DOCSLIB.ORG

Operation Overlord

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Operation Overlord Operation Overlord In the early morning of 6 June 1944 a massive Allied seaborne invasion landed on the beaches of Normandy, in northern France (see photograph below). The event was D-Day. The mission was called Operation Overlord — ‘the most complicated and difficult’ operation of World War II, according to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The operation took over a year to plan and implement. For months, intelligence information was gathered via maps, aerial photographs and holiday postcards. Secrecy was crucial, as the attack had to take the Germans by surprise. It was also essential to pick a day when the weather and tide conditions were right. When Allied Commander-In-Chief, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (see photograph on the right) gave the order, more than 155 000 American, British and Canadian troops were ferried across the English Channel on some 6000 ships and landing craft. Their Digital Stock/Corbis Corporation task was to secure five Normandy beaches, code- named Sword, Juno, Gold, Utah and Omaha. The beach landing was supported by a massive aerial bombardment of inland enemy positions, and by drops of paratroopers. The intent was to destroy German gun batteries before they could fire on the arriving landing craft. Hitler had expected any Allied attack might occur further east, and had concentrated coastal defences near Calais. Operation Overlord was so unexpected that, at first, he thought it was an Allied trick, and delayed sending German back- up troops to the beaches. This element of surprise was a key advantage for the Allies. By nightfall on 6 June, Sword, Juno and Gold were in British and Canadian hands, and Omaha and Utah in American hands. Omaha was by far the toughest landing point as it was bordered by high cliffs and had few routes inland off the beach. US troops at Omaha also had the bad luck to run into a crack German division. The heavy loss of life at this beachhead is graphically recalled in Stephen Spielberg’s film The Saving of Private Ryan. Extract from an official American account of the Omaha Beach landing ‘Already the sea runs red. Even among some of the lightly wounded who jump into shallow water, the hits prove fatal. Knocked down by a bullet in the arm or weakened by fear and shock, they are unable to rise again and are drowned by the onrushing tide … A few move safely through the bullet swarm to the beach, then find that they cannot hold there. They return to the water to use it for body cover. Faces turned upward, so that their nostrils are out of the water, they creep toward the land at the same rate as the tide. That is how most of the survivors make it.’ Digital Stock/Corbis Corporation As quoted in D-Day, by Martin Gilbert, pp. 146–7 © John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2004 2004-11-overlord.pdf (Page 1 of 3) Operation Overlord was a risky operation for the Allies. It was also very costly, with some 3000 Allied troops killed on D-Day alone. But it was a turning point in the war in Europe. By establishing a second war front (Germany was also fighting Russia to the east), Germany’s fighting ability was weakened. By the end of July, nearly one million Allied soldiers had poured into France via the captured Normandy beaches, pushing southwards. Within a year, the German army would suffer a crushing defeat on the outskirts of its capital, Berlin. Use information in this worksheet and in the sources listed as References to complete the following activities. 1. Explain why Operation Overlord would have been such a complicated and difficult military operation. ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 2. Imagine you were an Allied soldier involved in both the Dunkirk evacuation and D-Day. What similarities and differences might you have observed in what was happening on these two days? Refer to the references listed below, particularly SOSE Alive History 2 and the D-Day (1) web link. ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 3. Based on the official US account given above, and on what you may have seen if you have viewed the movie Saving Private Ryan, how do you think you would have felt to have survived the battle for Omaha beach? Knowing what the Allies were fighting for, and what was at stake, would you have still felt the sacrifice was worth it? Write a journal entry in your notebook describing your feelings and thoughts. 4. Suggest why Operation Overload was the turning point in the war in Europe. You might find the D-Day (2) web link helpful. ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Part II Session 3 “Technology to Seize an Enemy-Held Shore”
    Part II Session 3 “Technology to Seize an Enemy-held Shore” 1 Opposed Allied Amphibious Operations Prior to Normandy-Many Painful Lessons • UK-Norway, April 1940 • UK-Dakar, September 1940 • UK-Madagascar, May 1942 • UK/Canadian-Dieppe raid on the French coast, August 1942 • US/UK-Torch-Casablanca, Oran and Algiers, Nov 1942 • US/UK- Sicily/Italy – Sicily (Husky), Salerno (Avalanche), Anzio (Shingle), July –September 1943 2 “How to seize an enemy-held shore” • Examine from that past, then plan, plan, review the plan and exercise what you can of the plan. • Make sure that some one was in-charge of each action and was drilled in what to do. • What are the Germans doing and what would be a German response? Plan for that response. • Special training, new weapons, what do you need to clear the beach, how do you protect the landing forces, where is the unified command and control? 3 “How to seize an enemy-held shore” • While some of this sessions applies in the Pacific, the context here is a build up for the Normandy invasion: - One million troops and a 100,000 vehicles and everything needed to kept functioning. - The Normandy invasion was on the shore of a continent. • The Pacific War was a series of island invasions or jungle enclaves in New Guinea. No opposing armor, limited air cover or the probably of massed reserves. • Only the Philippine invasion and the possible invasion of the Japanese home Islands in November 1945 had the scope of Normandy. 4 What a Successful Amphibious Landing Requires-1 • Off-shore Command ships containing cooperative inter- service and inter-Allied staffs functioning below the Senior Chiefs level.
