D-Day - Operation Overlord

 The second blog about D-Day

Men of the American 16th Infantry Regiment , 1st Infantry Division 
wading ashore on Omaha Beach on the morning of 6 June 1944


Wilhelm Richter
Edgar Feuchtinger
The last blog, Major Schmidt, has been taken prisoner.  Meanwhile, the German commander Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter, was informed of the parachute landing and that the bridges had been captured.  Ricther, had ordered the 21st Panzer Division under the command of Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger to attack the landing areas.  However, Panzer division could only be moved from instructions from Adolf Hitler. His staff had to wake him.

Panzer IV
similar to the one destroyed at the Caen Canal Bridge

The closet the Germans got to the canal bridge was the 192nd Panzergreadier Regiment, 2nd Battalion who were based at Cairon.  They were given orders from Feuchtinger to recapture the bridge. At 2.00 the battalion heading for the bridge from the west,  were supported by the 1st Penzerjager company coming from the north. As the company was reaching the junction, the leading tank was hit by “D” Company, only serviceable PIAT anti-tank weapon.  The tank exploded, with the remaining tanks withdrawing.

Shortly afterwards, the 7th Parachute Battalion, under the command of Major Nigel Taylor arrived at the bridges, where they were instructed to the defensive positions west of the canal.  Pine-Coffin was briefed by Howard to cross into Beonouville, where he set up headquarters beside the church. He was command of about 200 men.

By 3.00 in the morning, the “A” and “C” companies, were attacked by 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment. The paratroopers were forced back, and the Germans formed their own positions in Benouville, and were unable to break the British lines.

Just before dawn, Howard summoned his platoon commanders, and with senior officers either wounded or dead. 1,2 and 3 platoons were under the command of corporals.  4 platoon, along with Howard’s second in command Captain Priday were missing.

During the night of 5th and 6th June, more than 2,200 British, Canadian and US bombers attacked targets along coats of Normandy and further inland. The bombing was successful however, was ineffective at Omaha.

Out at sea, Minesweepers began clearing channels for the invasion, they did not encounter any of the Germans. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Bernard Montgomery

The amphibious invasions started at 6.30, having been delayed 24 hours due to bad weather conditions. Planning for the landing operations were started during 1943, August, an initial plan was accepted at the Quebec Conference. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, with General Bernard Montgomery was named the commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised the land forces involved in the invasion.  

 James Stagg
5th June, Group Captain James Stagg, the Met Office meteorologist attached with the Royal Air Force, persuaded Eisenhower to changed the date.      

The six beaches 
The British and Canadians were to capture beaches codenamed Gold, Juno and Sword.  They came under light opposition, this was the same at the American beach of Utah, whilst at Omaha beach, the American faced heavy resistance, where it is estimated there were over 2,000 casualties.  By the end of the day, it was approximated that there were over 156,000 Allied troops successfully the Normandy beaches.

A week later, all beaches were fully secured, where over 326,000 troops along with 50,000 vehicles and 100,000 tons equipment were landed here.

Erwin Rommel
The Germans, at the time of the invasion suffered from confusion.  Erwin Rommel was on leaving celebrating his wife’s birthday. Hitler who believed that the invasion was feint designed to distract the Germans and refused to release any of his troops.

By the end of August, Allies had reached the Seine River, and Paris was liberated, the Germans had been removed from north western France, which concluded the Battle of Normandy.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Battle of Gower

Image
  Driving from Fforestfach to Gorseinon you pass by the site of a battle that took place in the 12th century and left more than 500 men dead.  Charles Wilson Watkins  has been looking into the history of this battle of Gower. In 1936, the proprietor of a local woollen mill,  William Rufus Lewis (pictured left) , established the Garngoch Hospital in Gorseinon. Nearby is Garngoch Common where we can find a memorial with the date 1136 carved into its surface commemorating the  Battle of Llwchwr . The  Battle of Llwchwr , was fought on New Year’s Day 1136. 1136, mark-ed the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, from which the foundations of the Norman Dynasty were formed. 1066 was the year of three kings,  Edward, Harold  and  William . History repeated itself during 1936, during this year there was also three kings,  George V, Edward VIII  and  George VI . 14th October 1066 was the date that the Battle of Hastings wa...
Read more

1st July 1916 - Battle of the Somme

Image
Soldiers "Going Over The Top" Somme, 1 July 1916 Scenes staged for a newsreel film of the Battle   1 st July 2021 marks the 105 th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme , 1 st July 1916 . The First Day of the Battle of the Somme , was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army.   The Army suffered 57,470 casualties, of whom 19,240 were fatalities.   By the end of the day the army had just only gained three square miles of territory. The Somme Campaign  a joint campaign between the British and the French , it was breaking the deadlock on the Western Front.   Before the first day, there was a weeklong artillery bombardment, which was intended to break the German barbed wire and to destroy defences.   British objectives, Somme, 1 July 1916 The British front of attack was from Serre in the north to near Montauban in the south.   Many of the battalions notable Pals Battalions that were to see action that day, compris...
Read more

Gower and Art

Image
  Rhosilli, Gower, there are fields of beautiful sunflowers.  The sunflowers are planted with background of Worm’s Head.  Previous years, the plants have been planted by the National Trust.  This year, however, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, without the National Trust staff, local farmer Robert Morgan planted the sunflowers in fields used by the Trust and also buying himself an extra two fields. The sunflowers do vary in a variety of colours. Self-Portrait  1889 Musee d'Orsay Sunflowers 1888 Vincent van Gogh The famous piece of art, that features sunflowers, is Vincent van Gogh Sunflowers , 1888.   This still life painting was his fourth version. Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch post-impressionist artist. During his life, van Gogh, created 2,100 works, of which 860 were produced in the last two years of his life.     His works included landscapes, still life, portraits and self-portraits.   He wasn’t commercially successful in his life and d...
Read more