977-981 Flashcards
In early 1944, who is give the title to lead the Allied Expeditionary Force (AEF)
Eisenhower – Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (AEF)
Who plans Operation Overlord? what is it?
Eisenhower plans the assault on Hitlers “atlantic wall” (France)
“beaches with youth tides red with their blood. I have my doubts”
Churchill
Eisenhower
short-tempered
high-energy
perfectionist
not experienced strategist or combat commander
Eisenhower turned out to be a great, detail oriented leader. how much military equipment/munitions did he amass?
5 million tons
What were the chances of DDay succeeding? why?
Only 50% chance of success. It was the most complex military operation in history.
“I am uneasy about the whole operation” “It may be the most ghastly disaster of the whole war”
Brooke (British)
how concerned was Eisenhower?
Eisenhower carries a “my fault alone card”
“if any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone’
Eisenhower
Dday succeeded in part because of
surprise!
how do the allies mislead the nazis of where they will invade?
Where are the Americans trying to trick the nazis into thinking where they will invade?
positioning of british decoy troops, misleading public statements
Pas-de-calais
Where did the invasion end up occuring?
Occurred in Normandy
how many paratroopers will plan to drop behind german lines
what do they resemble
16,000
coal on faces & shaved head to resemble indian warriors
“I hope to god i know what im doing”
Eisenhower
“by the time i wake up tommorow, 20,000 men may have been killed”
Churchill
… to his wife
what disrupts paratoopers?
which divisions outfight 3 german divisions?
what are the paratroopers supossed to do?
thick clouds + anti aircraft nazi fire
82nd and 101st airborne
destroy roads/bridges, artillery, key junctions
When is DDay?
was it the biggest invasion fleet in history? how many ships/people?
June 6, 1944
biggest invasion fleet in history, 5300 ships and 370,000 soldiers.
“I saw an armada like a plague of locusts”
german soldier on dday
What key factor do major battles depend on?
what kind of battles did napoleon like?
LUCK
napoleon liked “lucky” battles
Why was Eisenhower so lucky on DDay?
Where was Rommel? why?
The Germans thought that the Normandy landings were a diversion for the “real” attack at pas-de-calais
Rommel was at home celebrating his wife’s june 6 birthday. he though the weather was too bad for an invasion.
“how stupid of me”
rommel
What went wrong on dday?
clouds/anti air fire –> paratroopers way off
bombers bomb to far inland
bad weather (nausea/capsized boats)
How many men drown from their packs? how heavy are the packs?
1000 men drown from 70+ pound packs
“As our boat touched the sand and the ramp went down… I became a visitor to hell”
private Harry Parley
Where did the first US units go ashore? how many died?
How tall were the cliffs?
Omaha, 90% die
130 foot cliffs
By nightfall how many Allied troops are in Normandy?
How many were dead/wounded by the end of the first day?
170k Allied troops
57k American
11k dead/wounded
Within ___ weeks, the allies land over______ troops
3 weeks
1 million troops
Russia launches an even bigger attack
between June/Aug 1944, Soviets kill/wound/capture 350,000 Germans
more than were stationed in all of western Europe!
“What a plan!”
– Churchill
“vast conception and masterly execution”
Stalin
