSR would launch an offensive in the unfavorable autumn or winter months. In the spring, an invasion was also considered unlikely due to erratic weather conditions. So, summer. The intelligence provided by the Abwehr confirmed the massive transportation of technical equipment. Disassembled B-17 and B-24 bombers were delivered to the islands by Liberty ships, like Sherman tanks, and in addition to these offensive weapons, other cargoes arrived from across the ocean: food, medicine, fuel and lubricants , ammunition, marine vehicles and much more. It is practically impossible to hide such a large-scale movement of military equipment and personnel. The German command had only two questions: "When?" and where?".

Not where they are waiting

The English Channel is the narrowest stretch of water between the British Mainland and Europe. It was here that the German generals would have begun the landing, if they had decided on it. This is logical and corresponds to all the rules of military science. But that's why General Eisenhower ruled out the English Channel entirely when planning Overlord. The operation was supposed to come as a complete surprise to the German command, otherwise there was a considerable risk of a military fiasco. In any case, defending the coast is much easier than storming it. The fortifications of the "Atlantic Wall" were created in advance throughout the previous war years, work began immediately after the occupation of the northern part of France and was carried out with the involvement of the population of the occupied countries. They acquired particular intensity after Hitler realized that the opening of the Second Front was inevitable. 1944 was marked by the arrival of General Field Marshal Rommel, whom the Fuhrer respectfully called either the "desert fox" or his "African lion", at the proposed landing site for the Allied troops. This military specialist spent a lot of energy on improving the fortifications, which, as time has shown, were almost not useful. This is a great merit of the American and British intelligence services and other soldiers of the "invisible front" of the allied forces.

Deceive Hitler

The success of any military operation depends to a greater extent on the surprise factor and timely troop concentration, than on the balance of forces of the opposing sides. The second front was to be opened on that part of the coast where the invasion was least expected. The possibilities of the Wehrmacht in France were limited. Most of the German armed forces fought against the Red Army, trying to hold back its advance. The war was transferred from the territory of the USSR to the spaces of Eastern Europe, the oil supply system from Romania was under threat, and without gasoline, all military equipment turned into a pile of useless metal. The situation was reminiscent of a chess zuntzwang, when almost any move led to irreparable consequences, and even more so wrong. It was impossible to make a mistake, but the German headquarters nevertheless drew the wrong conclusions. This was facilitated by many actions of allied intelligence, including the planned "leak" of disinformation, and various measures to mislead agents of the Abwehr and aerial reconnaissance. Models of transport ships were even made, located in ports far from places of real loading.

The ratio of military groupings

Not a single battle in the entire history of mankind has gone according to plan, there have always been unexpected circumstances that prevent this. "Overlord" - an operation that was planned for a long time and carefully, repeatedly postponed for various reasons, which was also no exception. However, the two main components that determined its overall success were still managed to be preserved: the landing site remained unknown to the enemy until D-Day itself, and the balance of forces developed in favor of the attackers. In the landing and subsequent hostilities on the continent, 1,600,000 soldiers of the Allied forces took part. Against 6 thousand 700 German guns, the Anglo-American units could use 15 thousand of their own. They had 6 thousand tanks, and the Germans only 2000. It was extremely difficult for one hundred and sixty Luftwaffe aircraft to intercept almost eleven thousand Allied aircraft, among which, in fairness, it should be noted that most of them were Douglas transports (but there were many " Flying Fortresses, and Liberators, and Mustangs, and Spitfires). An armada of 112 ships could only resist five German cruisers and destroyers. Only German submarines had a quantitative advantage, but by that time the Americans' means of combating them had reached a high level.

The beaches of Normandy

The American military did not use French geographical concepts, they seemed difficult to pronounce. Like the names of military operations, sections of the coast called beaches were coded. Four of them were singled out: Gold, Omaha, Juno and Sword. Many soldiers of the allied forces died on their sand, although the command did everything to minimize losses. On July 6, eighteen thousand paratroopers (two divisions of the Airborne Forces) were landed from DC-3 aircraft and by means of gliders. Previous wars, like the entire Second World War, did not know such a scale. The opening of the Second Front was accompanied by powerful artillery preparation and air bombardment of defensive structures, infrastructure and locations of German troops. The actions of the paratroopers in some cases were not very successful, during the landing there was a dispersion of forces, but this did not matter much. Vessels were coming to the shore; by the end of the day, 156,000 soldiers and 20,000 military vehicles of various types were already on the shore. The captured bridgehead measured 70 by 15 kilometers (on average). As of June 10, more than 100,000 tons of military cargo had already been unloaded onto this runway, and the concentration of troops had reached almost a third of a million people. Despite the huge losses (for the first day they amounted to about ten thousand), after three days the Second Front was opened. This has become an obvious and indisputable fact.

Development of success

In order to continue the liberation of the territories occupied by the Nazis, not only soldiers and equipment were required. War devours hundreds of tons of fuel, ammunition, food and medicine every day. It gives the warring countries hundreds and thousands of wounded who need to be treated. The expeditionary corps, deprived of supplies, is doomed.