    [Show full text]
  • Review Essay Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's the Vietnam
    Review Essay Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s The Vietnam War MARK PHILIP BRADLEY True confessions: I did not go into the eighteen hours of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s The Vietnam War with a totally open mind.1 Burns’s 1990 documentary series The Civil War, which made his career, had evoked a storm of controversy, with such leading his- torians as Leon Litwack and Eric Foner offering scathing critiques of how the film depicted African Americans as passive victims and entirely ignored the ways in which the postwar era of Reconstruction became an exercise in white supremacy. As Foner wrote, “Faced with a choice between historical illumination or nostalgia, Burns consis- tently opts for nostalgia.”2 Subsequent documentaries on jazz and World War II always struck me, and in fact many critics, as deliberately skirting potentially subversive counter-narratives in a kind of burnishing of the past.3 And to be quite honest, all of them seemed too long. In the case of Burns and Novick’s earlier series The War (2007) and its fifteen-hour embrace of the greatest generation narrative, Burns’s insular docu- mentary painted World War II as an entirely American affair, with non-white and non- American voices largely to the side. The much-heralded “Ken Burns effect” had never worked its magic on me. When I began to hear the tagline for The Vietnam War in the drumbeat of publicity before it was first aired on PBS last September (you will have to conjure up the melan- choly Peter Coyote voiceover as you read)—“It was begun in good faith by decent peo- ple out of fateful misunderstandings, American overconfidence, and Cold War mis- calculations”—I anticipated a painful eighteen hours.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legacy of American Photojournalism in Ken Burns's
    Interfaces Image Texte Language 41 | 2019 Images / Memories The Legacy of American Photojournalism in Ken Burns’s Vietnam War Documentary Series Camille Rouquet Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/647 DOI: 10.4000/interfaces.647 ISSN: 2647-6754 Publisher: Université de Bourgogne, Université de Paris, College of the Holy Cross Printed version Date of publication: 21 June 2019 Number of pages: 65-83 ISSN: 1164-6225 Electronic reference Camille Rouquet, “The Legacy of American Photojournalism in Ken Burns’s Vietnam War Documentary Series”, Interfaces [Online], 41 | 2019, Online since 21 June 2019, connection on 07 January 2021. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/647 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/interfaces.647 Les contenus de la revue Interfaces sont mis à disposition selon les termes de la Licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. THE LEGACY OF AMERICAN PHOTOJOURNALISM IN KEN BURNS’S VIETNAM WAR DOCUMENTARY SERIES Camille Rouquet LARCA/Paris Sciences et Lettres In his review of The Vietnam War, the 18-hour-long documentary series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick released in September 2017, New York Times television critic James Poniewozik wrote: “The Vietnam War” is not Mr. Burns’s most innovative film. Since the war was waged in the TV era, the filmmakers rely less exclusively on the trademark “Ken Burns effect” pans over still images. Since Vietnam was the “living-room war,” played out on the nightly news, this documentary doesn’t show us the fighting with new eyes, the way “The War” did with its unearthed archival World War II footage.
