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Aims of the lesson
By the end of this lesson you will
• Understand why the Allies launched a second front in June 1944
• Describe the events of D-day in detail
• Evaluate the success of the allied attack and the German response to it
The background
• In 1941 Germany invaded the USSR – initially successful but got bogged down
• Stalin asked GB and the USA to open a second front in order to take 3m German troops away from the Russian front
• Churchill wanted to defeat the Germans in Africa first – Stalin thought that he did this to weaken the USSR
Operation Overlord
• American General Dwight D Eisenhower was put in charge of the invasion of France
• Operation Overlord• He led the Germans to
believe that the invasion would take place in a the Pars de Calais – the shortest crossing point
The deception
• The city of Calais was bombed heavily to trick the Germans
• Dummy camps were built in Kent and wooden tanks built
• A phantom army was moved around southern England
• Only a few Germans believed that the landings would occur in Normandy
6th June 1944
• The scale of the invasion took the Germans by surprise
• Five separate landing beaches – Gold, Juno and Sword (GB and Canada) Utah and Omaha (USA)
• Hitler thought it was a trick and kept his troops near Calais – by the time he worked out what has happening it was too late and the allies had a bridgehead
The landings
• Grim on day one – 3600 British and Canadians killed or wounded – 6000 Americans – most on Omaha beach
• By the end of day one 150 000 soldiers had landed and had begun to move inland
• By 12th June 325 000 allied troops were in France – the Germans fought hard and the going was tough
• By 25th August Paris was liberated