After the Second Front was opened, the advantage of a developed American economy became obvious. The allied forces had no problems with the timely supply of everything they needed, but this required ports. They were captured very quickly, the first was the French Cherbourg, it was occupied on June 27th.

Having recovered from the first sudden blow, the Germans, however, were in no hurry to admit defeat. Already in the middle of the month, they first used the V-1 - the prototype of cruise missiles. For all the scarcity of the Reich's capabilities, Hitler found the resources to mass-produce ballistic V-2s. London was shelled (1100 missile strikes), as well as the ports of Antwerp and Liege located on the mainland and used by the allies to supply troops (almost 1700 FAAs of two types). Meanwhile, the Normandy bridgehead expanded (up to 100 km) and deepened (up to 40 km). It deployed 23 air bases capable of receiving all types of aircraft. The number of personnel increased to 875 thousand. Conditions were created for the development of the offensive already towards the German border, for which the Second Front was opened. The date of victory was approaching.

Allied failures

Anglo-American aviation carried out massive raids on the territory of fascist Germany, dropping tens of thousands of tons of bomb loads on cities, factories, railway junctions and other objects. The Luftwaffe pilots could no longer resist this avalanche in the second half of 1944. Over the entire period of the liberation of France, the Wehrmacht suffered half a million losses, and the Allied forces - only 40 thousand killed (plus more than 160 thousand wounded). The tank troops of the Nazis numbered only a hundred combat-ready tanks (the Americans and the British had 2,000). For every German aircraft, there were 25 Allied aircraft. And there were no more reserves. The 200,000th group of Nazis was blocked in the west of France. In the conditions of the overwhelming superiority of the invading army, the German units often hung out a white flag even before the start of the artillery preparation. But there were frequent cases of stubborn resistance, as a result of which dozens, even hundreds of Allied tanks were destroyed.

On July 18-25, the English (8th) and Canadian (2nd) corps ran into well-fortified German positions, their attack bogged down, prompting Marshal Montgomery to further argue that the blow was a false and distracting one.

An unfortunate incidental consequence of the high firepower of the American troops was the losses from the so-called "friendly fire", when the troops suffered from their own shells and bombs.

In December, the Wehrmacht launched a serious counter-offensive in the Ardennes salient, which was crowned with partial success, but strategically there was little to solve.

The result of the operation and the war

After the Second World War began, the participating countries changed from time to time. Some stopped armed actions, others started them. Some took the side of their former enemies (like Romania, for example), others simply capitulated. There were even states that formally supported Hitler, but never opposed the USSR (like Bulgaria or Turkey). The main participants in the war of 1941-1945, the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Britain, remained invariably adversaries (they fought even longer, from 1939). France was also among the winners, although Field Marshal Keitel, signing the surrender, could not resist making an ironic remark about this.

There is no doubt that the Normandy landing of the allied troops and the subsequent actions of the armies of the United States, Britain, France and other countries contributed to the defeat of Nazism and the destruction of the criminal political regime, which did not hide its inhuman nature. However, it is very difficult to compare these efforts, which certainly deserve respect, with the battles of the Eastern Front. It was against the USSR that Hitlerism waged a total war, the purpose of which was the complete destruction of the population, which was also declared by the official documents of the Third Reich. All the more respect and blessed memory deserve our participants in the Great Patriotic War, who performed their duty in much more difficult conditions than their Anglo-American brothers in arms.

"Second front". For three years it was opened by our soldiers. That's what the American stew was called. And yet the "second front" existed in the form of aircraft, tanks, trucks, non-ferrous metals. But the real opening of the second front, the landing in Normandy, took place only on June 6, 1944.

Europe as one impregnable fortress

In December 1941, Adolf Hitler announced that he would create a belt of giant fortifications from Norway to Spain and this would be an insurmountable front for any enemy. This was the Führer's first reaction to the US entry into World War II. Not knowing where the landing of the allied troops would take place, in Normandy or elsewhere, he promised to turn all of Europe into an impregnable fortress.

It was absolutely impossible to do this, however, for another year no fortifications were built along the coastline. And why was it done? The Wehrmacht was advancing on all fronts, and the victory of the Germans by themselves seemed simply inevitable.

Start of construction

At the end of 1942, Hitler now seriously ordered the construction of a belt of structures on the western coast of Europe, which he called the Atlantic Wall, in a year. Nearly 600,000 people worked on the construction. All of Europe was left without cement. Even materials from the old French Maginot line were used, but it was not possible to meet the deadline. The main thing was missing - well-trained and armed troops. The Eastern Front literally devoured the German divisions. So many units in the west had to be formed from the elderly, children and women. The combat effectiveness of such troops did not inspire any optimism in the commander-in-chief on the Western Front, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. He repeatedly asked the Fuhrer for reinforcements. Hitler eventually sent Field Marshal Erwin Rommel to help him.

New curator

The aged Gerd von Rundstedt and the energetic Erwin Rommel did not get along right away. Rommel did not like that the Atlantic Wall was only half built, there were not enough large-caliber guns, and despondency reigned among the troops. In private conversations, Gerd von Rundstedt called the defenses a bluff. He believed that his units should be withdrawn from the coast and attack the Allied landing site in Normandy after. Erwin Rommel strongly disagreed with this. He intended to defeat the British and Americans right on the shore, where they could not bring reinforcements.

