By 1944 World War II is in full swing on not only the Pacific theater of operations but in Europe. Field Marshall Rommel has been driven out of North Africa by the British and General George Patton’s command. A bloody campaign to invade Germany through Sicily and the Italian peninsula has proven time consuming costly. For 3 years now the invasion of Normandy has been in the planning stage. However, the logistics of relocating enough troops, supplies, and vehicles has been another example of attrition and a determined enemy who is technically proficient.

Irreverence

Today, you will hear little about D-Day from the mainstream politicized mass media as they would rather cover what new dress is being worn by some TV actress or how many Hollywood celebrities got divorced. More and more the American heritage and significant history is being overlooked and shrugged off as being irrelevant to today’s youth worshiping pop culture. The sacrifices by those who gave their lives so that ungrateful and oblivious sleep walkers of today who squander that freedom can enjoy their frivolous existence. FDR gave a prayer for the success of “Operation Overlord” for several minutes on nationwide radio appealing to God for the success of our fighting men against a strong and determined enemy. More prayers by other leaders were to follow at a time when America was indeed, “One Nation Under God”

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Unusual disinformation operations

Prior to the invasion a massive campaign of intelligence and counter intelligence has been waged by not only the allies but by the Axis forces. From a rumored massing of an army to invade southern France under the command of General George Patton replete with a massive vehicle motor pool of rubber replicas of tanks, jeeps, and troop trucks, to the British using the body of an English soldier as a decoy, dressing him in an officers uniform, an attaché case of falsified documents meant to mislead the Germans and dumping the body in a river where the Nazis are bound to find the corpse, the battle of deception is on. Both the allies and the Axis Forces rely upon Astrology and Tarot card readings to try and anticipate each other’s next moves.

Preparations

Few people know that General Dwight Eisenhower has tendered his resignation as Supreme Allied Commander should the proposed amphibious landing fail. Winston Churchill, bold, out spoken, and undyingly optimistic about turning back the Germans, as he inspects the damage inflicted upon British cities daily, exhorting his people to endure, and never to consider surrender. As supply convoys of US merchant marines fight through the “Wolf Pack” of German U-Boats, after years of resupply, the much needed supply chain that it will take to fuel the war effort to liberate France and Europe is now in place. There is only one drawback now-the weather. Several unseasonal winter storms have plagued the English Channel and have caused several delays.

The launch

Finally, on the eve of June 6^th, Ike gives the go ahead signal based upon a best guess by Allied meteorologists using the technology of the time to predict weather conditions. Should a storm hit during the course of the landings “Operation Overlord” could become bogged down and troops drowned in the surging waters. A combined force of Canadian, American, British, French, and assorted volunteers from other countries will storm a section of Normandy rather than Pas de Calais the nearest point from Great Britain on the English Channel. It is here that Field Marshall Rommel and his staff are convinced the Allies will come ashore. The selected invasion site consists of several beaches assigned to each nation’s landing forces. Juno, Sword, Gold, Omaha, and Utah will soon be swarming with Higgins Boats and soldiers as they assault the formidable defenses overseen by Field Marshall Rommel as concrete was poured for bunkers and pill boxes that overlooked the beaches.

The war from the air

That previous night, multiple flights of paratroopers are flown by DC-3’s designated the C-47 and towed gliders over the interior of France. Miscalculations and lost coordinates plague those aerial operations separating paratroopers from their units and creating mass confusion. However, enough of these scattered soldiers are able to link up, and under incredible odds manage to attain most of their objectives even though, in some cases, German troops shoot the paratroopers like duck hunters killing many of the paratroops before they make contact with the land. These desperate attempts to confuse the enemy and cut off communications are successful and aid in the landing at Normandy.

Softening up

But, before the landing craft can begin pushing ashore, a heavy bombardment by Allied battle ships, cruisers, and destroyers completely envelops the beaches in the black smoke of salvos that pound the bunkers and crater the beaches. As the troops load into their landing craft descending on nets from the sides of ships, all they can see of Normandy is a boiling cloud from hell. As 14 inch, 12 inch, eight inch, and 5 inch shells hammer the shore installations of the Germans. It seems nothing could possibly survive such bombardment, but as the Higgins boats loaded with Allied troops come ashore they are in for a nasty surprise.

