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    D-Day: A Layman's Guide
    D-Day: A Layman's Guide
    D-Day: A Layman's Guide
    Ebook128 pages2 hours

    D-Day: A Layman's Guide

    By Scott Addington

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    About this ebook

    D-Day: A Layman's Guide has been written specifically for people with little or no prior knowledge of the D-Day landings and the battle for Normandy and will serve as an ideal introduction to one of the most important aspects of WW2 history.

    Written in an engaging way, this is more like an informal chat than a heavy historical text. With short, sharp chapters this Layman's Guide provides just enough detail to gain a good grounding of knowledge and understanding, without the reader drowing in a sea of detail. 

    For anyone looking for an entertaining and informative overview of the D-Day landings this Layman's Guide is the perfect place to start.

    LanguageEnglish
    Publisher303 Publishing
    Release dateApr 13, 2019
    ISBN9781386030850
    D-Day: A Layman's Guide

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      Book preview

      D-Day - Scott Addington

      D-Day: A Layman’s Guide

      Scott Addington

      ©Scott Addington, 2014

      The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the author.

      This e-book is published by 303 Publishing

      Other books by Scott Addington:

      ––––––––

      WW1: A Layman’s Guide

      WW2: A Layman’s Guide

      The Third Reich: A Layman’s Guide

      Waterloo: A Layman’s Guide

      1001 Fantastic First World War Facts

      Heroes of World War I

      The Great War 100: The First World War in Infographics

      Five Minute History: First World War Battles

      Five Minute History: First World War Weapons

      Reaching for the Sky: 100 Defining Moments of the RAF

      Invasion! 100 Defining Moments of Operation Overlord

      Get an exclusive free First World War Factbook packed with 500 facts not available in any other of my books at www.scottaddington.com

      Introduction

      There are very few days that alter the course of history. There are very few days where people can look back and say, There. That was the day when it all started to change.

      6th June 1944 was one such day.

      Seen by many as the single most important day in the twenty first century, 6th June 1944, or D-Day as it became known, was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. It heralded the beginning of a new chapter in the story of the Second World War. A chapter full of hope, a chapter full of struggle, but a chapter that would ultimately end in victory.

      The day itself was epic beyond measure. The brazen plan of sending thousands of men wading up onto the beaches of occupied France directly into the teeth of the Atlantic Wall defence system was seen as optimistic by some, foolhardy by many and borderline suicidal by others. The top brass of the Allied Supreme Command thought the risk was worth it and went ahead regardless.

      The invasion was years in the making, was intricate in its detail, masterful in its innovation and cunning in its deception. It was quite simply one of the most incredible military operations in the history of military operations.

      Following in the style of ‘World War One: A Layman’s Guide’ this short narrative is more like a chat down the pub than a heavy historical text. I have tried to make the story flow naturally but have not overloaded the reader with mountains of detail. The chapters are sharp and to the point, perfect for dipping in and out of whenever the fancy takes you.

      The men that fought on D-Day showed the whole world courage beyond measure and this Layman’s Guide is my attempt at telling their story in an engaging way that appeals to people that may not have read about D-Day before.

      I hope I have done them all justice.

      ––––––––

      SMA

      May 2014

      Contents

      ––––––––

      Battered but defiant: We shall fight on the beaches...

      Wolkenkuckucksheim: The Atlantic Wall

      The decision to invade

      Where and when? COSSAC

      SHAEF and the friendly invasion

      Intelligence and resistance

      The fate of the Reich

      Deception and deceit: Operation Bodyguard

      Blabber-mouths and gossip-mongers: Letting the cat out of the bag

      The Grande Plan

      Invention and innovation: A technological invasion

      Cancellation, frustration and nerves

      Just six gliders: The pointy end of 156,000 men

      Operation Deadstick: Pegasus Bridge

      The Paras drop in

      Mission Impossible: Silencing the Merville Battery

      We’ll start the war from right here! Utah beach

      Bloody Omaha

      Pointe du Hoc

      Gold beach

      On! On! You noble English! Sword beach

      Payback: Juno beach

      Operation PLUTO (Pipeline Under the Ocean)

      Mulberry: It’s a harbour, Jim, but not as we know it

      Sit Rep: The end of the ‘Longest Day’

      Mix-ups, egos and politics: Why Germany failed to push the invasion back into the sea

      References, sources and further reading

      Battered but defiant: We shall fight on the beaches...

      ––––––––

      By the summer of 1940, German Blitzkrieg had conquered the majority of mainland Europe. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and France had all succumbed to the power, might and speed of the German Army as it bulldozed its way on to what seemed like an inevitable ‘total victory’.

      Even the combined forces of the French Army and the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) were powerless to stop the force of the German advance and they were pushed further and further back until they were finally trapped and encircled on the beaches around the French coastal town of Dunkirk. By 25 May 1940 the situation was so bad that almost 400,000 Allied soldiers were looking down the barrel of either certain death or capture. The decision to retreat back to England across the Channel was taken quickly and over nine days between 27 May and 4 June 332,226 men were successfully rescued from those beaches. It was deemed a stunning success, a miracle even, but British losses were an eye watering 68,111 (killed/wounded/captured). Add these human casualties to heavy losses of material and equipment (243 ships, over 63,000 vehicles and half a million tonnes of general supplies, ammunition and rations) it all added up to be a very bad few days for British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

      On 4th June, as the final few thousand men were being brought back to safety on a flotilla of small private boats, Churchill went to the House of Commons to report on the current status of the evacuation and consequent military situation. He, like the B.E.F., was battered but defiant and he spoke for an hour, concluding his address with one of the most famous passages of oration in British history:

      ...I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government – every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

      ––––––––

      This defiance in the face of huge pressure and disappointment following the evacuation of Dunkirk set the tone for the next four years. The Allies may be down, but they certainly were not out. They would be back and would come back fighting... on the beaches.

      Wolkenkuckucksheim: The Atlantic Wall

      ––––––––

      Berlin, 11th December 1941. Adolf Hitler addresses the Reichstag with an eighty-eight minute monologue in which he announces to the world that Germany is now at war with the United States of America.

      Not content with that small bombshell, the Führer also mentions for the first time his vision of making Europe an impregnable fortress. He went on to boast with much gusto that ‘...from Kirkenes (on the Norwegian/Finnish border) to the Spanish frontier stretches the most extensive belt of great defence installations and fortresses...I am determined to make this European front impregnable against any enemy attack."

      It was a bold claim; the length of territory mentioned in this speech was the thick end of three thousand miles – that’s a lot of fortifications. The line wasn’t as extensive as he would

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