To do this, it was necessary to concentrate tank and motorized divisions off the coast. Erwin Rommel declared: “The war will be won or lost on these sands. The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive. The landing of troops in Normandy will go down in military history as one of the most unsuccessful thanks to the valiant German army. In general, Adolf Hitler approved of Erwin Rommel's plan, but left the panzer divisions under his command.

The coastline is getting stronger

Even under these conditions, Erwin Rommel did a lot. Almost the entire coast of French Normandy was mined, and tens of thousands of metal and wooden slingshots were installed below the water level at low tide. It seemed that an amphibious landing in Normandy was impossible. The barrier structures were supposed to stop the landing craft so that the coastal artillery had time to shoot at enemy targets. The troops were engaged in combat training without interruption. There was not a single part of the coast left that Erwin Rommel would not have visited.

Everything is ready for defense, you can rest

In April 1944, he would say to his adjutant: "Today I have only one enemy, and that enemy is time." All these worries so exhausted Erwin Rommel that in early June he went on a short vacation, however, like many German military commanders on the west coast. Those who did not go on vacation, by a strange coincidence, ended up on business trips far from the coast. The generals and officers who remained on the ground were calm and relaxed. The weather forecast until mid-June was the most unsuitable for the landing. Therefore, the Allied landing in Normandy seemed something unrealistic and fantastic. Heavy seas, squally winds and low clouds. No one guessed that an unprecedented armada of ships had already left English ports.

Great battles. Landing in Normandy

The Normandy landings were called "Overlord" by the Allies. Literally translated, it means "ruler". It became the largest landing operation in the history of mankind. The landing of the allied forces in Normandy took place with the participation of 5,000 warships and landing craft. The commander-in-chief of the allied forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, could not postpone the landing because of the weather. Only three days - from June 5 to June 7 - there was a late moon, and immediately after dawn - low water. The condition for the transfer of paratroopers and landing on gliders was a dark sky and moonrise during landing. The low tide was necessary for the amphibious assault to see the coastal barriers. In stormy seas, thousands of paratroopers suffered from seasickness in the cramped holds of boats and barges. Several dozen ships could not withstand the assault and sank. But nothing could stop the operation. The landing in Normandy begins. The troops were to land at five places along the coast.

Beginning of Operation Overlord

At 0:15 on June 6, 1944, the sovereign entered the land of Europe. The operation was started by paratroopers. Eighteen thousand paratroopers scattered across the lands of Normandy. However, not everyone is lucky. About half ended up in swamps and minefields, but the other half completed their tasks. Panic broke out in the German rear. Communication lines were destroyed, and, most importantly, undamaged strategically important bridges were captured. By this time, the marines were already fighting on the coast.

The landing of American troops in Normandy was on the sandy beaches of Omaha and Utah, the British and Canadians landed on the sites of Sword, June and Gold. Warships fought a duel with coastal artillery, trying, if not to suppress, then at least to distract it from the paratroopers. Thousands of allied aircraft simultaneously bombed and stormed German positions. One English pilot recalled that the main task was not to collide with each other in the sky. The advantage of the Allies in the air was 72:1.

Memories of a German ace

On the morning and afternoon of June 6, the Luftwaffe offered no resistance to the coalition troops. Only two German pilots appeared in the landing area, this is the commander of the 26th Fighter Squadron - the famous ace Josef Priller, and his wingman.

Josef Priller (1915-1961) got tired of listening to confusing explanations of what was happening on the shore, and he flew out on reconnaissance. Seeing thousands of ships at sea and thousands of aircraft in the air, he ironically exclaimed: "Today is truly a great day for the pilots of the Luftwaffe." Indeed, never before have the Reich Air Force been so powerless. Two planes swept low over the beach, firing cannons and machine guns, and disappeared into the clouds. That's all they could do. When the mechanics examined the plane of the German ace, it turned out that there were more than two hundred bullet holes in it.

Allied assault continues

The Nazi navy did a little better. Three torpedo boats in a suicide attack by the invasion fleet managed to sink one American destroyer. The landing of the Allied troops in Normandy, namely the British and Canadians, did not meet with serious resistance in their areas. In addition, they managed to safely transport tanks and guns ashore. The Americans, especially in the Omaha section, were much less fortunate. Here the defense of the Germans was held by the 352nd division, which consisted of veterans fired on different fronts.

The Germans let the paratroopers to four hundred meters and opened heavy fire. Almost all the American boats approached the shore east of the given places. They were swept away by a strong current, and thick smoke from fires made it difficult to navigate. The sapper platoons were almost destroyed, so there was no one to make passes in the minefields. The panic began. Then several destroyers came close to the shore and began to hit the German positions with direct fire. The 352nd Division did not remain in debt to the sailors, the ships were seriously damaged, but the paratroopers under their cover were able to break through the German defenses. Thanks to this, in all areas of the landing, the Americans and the British were able to move several miles forward.