    [Show full text]
  • A Historical Assessment of Amphibious Operations from 1941 to the Present
    CRM D0006297.A2/ Final July 2002 Charting the Pathway to OMFTS: A Historical Assessment of Amphibious Operations From 1941 to the Present Carter A. Malkasian 4825 Mark Center Drive • Alexandria, Virginia 22311-1850 Approved for distribution: July 2002 c.. Expedit'onaryyystems & Support Team Integrated Systems and Operations Division This document represents the best opinion of CNA at the time of issue. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Department of the Navy. Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited. Specific authority: N0014-00-D-0700. For copies of this document call: CNA Document Control and Distribution Section at 703-824-2123. Copyright 0 2002 The CNA Corporation Contents Summary . 1 Introduction . 5 Methodology . 6 The U.S. Marine Corps’ new concept for forcible entry . 9 What is the purpose of amphibious warfare? . 15 Amphibious warfare and the strategic level of war . 15 Amphibious warfare and the operational level of war . 17 Historical changes in amphibious warfare . 19 Amphibious warfare in World War II . 19 The strategic environment . 19 Operational doctrine development and refinement . 21 World War II assault and area denial tactics. 26 Amphibious warfare during the Cold War . 28 Changes to the strategic context . 29 New operational approaches to amphibious warfare . 33 Cold war assault and area denial tactics . 35 Amphibious warfare, 1983–2002 . 42 Changes in the strategic, operational, and tactical context of warfare. 42 Post-cold war amphibious tactics . 44 Conclusion . 46 Key factors in the success of OMFTS. 49 Operational pause . 49 The causes of operational pause . 49 i Overcoming enemy resistance and the supply buildup.
    [Show full text]
  • Jazz and Radio in the United States: Mediation, Genre, and Patronage
    Jazz and Radio in the United States: Mediation, Genre, and Patronage Aaron Joseph Johnson Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2014 © 2014 Aaron Joseph Johnson All rights reserved ABSTRACT Jazz and Radio in the United States: Mediation, Genre, and Patronage Aaron Joseph Johnson This dissertation is a study of jazz on American radio. The dissertation's meta-subjects are mediation, classification, and patronage in the presentation of music via distribution channels capable of reaching widespread audiences. The dissertation also addresses questions of race in the representation of jazz on radio. A central claim of the dissertation is that a given direction in jazz radio programming reflects the ideological, aesthetic, and political imperatives of a given broadcasting entity. I further argue that this ideological deployment of jazz can appear as conservative or progressive programming philosophies, and that these tendencies reflect discursive struggles over the identity of jazz. The first chapter, "Jazz on Noncommercial Radio," describes in some detail the current (circa 2013) taxonomy of American jazz radio. The remaining chapters are case studies of different aspects of jazz radio in the United States. Chapter 2, "Jazz is on the Left End of the Dial," presents considerable detail to the way the music is positioned on specific noncommercial stations. Chapter 3, "Duke Ellington and Radio," uses Ellington's multifaceted radio career (1925-1953) as radio bandleader, radio celebrity, and celebrity DJ to examine the medium's shifting relationship with jazz and black American creative ambition.
    [Show full text]
  • Neptune's Might: Amphibious Forces in Normandy
    Neptune’s Might: Amphibious Forces in Normandy A Coast Guard LCVP landing craft crew prepares to take soldiers to Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944 Photo 26-G-2349. U.S. Coast Guard Photo, Courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command By Michael Kern Program Assistant, National History Day 1 “The point was that we on the scene knew for sure that we could substitute machines for lives and that if we could plague and smother the enemy with an unbearable weight of machinery in the months to follow, hundreds of thousands of our young men whose expectancy of survival would otherwise have been small could someday walk again through their own front doors.” - Ernie Pyle, Brave Men 2 What is National History Day? National History Day is a non-profit organization which promotes history education for secondary and elementary education students. The program has grown into a national program since its humble beginnings in Cleveland, Ohio in 1974. Today over half a million students participate in National History Day each year, encouraged by thousands of dedicated teachers. Students select a historical topic related to a theme chosen each year. They conduct primary and secondary research on their chosen topic through libraries, archives, museums, historic sites, and interviews. Students analyze and interpret their sources before presenting their work in original papers, exhibits, documentaries, websites, or performances. Students enter their projects in contests held each spring at the local, state, and national level where they are evaluated by professional historians and educators. The program culminates in the Kenneth E. Behring National Contest, held on the campus of the University of Maryland at College Park each June.
