Inside the Normandy Invasion of 1944
Hear Encyclopædia Britannica editor Michael Ray explain with an infographic the invasion routes of the Allies and the German defenses in northern France during the Normandy Invasion of World War II.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Transcript
Beginning in May 1944, allied armies in the Southern United Kingdom had begun preparations for the invasion of fortress Europe.
Weather had forced this invasion back several times, but on June 6th, the "go" order was finally given.
Allied troops began boarding transport ships for the five invasion beaches in Normandy.
From West to East these beaches were: Utah, the U.S. 4th Division; Omaha, which was tasked to the U.S. 1st Division; Gold Beach, the British 50th Division; Juno Beach, the Canadian 3rd Division; and Sword Beach, the British 3rd Division.
Behind the beaches, Allied airborne troops were tasked with capturing key railroad strong points, bridges and artillery that may be firing on the beaches the morning of the invasion.
At around 6:00 AM, Allied troops began hitting the beaches on the Normandy coast and on the morning of June 6th, roughly 130,000 Allied troops would go ashore in various beaches.
The German response to the Allied attack was relatively slow.
In many cases, German commanders were still expecting a larger Allied attack at Calais, and Allied deception efforts had convinced the Germans that a large U.S. force under the command of General George Patton was still to come.
For this reason and other reasons, many due to the Byzantine command structure of the German army, the German response was slow and especially German armored response was slow.
For this reason, the Allies were able to make significant inroads on the first day, and they were able to expand their beachhead over the coming days.
Weather had forced this invasion back several times, but on June 6th, the "go" order was finally given.
Allied troops began boarding transport ships for the five invasion beaches in Normandy.
From West to East these beaches were: Utah, the U.S. 4th Division; Omaha, which was tasked to the U.S. 1st Division; Gold Beach, the British 50th Division; Juno Beach, the Canadian 3rd Division; and Sword Beach, the British 3rd Division.
Behind the beaches, Allied airborne troops were tasked with capturing key railroad strong points, bridges and artillery that may be firing on the beaches the morning of the invasion.
At around 6:00 AM, Allied troops began hitting the beaches on the Normandy coast and on the morning of June 6th, roughly 130,000 Allied troops would go ashore in various beaches.
The German response to the Allied attack was relatively slow.
In many cases, German commanders were still expecting a larger Allied attack at Calais, and Allied deception efforts had convinced the Germans that a large U.S. force under the command of General George Patton was still to come.
For this reason and other reasons, many due to the Byzantine command structure of the German army, the German response was slow and especially German armored response was slow.
For this reason, the Allies were able to make significant inroads on the first day, and they were able to expand their beachhead over the coming days.