Trouble for the Fuhrer

A few hours later, when Adolf Hitler woke up, Field Marshals Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl cautiously reported to him that the Allied landings seemed to have begun. Since there were no exact data, the Fuhrer did not believe them. Panzer divisions remained in their places. At this time, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was sitting at home and also did not really know anything. The German military leaders lost their time. The attacks of the following days and weeks yielded nothing. The Atlantic Wall collapsed. The allies entered the operational space. Everything was decided in the first twenty-four hours. The Allied landing in Normandy took place.

Historic D-Day

A huge army crossed the English Channel and landed in France. The first day of the offensive was called D-day. The task is to gain a foothold on the coast and drive the Nazis out of Normandy. But bad weather in the strait could lead to disaster. The English Channel is famous for its storms. In a matter of minutes, visibility could drop to 50 meters. Commander-in-Chief Dwight Eisenhower required a minute-by-minute weather report. All responsibility fell on the chief meteorologist and his team.

Allied military assistance in the fight against the Nazis

1944 World War II has been going on for four years now. The Germans occupied all of Europe. The forces of the allies of Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States need a decisive blow. Intelligence reported that the Germans would soon begin to use guided missiles and atomic bombs. An energetic offensive was supposed to interrupt the plans of the Nazis. The easiest way is to go through the occupied territories, for example through France. The secret name of the operation is "Overlord".

The landing in Normandy of 150,000 Allied soldiers was scheduled for May 1944. They were supported by transport aircraft, bombers, fighters and a flotilla of 6,000 ships. The offensive was commanded by Dwight Eisenhower. The date of the landing was kept in the strictest confidence. At the first stage, the landing in Normandy in 1944 was to capture more than 70 kilometers of the French coast. The exact areas of the assault on the German troops were kept a closely guarded secret. The Allies chose five beaches from east to west.

Commander-in-Chief's Alerts

May 1, 1944 could potentially become the start date for Operation Overlord, but this day was abandoned due to the unavailability of the troops. For military and political reasons, the operation was postponed to the beginning of June.

In his memoirs, Dwight Eisenhower wrote: "If this operation, the landing of the Americans in Normandy, does not take place, then only I will be to blame." At midnight on June 6, Operation Overlord begins. Commander-in-Chief Dwight Eisenhower personally visits the 101st Air Division just before the flight. Everyone understood that up to 80% of the soldiers would not survive this assault.

"Overlord": a chronicle of events

The airborne landing in Normandy was to be the first to take place on the shores of France. However, everything went wrong. The pilots of the two divisions needed good visibility, they were not supposed to drop troops into the sea, but they did not see anything. The paratroopers disappeared into the clouds and landed a few kilometers from the collection point. Then the bombers had to clear the way for the amphibious assault. But they did not fix their goals.

12,000 bombs were to be dropped on Omaha Beach to destroy all obstacles. But when the bombers reached the coast of France, the pilots found themselves in a difficult situation. There were clouds all around. The bulk of the bombs fell ten kilometers south of the beach. Allied gliders were ineffective.

At 3.30 in the morning the flotilla headed for the shores of Normandy. A few hours later, the soldiers boarded small wooden boats to finally get to the beach. Huge waves rocked small boats like matchboxes in the cold waters of the English Channel. Only at dawn did the Allied amphibious landing in Normandy begin (see photo below).

Death awaited the soldiers on the shore. There were obstacles around, anti-tank hedgehogs, everything around was mined. The Allied fleet bombarded the German positions, but strong storm waves interfered with aimed fire.

The first landed soldiers were waiting for the furious fire of German machine guns and cannons. Soldiers died by the hundreds. But they continued to fight. It seemed like a real miracle. Despite the most powerful German barriers and bad weather, the largest landing force in history began its offensive. Allied soldiers continued to land on the 70-kilometer coast of Normandy. In the afternoon, the clouds over Normandy began to dissipate. The main obstacle for the allies was the Atlantic Wall, a system of permanent fortifications and rocks that protect the coast of Normandy.

The soldiers began to climb the coastal cliffs. The Germans fired on them from above. By the middle of the day, the Allied troops began to outnumber the fascist garrison of Normandy.

An old soldier remembers

Private American Army Harold Gaumbert, 65 years later, recalls that closer to midnight, all machine guns fell silent. All Nazis were killed. D-Day is over. The landing in Normandy, the date of which is June 6, 1944, took place. The Allies lost almost 10,000 soldiers, but they captured all the beaches. It seemed that the beach was flooded with bright red paint and scattered bodies. Wounded soldiers were dying under the starry sky, while thousands of others moved forward to continue the fight against the enemy.

Continuation of the assault

Operation Overlord has entered its next phase. The task is to liberate France. On the morning of June 7, a new obstacle appeared before the Allies. Impenetrable forests have become another obstacle to attack. The intertwined roots of the Norman forests were stronger than the English ones on which the soldiers trained. The troops had to bypass them. The Allies continued to pursue the retreating German troops. The Nazis fought desperately. They used these forests because they learned to hide in them.

D-Day was just a battle won, the war was just beginning for the Allies. The troops the Allies encountered on the beaches of Normandy were not the elite of the Nazi army. The days of heavy fighting began.

The scattered divisions could be defeated by the Nazis at any moment. They had time to regroup and replenish their ranks. On June 8, 1944, the battle for Carentan began, this city opens the way to Cherbourg. It took more than four days to break the resistance of the German army.