    [Show full text]
  • Operation Overlord James Clinton Emmert Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2002 Operation overlord James Clinton Emmert Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Emmert, James Clinton, "Operation overlord" (2002). LSU Master's Theses. 619. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/619 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OPERATION OVERLORD A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Liberal Arts in The Interdepartmental Program in Liberal Arts by James Clinton Emmert B.A., Louisiana State University, 1996 May 2002 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the support of numerous persons. First, I would never have been able to finish if I had not had the help and support of my wife, Esther, who not only encouraged me and proofed my work, but also took care of our newborn twins alone while I wrote. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Stanley Hilton, who spent time helping me refine my thoughts about the invasion and whose editing skills helped give life to this paper. Finally, I would like to thank the faculty of Louisiana State University for their guidance and the knowledge that they shared with me.
    [Show full text]
  • Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America Children's Reading List
    Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America Children’s Reading List Children's Fiction Bagnold, Edith. National Velvet. Originally published in 1935. Buccaneer. 1981. 306 pages. National Velvet is the story of a 14‐year‐old girl named Velvet Brown, who rides her horse to victory in the Grand National Steeplechase. The classic novel focuses on the ability of ordinary persons, particularly women, to accomplish great things. Velvet and her horse become instant celebrities, with Velvet and her family nearly drowning in notoriety. Velvet strongly objects to the publicity, saying the horse is a creature of glory who shouldn't be cheapened in tabloid trash and newsreels. She insists that she did not win the race, the horse did. The book inspires the film by the same name (starring Elizabeth Taylor), a TV series and TV movie version and a lesser known sequel, International Velvet. Christopher, Matt. The Great Quarterback Switch (Matt Christopher Sports Classics). Little Brown Books. 1991. 97 pages. Can Michael and Tom read each other's minds? Michael and Tom Curtis are identical twins who share a love of football. Unfortunately, because of a tragic accident, Michael must watch from the sidelines as his brother calls the plays on the football field. During one game Michael concentrates very hard on a play he thinks could help the team, and Tom calls the exact play a split second later! Is it coincidence, or can the boys communicate through ESP? The boys try a daring experiment in which they push their telepathic powers to the limit ... and suddenly, impossibly, Michael is running the ball for a spectacular touchdown! Matt Christopher has a number of sports‐related books to his credit.
    [Show full text]
  • Ken Burns, Who Needs No Introduction to Millions of People
    [ Music ] >> I'm Matt Raymond from the Library of Congress. Each year, thousands of book-lovers of all ages visit the nation's capital to celebrate the joys of reading and lifelong literacy at the National Book Festival sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by First Lady Laura Bush. Now in its seventh year, this free event, held on the National Mall Saturday, September 29th will spark readers' passion for learning as they interact with the nation's bestselling authors, illustrators and poets. Even those not attending in person can access the event online. These prerecorded interviews with well-known authors are available through the National Book Festival website in podcast format. To visit, go to www.LOC.gov/bookfest. [ Music ] We have the honor of talking with award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, who needs no introduction to millions of people. He has directed, produced, and co-written more than 10 critically-acclaimed historical documentaries. His films include Brooklyn Bridge, The Civil War, Baseball, and Jazz, and have been recognized with Academy Award nominations, Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award and many others. His most recent film, The War, brings World War II to life through the personal accounts of those who experienced it directly. The seven-part series begins September 23rd on PBS. On September 29th, Mr. Burns will discuss the companion book, The War: An Intimate History, 1941 to 1945, which he co-authored with Geoffrey Ward at the National Book Festival. And welcome Mr. Burns, it is a pleasure to have you. >> Thank you for having me.
