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OPERATION OVERLORD: the INVASION OPERATION NEPTUNE: the LANDING Gen X u DAY, MONTH XX, 2014 XXXXPAPER’SNAMEXXXX u xxxxwebsitexxx OPERATION OVERLORD: THE INVASION OPERATION NEPTUNE: THE LANDING Gen. Dwight D Eisenhower Supreme Allied Commander English Channel Gen. Montgomery 21st Army Group England is 116 miles north (10 sq. mi. grid) Lt. Gen. Bradley Lt. Gen. Dempsey U.S. First Army British Second Army U.S. VII Corps U.S. V Corps British XXX Corps British I Corps Cherbourg 90th & 4th 1st & 29th 50th Infantry 3rd Infantry 51st Infantry 6th Airborne 82nd Infantry Div.’s Infantry Div.’s Division Division Division Division Airborne Vologones 6:30 a.m. 6:30 a.m. 7:25 a.m. 7:55 a.m. 7:25a.m. 12 - 3 a.m. Division Troops: Troops: Troops: Troops: Troops: Part of 709th Infantry 23,250 34,250 24,970 21,400 28,845 13,000 Allied Division Casualties: Casualties: Casualties: Casualties: Casualties: paratroopers About 300 About 2,400 About 400 About 1,200 About 630 and gliders St. Mere Eglise UTAH 101st Airborne Pointe 243rd 91st Division -du-Hoc Infantry Infantry OMAHA 12 - 3 a.m. Division Division Part of GOLD JUNO 13,000 Allied paratroopers SWORD and gliders Bayeux 352nd 6th Parachute Infantry Regiment Division MAP KEY Beachheads 711th Infantry Area held by June 12 DY CAEN Division Combat ship AN Landing craft M R Saint Lo 716th O Field Marshal Erwin Rommel Infantry C-47 Skytrain N Paris is 124 miles southeast German Army Group B 21st Division 30th Mobile Panzer Airborne troops Division Gen. Dollmann Gen. H. Von Salmuth Division German battery VII Army XV Army ENGLAND JUNE 6 1944 ★ JUNE 6 2014 INVASION ( TIMELINE London Southampton Plymouth Portsmouth 0000 (Midnight) » First air- borne troops begin to land. English Channel Rouen 0100 » First Navy hands ordered to man battle sta- DETAILED AREA ( tions. Landing craft begin to Paris be lowered into the water; Rennes FRANCE paratroopers cut phone lines D-DAY and knock down telephone Atlantic Ocean poles. 7 0 TH ANNIVERSARY 0200 » First bombers take off to attack targets around WHY IT MATTERS FROM GEN. EISENHOWER the beachhead. 0300 » Gliders begin to There were several D-Days Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the head of all the reinforce paratroops. during World War II, but the one Allied forces, drafted two letters for D-Day: one that stands out in the world’s to inspire the troops, and another in case the 0309 » German radar collective memory is the Nor- invasion had been a failure (full text at right). detects Allied invasion fleet. mandy Invasion, the beginning Shore batteries are ordered “The eyes of the world “Our landings in the of the Allied invasion of western to prepare for invasion. Europe. The assault broke Adolf are upon you. The Cherbourg-Havre hopes and prayers of area have failed to Hitler’s grip on Northern France 0520 » Sunrise. Bombers liberty loving people gain a satisfactory and began an Allied sweep drop first bombs on German everywhere march foothold and I have across the continent that would targets. end with the meeting of Soviet with you. In company withdrawn the troops. with our brave Allies My decision to attack forces in the east and the defeat 0535 » German shore bat- and brothers in arms at this time and place of the Nazi regime. teries open fire; Allied naval on other fronts, you was based upon the forces return fire. will bring about the best information destruction of the available. The troops, THE NUMBERS 0630 » Landings begin on German war machine, the air and the Navy » Utah and Omaha beaches. the elimination of did all that Bravery 156,000 Allied troops from Nazi tyranny over the and devotion to duty the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Free 0645 » Rangers assault HISTORY.ARMY.MIL oppressed peoples of could do. If any blame Point-du-Hoc. France and Norway took part in Gen Dwight D Eisenhower gives the Order of D-Day — “Full victory, Europe, and security or fault attaches to the invasion. nothing else” — to paratroopers in England, just before they board for ourselves in a free the attempt it is mine 0725 » Landings begin on their airplanes to participate in the first assault. world.” (Excerpt) alone.” 6,939 vessels, including combat Sword and Gold beaches. ships, merchant ships and landing craft, carried the troops 0755 » Landings begin and 50,000 vehicles across the VALOR AT OMAHA: THE BEDFORD BOYS onJuno Beach. English Channel. 0900 » 2nd Ranger Bat- 11,590 aircraft were available On June 6, 1944, the town of Bed- talion soldiers take Point-du- to support the invasion from ford, Va., had a population of about Hoc and defend it for the rest above. Only 127 were lost. 3,200. By the end of the day, 19 of its of the day. sons had been lost on the far-away 5,000 tons of gasoline was the beaches of Normandy. Those 19 sol- 0950 » Destroyers engage daily estimated need for the first diers, remembered today as the Bed- the enemy at Omaha under 20 days after the initial assault. ford Boys, were proportionally the orders of Adm. C.F. Bryant. nation’s steepest D-Day losses. Their unit, Company A, was tasked with » 1045 » Utah fairly secure, THE CASUALTIES taking a key part of Omaha Beach. A reserve battalions begin high seawall and steep, rocky beach coming ashore. made Omaha the most difficult About 10,000 casualties incursion area of the invasion. Had (including wounded, killed, 1300 » Troops at Omaha it not been attacked, however, the prisoners of war and missing in begin to secure the beach. distance between Utah and Gold action) is the general estimation beaches would have been too far for for the Allies on June 6, 1944. 1900 » 1st Division com- the forces to cover. Of the men who mander, Gen. Huebner sets didn’t drown, 90 percent of Company Between 4,000 to 5,000 up a command post on A was lost in the first 10 minutes. It U.S. coast guard soldiers are believed to have Omaha Beach. took another month for word of their U.S. troops wade ashore amid German machine gun fire on D-Day. died that day, about 2,500 of sacrifice to reach Bedford. The Bedford Boys met the heaviest resistance on Omaha Beach. those American. Between 4,000 and 9,000 casualties are estimated on the WHAT IS D-DAY? WEATHER WOES NAZI CONFUSION German side. The “D” in D-Day simply stands for D-Day was originally planned for June The Germans expected an invasion along the sources: ddaymuseum.co.UK; military.com; encyclopedia 27 war cemeteries today hold “day.” The phrase, along with H-Hour, 5, but a massive storm pushed the in- north coast of France, but they did not know britannica; historynet.com the remains of more than is used to specify when a military vasion to June 6. For 24 hours, troops where. They built up their troops and artillery graphic: shawn garrett 110,000 dead from both sides. mission will commence. waited nervously on their ships. near Calais, 215 miles east of Sword Beach. THE news & ADVANCE.
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