On June 15, the Utah and Omaha forces finally united. They took several cities and continued their offensive on the Cotentin Peninsula. The forces united and moved in the direction of Cherbourg. For two weeks, the German troops offered the most severe resistance to the Allied. On June 27, 1944, Allied troops entered Cherbourg. Now their ships had their own port.

Last attack

At the end of the month, the next phase of the Allied offensive in Normandy, Operation Cobra, began. This time the target was Cannes and Saint Lo. The troops began to advance deep into France. But the Allied offensive was opposed by serious resistance from the Nazis.

A French resistance movement led by General Philippe Leclerc helped the Allies enter Paris. Happy Parisians welcomed the liberators with joy.

On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his own bunker. Seven days later, the German government signed an unconditional surrender pact. The war in Europe was over.

On the night of June 5-6, 1944, the landing of allied troops in Normandy began. In order for the most grandiose landing operation in history not to end in such a grandiose failure, the Allied command needed to achieve the highest level of coordination of all branches of the troops taking part in the landing. The exceptional complexity of the task, of course, did not allow the gigantic mechanism of invasion to work out without a single failure; there were enough issues and issues. But the main thing is that the goal was achieved, and the Second Front, the opening of which had been expected for so long in the East, began to function in full force.

Already at an early stage of preparations for the invasion, it was clear to the Allied command that without gaining absolute air superiority, any actions by sea and land forces were doomed to failure. In accordance with the preliminary plan, the actions of the air force were to take place in four stages. The first stage is the bombing of strategic targets in Germany. The second is an attack on railway junctions, coastal batteries, as well as on airfields and ports within a radius of about 150 miles from the invasion zone. At the third stage, aviation was supposed to cover the troops during the crossing of the English Channel. The fourth stage included close air support for the ground forces, preventing the transfer of reinforcements for the German army, conducting airborne operations and providing air supplies to the troops with the necessary cargo.

Note that it was quite difficult to establish interaction between aviation and other branches of the military. The British Air Force, after it left the subordination of the army and navy in 1918, tried with all its might to maintain independence.

The US Air Force also sought maximum independence. At the same time, both the British and the Americans were confident that the bombers would be able to crush the enemy with minimal participation of soldiers and sailors.

There was some truth in this belief. Since the autumn of 1943, British and American strategic bombers have been attacking Germany, aimed at destroying industrial centers and reducing the will of the Germans to resist. The use of "flying fortresses" and "Liberators" accompanied by fighters led to the fact that the Germans, repelling air attacks, lost not only cars, but also pilots in battles with escort fighters (which was much more serious, since it was impossible to quickly bring up a good pilot ). As a result, the average skill level of the Luftwaffe pilots had dropped dramatically by the time Operation Overlord began.

A major success of the allied aviation was that, due to constant bombing from May to August 1944, the level of production of synthetic fuel and aviation alcohol in Germany fell sharply. According to some researchers, if the “flying fortresses” of General Karl Spaats continued to operate in the same spirit, then Germany could have been defeated by the end of 1944. How true this belief is, one can only guess, because from the very beginning of the year the generals who worked out the landing plans tried to subordinate strategic aviation to their interests. And after much debate, the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, Dwight Eisenhower, got his way: bomber aircraft were transferred to the subordination of the joint Anglo-American committee of chiefs of staff.

To participate in the operation, the British bomber command of A. Harris, the 8th American army of strategic aviation K. Spaats and the Allied Expeditionary Air Force as part of the 9th American Air Force and the British Second Tactical Air Force were allocated. This unit was commanded by Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh Mallory. The latter was not satisfied with the existing division of forces. He stated that without the participation of the bomber force, he would not be able to ensure the fulfillment of the tasks of covering the fleet during the crossing of the English Channel, as well as adequate support for the ground forces. Leigh Mallory wanted a single headquarters to direct all air operations. Such a headquarters was deployed in the town of Hillingdon. Air Marshal Coningham became Chief of Staff.

A two-stage plan for the use of bombers was developed. In accordance with this idea, at first strategic aviation was supposed to inflict maximum damage on the French and Belgian railways in order to reduce their throughput. Then, just before the landing, it was necessary to focus on the bombing of all lines of communication, bridges, etc. transport rolling stock in the landing zone and in the adjacent territories, thereby blocking the movement of German troops. Lee-Mallory outlined 75 targets that should have been destroyed in the first place.

The command decided to test the plan in practice. To begin with, on the night of March 7, about 250 British bombers "worked out" at the Trapp station near Paris, putting it out of action for a month. Then, within a month, eight more similar blows were dealt. An analysis of the results showed that Lee-Mallory was right in principle. But there was an unpleasant moment: such bombardments inevitably entailed civilian casualties. If it were the Germans, the Allies would not be too worried. But France and Belgium were to be bombed. And the death of civilians would hardly contribute to a benevolent attitude towards the liberators. After much debate, it was decided: to strike only where the risk of civilian casualties would be minimal. On April 15, the final list of targets was approved and brought to the attention of the commanders of strategic aviation.

