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D-Day 70 Official Brochure

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D-Day 70 Official Brochure 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY 1944-2014 OFFICIAL BROCHURE Photograph by SNOWDON D-DAY 70 1 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY 1944-2014 D-DAY 70 2 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY 1944-2014 D-DAY 70 LE PRÉSIDENT DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE For France and her Allies, 2014 is the commemorative year of the 100th Anniversary of entry into the First World War and of the 70th Anniversary of the Allies’ Landing in Normandy. Our country is aware of the International Community’s keenness to commemorate this day, D-Day, with the greatest respect. On the morning of the 6th June 1944, our veterans entered into a merciless fight against the occupation, in which soldiers from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth played a great part. They helped to liberate this country, and France is always delighted and proud to welcome them. The ceremonies, which will be held throughout the month of June, will mark our gratitude to all who defeated Nazism. I express the hope that they take place within a union of Europe now at peace. May your veterans know that they and their families will be always be welcome here. 3 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY 1944-2014 D-DAY 70 X X X X X X Felixstowe Rotterdam Br. 7 BR. BOMB COM. X X X X SHAEF OTHER BUILD-UP FORCES X X X X X Br. 49 2 X X X X Headquarters: Swansea X X X X X USSTAF Uxbridge 1 - Army Group (1st) EIGHTH 2 - Army (US Third, Can. First X X AEAF ARMED FORCES 8 - Corps 90 X X NETHERLANDS Divisions: Cardiff Br. 51 X X X X X X X X 18 - Infantry X X X X 10 - Armoured FIFTEENTH NINTH BR. Flushing X X SECOND 1 - Airborne X X X X X Breskens 21 X X X X Ramsgate X X BR. SECOND London Ostend Antwerp X X X X X X Bruges X X X X X X XXXIX 1 SS X X X X X X X X X X BR. Dover Dunkirk FIRST 9 LXXXIII BR. XXX Southampton BR. I X X X X X X X Calais X X X V X X Con. 3 X X X X TAC 2 X X Portsmouth Br. X X X IX Shoreham Br. 50 Hastings X X VII Poole X X X X Isle of Boulogne X X X 1 Brussels Wight LXXXII Portland X X Force S Force L X X Lille 4 Force O Force J (Follow-up) X X X X X X Charleroi Plymouth Force G Force U FIFTEENTH X X X X Dartmouth Force B Mons 29 X X SALMUTH (Follow-up) X X X X X LXVII Cambrai Glider Route Abbeville X X Dieppe Amiens St. X X Quentin 82nd Abn Div Cherbourg X X 101st Abn Div X X 2 Guernsey X X X X X Laon X X 709 X X LXXXI 243 UTAH CHANNEL X X OMAHA Le Harve Rouen ISLANDS X X 91 X X Compiègne GOLD JUNO 116 Gandcamp-X X X X les-Bains 352 SWORD Soissons Carentan X X 711 Reims Jersey Bayeux 716 Elbeuf X X X Louviers St.X Lo X X Caen Vernon LXXXIV X X XLVII 21 X X Évreux Pontoise 12 SS Chateau Falaise Thierry Chalons Vire X X X X X X X OB WEST B SS X X X X St. Malo Avranches X X Argentan Dreux X ROMMEL Mortain X RUNDSTEDT X Paris X X X X X X X Domfront X X X X X LXXIV St. Hilaire du Harcouët Melun THIRD X X Alençon Chartres SPERRLE Romilly 3 Fougeres X X Mayenne X X EtampsLEGEND Fontainebleau 5(-) Lehr Troyes X X X Loudeac FORTRESS VII PRCHT Rennes Vitré X X X X Pithiviers Sens SEVENTH WIDELY DISPERSED X X Laval Châteaudun ARMOURED FORMATION 2 X X DOLLMANN Le Mans Orleans Lorient X X X NORTHWESTERN FRANCE, 1944 XXV Château Vannes Gontier X X ALLIED INVASION FORCE AND GERMAN DISPOSITIONS, 6 JUNE 1944 Angers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 St. SEVENTH Nazaire SCALE IN MILES X X X X FIRST X X Nantes 1739 4 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY 1944-2014 D-DAY 70 D-DAY AND Th e defeat of Germany was until after the Tehran Conference in late acknowledged as the western Allies’ 1943. A command team led by American THE BATTLE OF principal war aim as early as December General Dwight D. Eisenhower was 1941. Opening a second front would formed in December 1943 to plan the NORMANDY relieve pressure on the Soviet Union naval, air and land operations. Deception in the east and the liberation of France campaigns were developed to draw would weaken Germany’s overall German attention - and strength - away On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Allied position in western Europe. Th e from Normandy. To build up resources Forces launched a combined invasion, if successful, would drain for the invasion, British factories German resources and block access to increased production and in the fi rst half naval, air and land assault key military sites. Securing a bridgehead of 1944 approximately 9 million tonnes on Nazi-occupied France. in Normandy would allow the