    [Show full text]
  • Ordinary Heroes: Depictions of Masculinity in World War II Film a Thesis Submitted to the Miami University Honors Program in Pa
    Ordinary Heroes: Depictions of Masculinity in World War II Film A thesis submitted to the Miami University Honors Program in partial fulfillment of the requirements for University Honors with Distinction by Robert M. Dunlap May 2007 Oxford, Ohio Abstract Much work has been done investigating the historical accuracy of World War II film, but no work has been done using these films to explore social values. From a mixed film studies and historical perspective, this essay investigates movie images of American soldiers in the European Theater of Operations to analyze changing perceptions of masculinity. An examination of ten films chronologically shows a distinct change from the post-war period to the present in the depiction of American soldiers. Masculinity undergoes a marked change from the film Battleground (1949) to Band of Brothers (2001). These changes coincide with monumental shifts in American culture. Events such as the loss of the Vietnam War dramatically changed perceptions of the Second World War and the men who fought during that time period. The United States had to deal with a loss of masculinity that came with their defeat in Vietnam and that shift is reflected in these films. The soldiers depicted become more skeptical of their leadership and become more uncertain of themselves while simultaneously appearing more emotional. Over time, realistic images became acceptable and, in fact, celebrated as truthful while no less masculine. In more recent years, there is a return to the heroism of the World War II generation, with an added emotionality and dimensionality. Films reveal not only the popular opinions of the men who fought and reflect on the validity of the war, but also show contemporary views of masculinity and warfare.
    [Show full text]
  • Embedded Reporters: What Are Americans Getting?
    Embedded Reporters: What Are Americans Getting? For More Information Contact: Tom Rosenstiel, Director, Project for Excellence in Journalism Amy Mitchell, Associate Director Matt Carlson, Wally Dean, Dante Chinni, Atiba Pertilla, Research Nancy Anderson, Tom Avila, Staff Embedded Reporters: What Are Americans Getting? Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has suggested we are getting only “slices” of the war. Other observers have likened the media coverage to seeing the battlefield through “a soda straw.” The battle for Iraq is war as we’ve never it seen before. It is the first full-scale American military engagement in the age of the Internet, multiple cable channels and a mixed media culture that has stretched the definition of journalism. The most noted characteristic of the media coverage so far, however, is the new system of “embedding” some 600 journalists with American and British troops. What are Americans getting on television from this “embedded” reporting? How close to the action are the “embeds” getting? Who are they talking to? What are they talking about? To provide some framework for the discussion, the Project for Excellence in Journalism conducted a content analysis of the embedded reports on television during three of the first six days of the war. The Project is affiliated with Columbia University and funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The embedded coverage, the research found, is largely anecdotal. It’s both exciting and dull, combat focused, and mostly live and unedited. Much of it lacks context but it is usually rich in detail. It has all the virtues and vices of reporting only what you can see.
    [Show full text]
  • Assessing Media Coverage of the War in Iraq: Press Reports, Pentagon Rules, and Lessons for the Future"
    THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION "ASSESSING MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE WAR IN IRAQ: PRESS REPORTS, PENTAGON RULES, AND LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE" Tuesday, June 17, 2003 9:30 a.m. Falk Auditorium Moderator: RON NESSEN Journalist in Residence, The Brookings Institution Panelists: VICTORIA CLARKE Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs BOB FRANKEN CNN, an “embedded” reporter in Iraq TERENCE SMITH Media Correspondent, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS JOHN WALCOTT Washington Bureau Chief, Knight Ridder Newspapers P R O C E E D I N G S MR. NESSEN: Good morning. Welcome to Brookings. I'm Ron Nessen. I want to welcome you to this forum at which we are going to assess press coverage of the war in Iraq, the Pentagon's press policies in Iraq, and what lessons each side learned from that experience. First of all, let me introduce you very briefly to the panelists. You all, I think, have probably picked up your packets at the registration desk where you have more detailed biographies, but just briefly to tell you who's on the panel. In the middle we have Torie Clarke, in her final days now as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Down there at the end of the panel, Bob Franken of CNN. He was an embedded reporter in Iraq and will talk about that experience. Next to me here, John Walcott, the Washington Bureau Chief for the Knight Ridder Newspapers. Knight Ridder had more embeds in Iraq than any other news organization, 31 reporters and photographers and one artist. Terry Smith here, the media correspondent on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.
    [Show full text]