By the beginning of the Allied landings, about 80 objects had been bombed, on which more than 66 thousand tons of bombs had fallen in total. As a result, the movement of German troops and cargo by rail turned out to be very difficult, and when Operation Overlord began, the Germans were unable to organize a quick transfer of forces for a decisive counterattack.

The closer was the date of the attack, the more active became the Allied air raids. Now the bombers smashed not only railway junctions and industrial facilities, but also radar stations, echelons, military and transport airfields. Coastal artillery batteries were subjected to heavy attacks, and not only those that were in the landing zone, but also others located on the coast of France.

In parallel with the bombing, the Allies were engaged in providing air cover for the areas where troops were concentrated. Continuous fighter patrols were organized over the English Channel and in the vicinity. The order of the command read: the appearance of German aircraft over southern England must be completely excluded. However, the Luftwaffe was no longer capable of a serious air offensive, so the few reconnaissance sorties could not reveal the allied plans.

The Germans, of course, understood that the landing of Anglo-American troops on the continent was inevitable. But they did not receive the vital knowledge of exactly where this would happen. Meanwhile, the German army did not have the strength to ensure reliable defense of the entire coast. And the so-called "Atlantic Wall", whose impregnable fortifications in Germany were not heard except perhaps by the deaf, was more of a propaganda fiction than a real defensive structure. When Field Marshal Rommel was appointed commander of Army Group B, he made an inspection tour of the Val and was unpleasantly struck by what he saw. Many fortifications existed only on paper, construction work was carried out with impermissible neglect, and the existing
the presence of troops was not always enough even to fill the already built fortifications. And the worst thing that Rommel realized then was that no efforts would be enough to change this situation for the better.

At the time of the start of Operation Overlord, the Air Force had two main tasks: to cover the invasion fleet and the landing of troops, as well as to deliver glider and parachute units of airborne troops to their destination. Moreover, gliders were even more important to some extent, because they carried anti-tank guns, cars, heavy weapons and other massive cargo.

The airborne assault began on the night of June 5-6. It was attended by 1662 aircraft and 500 gliders from the US Air Force and 733 aircraft and 335 gliders of the British military aviation. During the night, 4.7 thousand soldiers, 17 guns, 44 Willis vehicles and 55 motorcycles were dropped into the territory of Normandy. Another 22 gliders with people and cargo crashed during landing.

In parallel with the airborne assault, diversion operations were carried out in the area of Le Havre and Boulogne. Near Le Havre, 18 British ships maneuvered defiantly, and bombers dropped metal tapes and mirror reflectors so that German radar screens displayed a lot of interference and it seemed that a large fleet was moving towards the continent.

At the same time, another spectacle was being played out in northwestern France: stuffed paratroopers and pyrotechnics were being dropped from airplanes to simulate shooting.

While the fleet was approaching the shores of Normandy, Allied aviation bombed the locations of German troops, headquarters, and coastal batteries. Aircraft of the Anglo-American Air Force dropped more than 5,000 tons of bombs on the main batteries, and almost 1,800 tons on the defenses in the Seine Bay.

Opinions regarding the effectiveness of this raid are rather contradictory. In any case, it is known for certain that many batteries, even after intensive bombing, fired at the Allied amphibious assault. And the bombing itself was not always accurate. In the town of Merville, the 9th parachute battalion was covered with its own bombs. The unit suffered heavy losses.

Around 10 am, when the landing from the sea was already in full swing, there were about 170 fighter squadrons in the air. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses and participants, real chaos was happening in the air: due to low cloud cover, the Mustang and Typhoon aircraft were forced to fly at low altitude. Because of this, German anti-aircraft artillery managed to shoot down 17 and damage a large number of winged vehicles.

The few German air forces were taken by surprise. In general, the Germans did not have the slightest chance to establish resistance to the Allied winged armada, since out of the four hundred combat aircraft available to the 3rd Air Fleet, less than two hundred could take to the air. In fact, only a few aircraft took off, which did not have the slightest effect on the situation.
influence.

Small groups of Focke-Wulf and Me-110 fighters tried to operate against the invasion fleet. Between June 6 and 10, they managed to sink an American destroyer and one landing craft. On the scale of the landing, these were completely miserable losses.

On the morning of June 7, 175 German bombers attempted to attack the landing troops. RAF Spitfires repulsed this attack, and the only thing the Germans managed to do was throw a small number of mines into the bay of the Seine. Several landing ships were blown up on them.

By June 10, the Allies managed to complete the construction of the first airfield in Normandy. Three squadrons from the 144th Air Wing of the Canadian Air Force began to operate from it. Other units of this and other airfields, which were rapidly being built on the continent, were initially used as points for refueling and replenishment of ammunition, and as the front line moved away from the coast, Allied aircraft began to use them as permanent ones.

The losses of German aviation in the period from June 6 to September 5 amounted to more than 3,500 aircraft, the British lost 516 aircraft. One of the results of this defeat was that the number of aces pilots in the allied air forces decreased, as the likelihood of meeting the enemy in the air fell sharply.