Allies to of supplies and equipment crossed the establish a viable presence in northern Atlantic from North America to Britain. Codenamed Operation Europe for the fi rst time since 1940. A substantial Canadian force had been ‘Overlord’, the Allied landings Lieutenant General Frederick Morgan building up in Britain since December and his team of British, American and 1939 and over 1.4 million American on the Normandy beaches Canadian offi cers submitted plans for the Servicemen arrived during 1943 and marked the start of a long and invasion in July 1943. Although limited 1944 to take part in the landings. planning for an invasion of Europe costly campaign to liberate began soon after the evacuation of D-Day required unprecedented north-west Europe from Dunkirk in 1940, detailed preparations cooperation between international Armed for Operation Overlord did not begin Forces. Th e Supreme Headquarters Allied German occupation. Early on 6 June, Allied airborne 1 forces parachuted into drop zones across northern France. Ground troops then landed across fi ve assault beaches - Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. By the end of the day, the Allies had established a foothold along the coast and could begin their advance into France. 1. Richard Ernst Eurich’s enigmatic composite painting of land and naval forces massing off the South Coast before D-Day. Copyright IWM 5 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY 1944-2014 D-DAY 70 Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was an to the invasion, many of these fl ights were the Germans as late as July 1944 that international coalition and although the unchallenged by the Luftwaff e. Nearly the main invasion force would still Allies were united against Germany, 7,000 naval vessels, including battleships, land elsewhere. Th e threat of this the military leadership responsible for destroyers, minesweepers, escorts and larger, second invasion kept German Overlord had to overcome political, assault craft took part in Operation reinforcements tied down away from cultural and personal tensions. By ‘Neptune’, the naval component of Normandy. Defence also suff ered 1944, over 2 million troops from over Overlord. Naval forces were responsible for from the complex and often confused 12 countries were in Britain preparing escorting and landing over 132,000 ground command structure of the German for the invasion. On D-Day, Allied troops on the beaches. Th ey also carried Army as well as the constant interference forces consisted primarily of American, out bombardments on German coastal of Adolf Hitler in military matters. British and Canadian troops but also defences before and during the landings However, the Allies faced a number included Australian, Belgian, Czech, and provided artillery support for the of setbacks both on 6 June and in the Dutch, French, Greek, New Zealand, invading troops. months that followed. On D-Day, the Norwegian, Rhodesian and Polish naval, Americans came close to defeat on air or ground support. Germany tried to defend the northern Omaha partially because the preliminary coast of France with a series of air and naval bombardment failed to Th e invasion was conducted in two main fortifi cations known as the ‘Atlantic knock out strong defence points, but phases: an airborne assault and amphibious Wall’. However, German defences were also because they faced highly eff ective landings. Shortly after midnight on 6 often incomplete and insuffi ciently German troops who had gained hard- June, over 18,000 Allied paratroopers were manned. Members of the French earned experience on the Eastern Front. dropped into the invasion area to provide Resistance and the British Special Th roughout the Battle of Normandy, tactical support for infantry divisions on Operations Executive (SOE) provided the technical superiority of their tanks the beaches. Allied air forces fl ew over intelligence and helped weaken defences and anti-tank weapons, as well as the 14,000 sorties in support of the landings through sabotage. Th e Allied deception tactical skill of their commanders, gave and, having secured air supremacy prior campaigns succeeded in convincing German forces an advantage over the 2 3 6 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY 1944-2014 D-DAY 70 4 2. A Sherman tank of the 13th/18th Hussars, 27th Armoured Brigade, reverses aboard an LST (Landing Ship Tank) at Gosport, 1 June 1944. Copyright IWM 3. Members of the Womens Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) repair and pack parachutes for use by airborne troops during the Normandy invasion, 31 May 1944.
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