D-day and the Normandy Invasion

Five years into WWII, the future of Europe hangs in the balance. In 1944 the Nazis attacked Europe and the allied forces launched the biggest attack ever from the sea against a coastline of France (Normandy) heavily defended by German forces. Its the best chance to liberate Western Europe. If the allies win the battle, then the German occupation of France, which had lasted for more Allied landings on D-day4 then four years would end and with it any chance of Hitlers Germany. However, if the Germans were able to capture Normandy or even force allied troops back into the sea they would have at least one year to strengthen their army and ultimately they would Capture Europe and win the Second World War. D-day, officially condemned Operation Overload, was the most important battle of WWII. Due to the importance of the battle it was extremely important that careful planning and lessons from the previous battles were taken into consideration while planning the attack. Better communication, tanks and weaponry where put into place. It was also extremely important that the allies keep the invasion plan a secret. The invasion plan called on 5 divisions to land on an 80 Km front. American troops were to attack the western end of Normandy beach, and British and Canadian troops were to land on the eastern end of the beach. The 3 rd Canadian division was to land with the first wave of attackers on Juno beach, which was protected by RAF bombers. On the early morning of 6th June 1944, the invasion began. Allied forces had done a good job at keeping their invasion plan a secret because as the attack begun German defenders were surprised to see a huge armada of ships moving towards the beach. German commanders were so unaware of the surprise attack that many senior commanders attended war games at Rennes. Despite careful planning, however, the invasion did not go as smoothly as planned. German positions had not About 155,000 soldiers, 5,000 ships and been completely knocked out by allied air and sea landing craft, 50,000 vehicles and 11,000 bombardments and as a result many soldiers had to planes were massed for the greatest seaborne invasion in history. scramble for cover over exposed beaches. The 3rd Canadian division was delayed by and hour and a half by choppy seas and when they finally arrived the Germans where ready for them. The worst damage, however, occurred on Omaha beach where American soldiers were being attacked by German defenders who where firing down at them. Many troops did not even make it on land and the casualties were heavy, the Americans lost 7500 soldiers.

D-day and the Normandy Invasion

Despite the many setbacks Operation Overload was considered to be a huge success. By the end of D-day 150,000 soldiers had landed on the beach, destroyed the defending Germans and moved inland. The Canadian achievements on D-Day were remarkable. Canadian troops had pushed to within five kilometers inland; this was farther inland than any other allied troops. Canadian casualties were also considerably low however over 500 troops were killed, wounded or captured on that day. The Capture of Normandy doomed Hitler's dream of a Nazi controlled Fortress Europe, and in turn marked the beginning of the end for Germany. This is one of the reasons that D-Day was a defining moment for Canada. Canadians helped stop the German Nazis and potentially bring an end to the war. Canadians were the only ones to meet their objective despite losing 50% of their casualties during the first wave of men. The opposition the Canadians faced was stronger than that of any of the other allied troops. That was an accomplishment in which the whole nation took considerable pride.