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Operation Overlord |
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| The Allied Invasion of Normandy | ||
| The Allied invasion
of occupied France began on 6th June 1944 (D-Day). The allies were led
by the American general, Eisenhower. It was an incredibly well organised
event with over 156,000 men being landed in France on the first day. Air
support and attention to detail with supplies was all very well planned.
There was to be no chance of failure. Supplies of fuel were kept up with
PLUTO, 'Pipeline Under The Ocean' and floating harbours, called
Mulberries were used to ensure a free movement of tanks, soldiers and
supplies.
There was some tension between the American soldiers and the British as General Montgomery was more cautious before advancing. Some people have argued that this was due to the longer time that this country had been at war, others have said Montgomery was upset with Eisenhower having overall control. |
The
landings on the Normandy beaches were split between the Americans on
Utah and Omaha, whilst the British and Canadians took Juno, Gold and
Sword. The resistance offered varied from very light indeed to extremely
heavy. The Speilberg film 'Saving Private Ryan' (a 15 certificate) has
been praised for its realism by many of the veterans from the campaign.
It is worth noting that Stalin, the Russian leader was far from happy at the delays in undertaking the invasion. He claimed the losses in the Russian campaign were far greater than they needed to be as a consequence. |
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