Essay about Operation Overlord

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Pages: 6

Operation Overlord
On June 6, 1944 the largest amphibious assault in history took place. On the morning of the Invasion of Normandy, beaches in the area of Cotentin, France, were bombarded with over 5,000 tons of bombs, destroying German defenses and de-mining many areas. Following the bombardment over 100,000 soldiers swam ashore, and 11,700 paratroopers were dropped to secure Normandy Beach. After two months of battle, Allied troops marched into Normandy on August 24th, 1944. The Invasion of Normandy not only was the turning point of the World War II, but also directly led to the liberation of Western Europe from the Nazi regime.
Deception of the Germans was an important factor in the preparations for D-Day. Although the actual attack
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Dieppe was a complete disaster and three-quarters of the Canadians died. The Allies claimed that it was an experiment to be learned from, but the Canadians wanted revenge, feeling that the only thing learned was never to assault a heavily defended port head-on without air or naval support, even if you outnumber the attacker, and they got it at Juno.
At Juno Beach, offshore reefs caused many problems. These reefs were covered with mine-tipped obstacles. The mines blew up many landing craft before they ever reached the shore. Early bombardment did not fully eliminate German resistance at Juno Beach, as many Germans were ready to pour bullets and artillery onto the allied soldiers. As more and more tanks and vehicles landed on shore, they had to weave in and out of destroyed landing craft. With determination and hard-fighting the Canadian infantry took street after street and town after town. Later in the day, the Canadian troops managed to reach their final D-Day objectives, making them the only Allied force to do so
The British 3rd Infantry division with supporting units, landed on Sword Beach. The force were to secure a path through the town of Ouistreham, and then meet with the British 6th Airborne at the Orne Bridgehead. After the most extensive bombardment of the morning, the landing craft were launched. However, landing schedules collapsed and a large group of men were landed at the same time, causing a group of soldiers and