Awesome defenses

The feared MG-42 the German high output automatic machine gun known as the “Buzz Saw” begins causing horrid casualties as the US Army coming ashore at Omaha beach is stunned by the level of savage resistance. Artillery, rifle fire by the German Mauser infantry rifle Gewehr 43/Karabiner 43, along with the light machine gun the “Buzz Saw” and as one Army commander reported by radio to the fleet operations bridge, “Situation in doubt”. Casualties were atrocious as US Army troops were caught on the open beaches and mired in anti-landing craft obstructions just offshore. Only heroic individual efforts using satchel charges, grenades, and the use of Bangalore Torpedoes, an explosive charge connected to several sections of tubing used to blow holes in the fortifications, allowed a pathway off the beaches for the beleaguered assault troops.

The attempted rescue

Famous actor Eddie Albert served aboard a US Naval destroyer in the Omaha Beach landing and was so appalled by the loss of life that he and his men came dangerously close to shore and under counter fire by heavy German artillery, rescued many of the wounded soldiers who were stranded under murderous fire. The battleships, cruisers, and other surface ships of the largest armada ever assembled in history were held back by the German shore batteries of 88 millimeter artillery capable of knocking out ships from great distances. The bodies of troops shot and killed on the beaches and even while trudging through the waters before reaching the beaches turned the English Channel red with their blood as the waves washed upon the beaches.

Terrible sights

The “Buddy System” was used so that soldiers not only developed a personal bond but also looked out for one another as a way of overcoming fear of combat was in use in World War II. One soldier reported that his buddy had gotten separated from him and he spotted him walking along the shore as bullets flew mortally wounded in the abdomen, part of his face shot away, and as he watched his buddy glanced at him but mercifully kept on walking through the enemy fire as he said he wouldn’t have known what to do to comfort his dying comrade. Such were the horrors of the D-Day landing.

Those who never arrived

Tragically, a number of soldiers drowned weighted down by 60 pounds on their back packs and attempting to wade ashore where the sandy bottom offshore of the beaches had been eroded away by recent storms. They just couldn’t uncouple from the strapped on gear designed to sustain them for days, but became the source of their mortality. Although the Allies enjoyed total air superiority, the accuracy of targeting and suppression of enemy fire did not seem to be effectively attained although the German Luftwaffe played no significant role in the battle at all.

Victory achieved

Although the beaches of Juno, Gold, Sword, and Utah had relatively light casualties and managed more than 23,000 troops ashore by nightfall, Omaha beach had the worst causalities with 2,400 killed or wounded, but the Americans landed some 34,000 men by dusk. In one day the Allies had landed 138,000 troops and 900 armored vehicles, trucks, artillery, and jeeps. At Gold Beach, the British landed 25,000 men, pushed the Germans 6 miles inland with the loss of just 400 casualties. In the days to come as the Allies landed more support troops, supplies, and armament the Germans would counter attack trying to drive them back into the sea. Rommel’s feared Panzer divisions failed to unseat the great amphibious landing, and the following battles of the hedgerows would ensure that US Army, British infantry, and Canadian forces penetrated the French countryside from the bloody beaches they had captured. The long road to Berlin had finally begun.

A matter of resolve

In contrast to the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940 where 380,000 troops of the British and combined European forces, were stranded on the beaches awaiting rescue while another 60,000 French troops on the shores of southern France were left behind and captured by the Germans, one has to look at a question of initiative. As Winston Churchill remarked while so many celebrated the recovery of the troops with British Naval ships and volunteered private vessels, he soberly commented that great evacuations do not win wars, and he was right. Under better leadership the Allies captured the beaches of Normandy with less than half of the troops who awaited rescue and faced annihilation by the Germans just 4 long years before at Dunkirk. The beaches were strewn with British and French tanks, trucks, and artillery that would be captured by the Germans. Whoever takes the initiative will win, but those who lose momentum and choose not to fight will lose. Today, it would be extremely doubtful that such a selfless effort could be undertaken by the current generation of video game warriors and politically correct social platform zombies.