WWII Operation Overlord/ D-Day, June 1944 Flashcards
When was D-day?
D-Day, June 6, 1944
How did D-Day begin?
Stalin demanded that the allies open a second front in the west. America and Britain went ahead with Operation Overlord - the invasion of the continent of Europe on D-Day, 6 June 1944.
What was operation overlord?
the invasion of the continent of Europe on D-Day, 6 June 1944
Where did the allies choose for their invasion and why?
The allies selected France’s Normandy Coast for their invasion because of its beaches, shallow water and closeness to Britain.
Were the Germans prepared for this attack? What happened?
They surprised the Germans who expected an attack over the shorter sea route from Britain to Calais.
Who was the commander of operation overlord and what orders did they give and when?
On 6th June general Eisenhower, the commander of the D-Day operations, gave the order to attack.
Thousands of allied planes bombed the german defences - part of Hitler’’s Atlantic wall.
Paratroopers were dropped behind enemy lines.
130,000 soldiers were landed on five beaches by warships and landing craft - Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
What happened on the first day? What did they set up and establish and for what reasons on the first day and later?
Allied troops advanced up the beaches at a cost of about 4,000 dead on the first day against about 1,000 germans killed. They established beachheads so that thousands of more troops could be brought in to continue into France.
Later, allied troops set up artificial harbours (called mulberry piers) to bring in tanks and trucks, and they built a pipeline under the ocean (pluto) to supply oil.
At what battle did they suffer a setback?
The allies then advanced across northern France to Paris. The British and Americans suffered a setback at the battle of the bulge in Luxembourg. But the German advance there was quickly halted.