The importance of the Air Force at the preparatory stage of the invasion of Normandy and directly during Operation Overlord can hardly be overestimated. Allied strategic aviation caused severe damage to transport communications in the occupied territories of France and Belgium. Fighters and light bombers seized unconditional air supremacy over the landing zone, thanks to which the German aviation, which was already not very strong, was neutralized by almost one hundred percent. The anti-aircraft artillery of the Germans physically could not cope with those armadas of aircraft that the Allies had lifted into the air. Even despite the mistakes made and the rather dubious effectiveness of aviation operations at a number of points, it was a clear victory.

I I think that every educated person knows that on June 6, 1944, there was an allied landing in Normandy, and finally, a full-fledged opening of a second front. T Only the assessment of this event has different interpretations.
Same beach now:

Why did the Allies last until 1944? What goals were pursued? Why was the operation carried out so incompetently and with such sensitive losses, with the overwhelming superiority of the allies?
This topic was raised by many and at different times, I will try to tell in the most understandable language about the events that took place.
When you watch American movies like: "Saving Private Ryan", games " Call of Duty 2" or you read an article on Wikipedia, it seems that the greatest event of all times and peoples is described, and it was here that the whole second world war was decided ...
Propaganda has always been the most powerful weapon. ..

By 1944, it was clear to all politicians that Germany and its allies had lost the war, and in 1943, during the Tehran Conference, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill roughly divided the world among themselves. A little more and Europe, and most importantly France, could become communist if they were liberated by Soviet troops, so the allies were forced to rush in order to catch the pie and fulfill their promises to contribute to the common victory.

(I recommend reading the "Correspondence of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR with the Presidents of the United States and the Prime Ministers of Great Britain during the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" released in 1957, in response to the memoirs of Winston Churchill.)

Now let's try to figure out what really happened and how. First of all, I decided to go and see with my own eyes the terrain, and assess what kind of difficulties the troops landing under fire had to overcome. The landing zone occupies about 80 km, but this does not mean that paratroopers landed on every meter throughout these 80 km, in fact, it was concentrated in several places: "Sord", "Juno", "Gold", "Omaha Beach" and Pointe d'oc.
I walked along the sea this territory on foot, studying the fortifications that have survived to this day, visited two local museums, shoveled a lot of different literature about these events and talked with residents in Bayeux, Caen, Saumur, Fécamp, Rouen and others.
It is very difficult to imagine a more mediocre landing operation, with the complete connivance of the enemy. Yes, critics will say that the scale of the landing is unprecedented, but the mess is the same. Even according to official sources, non-combat losses! accounted for 35%!!! from total losses!
We read "Wiki", wow, how many Germans opposed, how many German units, tanks, guns! By what miracle did the landing succeed?
The German troops on the Western Front were spread in a thin layer over the territory of France, and these units performed mainly security functions, and many of them could only be called combat ones conditionally. What is the division nicknamed the "White Bread Division" worth. An eyewitness, the English author M. Shulman, says: “After the invasion of France, the Germans decided to replace Fr. Walcheren an ordinary infantry division, division, personnel, which suffered from stomach diseases. Bunkers on about. Walcheren was now occupied by soldiers who had chronic ulcers, acute ulcers, wounded stomachs, nervous stomachs, sensitive stomachs, inflamed stomachs - in general, all known gastritis. The soldiers vowed to stand to the end. Here, in the richest part of Holland, where white bread, fresh vegetables, eggs and milk abounded, the soldiers of the 70th Division, nicknamed the "White Bread Division", expected the imminent Allied offensive and were nervous, for their attention was equally divided between the problematic threat and side of the enemy and real stomach upsets. The elderly, good-natured Lieutenant-General Wilhelm Deiser led this division of invalids into battle ... Terrifying losses among senior officers in Russia and North Africa were the reason that he was returned from retirement in February 1944 and appointed commander of a stationary division in Holland. His active service ended in 1941 when he was discharged due to heart attacks. Now, being 60 years old, he did not burn with enthusiasm and did not have the ability to turn the defense about. Walcheren in the heroic epic of German weapons.
In the German "troops" on the Western Front there were invalids and cripples, to perform security functions in good old France, you do not need to have two eyes, two arms or legs. Yes, there were full-fledged parts. And there were also, collected from various rabble, like the Vlasovites and the like, who only dreamed of surrendering.
On the one hand, the allies gathered a monstrously powerful group, on the other hand, the Germans still had the opportunity to inflict unacceptable damage on their opponents, but ...
Personally, I got the impression that the command of the German troops simply did not prevent the Allies from landing. But at the same time, he could not order the troops to raise their hands or go home.
Why do I think so? Let me remind you that this is the time when a conspiracy of the generals against Hitler is being prepared, secret negotiations are underway, the German elite about a separate peace, behind the back of the USSR. Allegedly due to bad weather, aerial reconnaissance was stopped, torpedo boats curtailed reconnaissance operations,
(More recently before this, the Germans sank 2 landing ships, damaged one during exercises in preparation for the landing and another was killed by "friendly fire"),
command flies to Berlin. And this at a time when the same Rommel knows very well from intelligence about the impending invasion. Yes, he might not have known about the exact time and place, but it was impossible not to notice the gathering of thousands of ships!!!, preparations, mountains of equipment, training of paratroopers! What more than two people know, the pig knows - this old saying clearly captures the essence of the impossibility of hiding the preparations for such a large-scale operation as the invasion of the English Channel.
Let me tell you some interesting things. Zone landings Pointe du Hoc. It is very famous, a new German coastal battery was supposed to be located here, but old French 155 mm guns, 1917, were installed. Bombs were dropped on this very small area, 250 pieces of 356 mm shells were fired from the American battleship Texas, as well as a lot of shells of smaller calibers. Two destroyers supported the landings with continuous fire. And then a group of rangers on landing barges approached the coast and climbed the sheer cliffs under the command of Colonel James E. Rudder, captured the battery and fortifications on the coast. True, the battery turned out to be made of wood, and the sounds of shots were imitated by explosives! The real one was moved when one of the guns was destroyed during a successful air raid a few days ago, and it is his photo that can be seen on the sites under the guise of a gun destroyed by the Rangers. There is a claim that the rangers still found this moved battery and ammunition depot, oddly not guarded! Then they blew it up.
If you ever find yourself on Pointe du Hoc , you will see what used to be a "lunar" landscape.
Roskill (Roskill S. Fleet and War. M .: Military Publishing House, 1974. Vol. 3. S. 348) wrote:
“More than 5,000 tons of bombs were dropped, and although there were few direct hits on the gun casemates, we managed to seriously disrupt enemy communications and undermine his morale. With the onset of dawn, defensive positions were attacked by 1630 “liberators”, “flying fortresses” and medium bombers of the 8th and 9th air formations of the US Air Force ... Finally, in the last 20 minutes before the approach of the assault waves, fighter-bombers and medium bombardiers bombed directly on the defensive fortifications on the coast ...
Shortly after 05.30, naval artillery brought down a hail of shells on the coast of the entire 50-mile front; such a powerful artillery strike from the sea had never been delivered before. Then the light guns of the advanced landing ships entered into action, and, finally, just before the hour "H", tank landing ships armed with rocket launchers moved to the shore; conducting intense fire with 127-mm rockets into the depths of defense. The enemy practically did not respond to the approach of the assault waves. There was no aviation, and the coastal batteries did not cause any harm, although they fired several volleys at the transports.
A total of 10 kilotons of TNT, this is equivalent in power to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima!
Yes, the guys who landed under fire, at night on wet rocks and pebbles, climbed a steep cliff, are heroes, but ... The big question is how many Germans survived, who were able to resist them, after such air and art processing? Rangers advancing in the first wave 225 people ... Losses killed and wounded 135 people. Data on the losses of the Germans: more than 120 killed and 70 captured. Hmm... Great battle?
From 18 to 20 guns from the German side with a caliber of more than 120 mm fired against the landing allies ... In total!
With the absolute dominance of the allies in the air! With the support of 6 battleships, 23 cruisers, 135 destroyers and destroyers, 508 other warships. 4798 ships participated in the attack. In total, the Allied fleet included: 6,939 ships for various purposes (1213 - combat, 4126 - transport, 736 - auxiliary and 864 - merchant ships (some were in reserve)). Can you imagine a volley of this armada along the coast in a section of 80 km?
Here's a quote for you:

