Today marks the 67th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy (covered in detail in this Britannica spotlight).
Having seen the disastrous results of the attempted assault on a fortified port at Dieppe in 1942, Allied planners considered other avenues of attack. In its earliest formulation, the Normandy Invasion called for three amphibious divisions to assault three beaches, supplemented by an airborne assault on Caen. This plan was later expanded to include two additional amphibious divisions, as well as three airborne divisions that would deploy behind the landing beaches.
Submerged obstacles were placed to foul landing craft, and millions of mines were laid along Normandy’s beaches.
Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower recognized the risks involved in such an enormous undertaking, and he drafted a letter that was to have been made public if the invasion had failed. As it was, each landing beach was, in essence, a discrete battle—some more fierce than others.
Sword, the easternmost of the landing zones, was relatively lightly defended, with much of the German defense plan resting on artillery pieces stationed miles inland. Many of these were silenced by a daring nighttime attack by elements of the British 6th Airborne Division, and the left flank of the invasion was secured with nearly 30,000 men landed and fewer than 1,000 casualties.
Juno, the secondmost beach to the east, was assaulted by the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division. Here, shore obstacles took a fierce toll, and some 30 percent of the landing craft at Juno were destroyed or damaged. Additionally, the first wave was raked with enfilading fire from well-positioned German defenders located in seafront buildings. By the early afternoon of D-Day, hard fighting had put the seaside towns of Bernières and Saint-Aubin into Canadian hands, and the landing continued in earnest.
Gold, the center beach, was secured with comparative ease by elements of the British 50th Infantry Division. Shifting tidal patterns made submerged obstacles particularly effective against landing craft on Gold, but the exposed position of German infantry defenses meant that they were especially vulnerable to the naval bombardment that preceded the landing. By the end of D-Day, 25,000 men had been landed at Gold, with just 400 casualties suffered.
Utah, the westernmost beach, was taken by a classic example of victory being born of adversity. Strong currents and the fog of war resulted in the main landing force of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division going ashore more than a mile from its designated landing point. As it happened, this area was thinly defended, and German reinforcements were unable to respond due to the airborne assault of the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions. The paratroopers secured vital roads, but they were scattered widely across the Cotentin peninsula—this had the unintended effect of confusing German defenders as to the size and scope of the airborne operation.
Omaha, the remaining beach, was the hardest fought. The 100-foot-high cliffs that overlooked the beach were held by elements of the 352nd Infantry Division, one of the most seasoned German units in Normandy. Their hardened defenses protected them from the worst of the offshore bombardment, and the U.S. 29th and 1st Infantry Divisions were attempting to go ashore in a well-prepared killing zone. The amphibious tanks that were supposed to go ashore with the infantry floundered in the rough Channel seas, and soldiers were forced to seek cover behind shore obstacles as German gunners poured round after deadly round onto Omaha.
Realizing that their only hope was to clear the killing zone on the beach, individual soldiers made their way out of the surf and gathered in intermingled units at the base of the cliff.
Desperate fighting continued throughout the morning, and by noon, the German defenses on the beach had been silenced. Although the objectives of D-Day were far from met, the Allies had achieved a toehold on Omaha at a perilous cost. The Americans suffered more than 2,400 casualties at Omaha, but by the end of D-Day, they had landed more than 34,000. Fortress Europe had been breached.