In all sectors, the Allies suffered relatively small losses, except ...
Omaha Beach, American Landing Zone. Here the losses were catastrophic. Many drowned paratroopers. When 25-30 kg of equipment is hung on a person, and then they are forced to land into the water, where it is 2.5-3 meters to the bottom, fearing to come closer to the shore, then instead of a fighter, you get a corpse. At best, a demoralized person without a weapon... The commanders of the barges carrying amphibious tanks forced them to land at depth, being afraid to come close to the coast. In total, out of 32 tanks, 2 floated ashore, plus 3, which, the only captain who was not afraid, landed directly on the shore. The rest drowned due to rough seas and the cowardice of individual commanders. On the shore and in the water there was complete chaos, the soldiers were confusedly rushing along the beach. The officers lost control of their subordinates. But still, there were those who were able to organize the survivors and begin to successfully resist the Nazis.
It was here that Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of President Theodore Roosevelt, fell heroically., who, like the deceased Yakov, the son of Stalin, did not want to hide in headquarters in the capital ...
Losses killed in this area are estimated at 2,500 Americans. The German corporal machine gunner Heinrich Severlo, later nicknamed "The Omaha Monster", applied his talents to this. He is from his heavy machine gun, as well as two rifles, being in a strong pointWiderstantnest62 killed and wounded over 2,000 Americans! Such data make you think, if he hadn’t run out of ammunition, would he have shot everyone there ??? Despite huge losses, the Americans captured the empty casemates and continued the offensive. There is evidence that certain sections of the defense were handed over to them without a fight, and the number of prisoners captured in all areas of the landing was surprisingly large. But why is it surprising? The war was coming to an end and only the most fanatical followers of Hitler did not want to admit it ...
Some rangers claim that French civilians fought against them... Several French civilians accused of shooting at American forces and assisting the Germans as artillery observers were executed...
But weren't these residents killed, and after that all that was said was just a cover for American war crimes?
(Source: Beevor, Antony. "D-Day: The Battle for Normandy." (New York: Penguin, 2009), p106)

Mini museum between landing zones: