war at hand

1. Europe: BeginningsEurope: Beginnings
and Liberationand Liberation
Foothill Technology High School Friday, April 22, 2016

2. THE EUROPEANTHE EUROPEAN
THEATERTHEATER
Allies wage Industry Warfare
RAF: Night and USAF: Day
• Destroy Factories
• Create Terror
• Break Morale
1942: FDR and Churchill commit to Europe
first!
1943: Casablanca Conference
Un-Conditional Surrender
•Defeat, then Victory

3. ALLIED STRATEGY
Europe first!
Dresden
Hamburg
Normandy
The
Bulge

4. D-Day: 6 June 1944
OPERATION OVERLORD
 Allied offensive: the North coast of
France.
 General Eisenhower (Ike) is Supreme
Allied Commander
– Under Ike are
• Montgomery (G.B.)
• Bradley (U.S.)

6. “I am very uneasy about the WHOLE
OPERATION.
At the very best it will fall so very very FAR
SHORT of the EXPECTATIONS
of the bulk of the people, namely those who know
nothing of its difficulties. At the worst it may well
be the MOST GHASTLY DISASTER of the whole
war.
I WISH TO GOD it were safely over.”
Field Marshall Sir Alan Brooke. 5 June 1944

7. Sir Bernard
Montgomery General Omar Bradley
General
Eisenhower
Supreme
Allied
Commander

8. The Plan
 Amphibious assault by 5 divisions
 Drops by 3 airborne divisions
 Troops would mass in G.B. for invasion
 D-Day, day of invasion, 6 June 1944
– U.S. troops land at Omaha and Utah
beaches
– G.B. at Gold, Juno (w/ Canadians) and
Sword

9. Deception and Intelligence
 Misinformation
 Fake U.S. Army camps and fictitious
attack points
 French Resistance produced info on
German troop movements
 Airborne reconnaissance of landing zones
 Sand samples from beaches

10. Airborne Assault/Paratrooper Phase
 Drops behind Utah beach evening before
D-Day
 13,000 men
 Poor visibility and ground fire scattered the
parachutists
- some fell into the sea
- others drowned in flooded rivers
- or, hit trees and roofs
* Those who did land were lost. Ironically,
this served to only further confuse the
Germans

11. Ike talks to 101st airborne
5 June 1944

12. A “cricket” used by the paratroopers to
communicate in the dark to distinguish
friend from foe. One click was to be
answered by two.

13. The Day of DaysThe Day of Days
“…“…we’re not lost, we’re in Normandy.”we’re not lost, we’re in Normandy.”

14. Beach Phase:
• Terrible weather and ocean conditions
• Bombing of German defenses had been
largely ineffective

16. UTAH BEACH
Good luck and Bad luck
•Invasion force landed approx. 2,000 yards
away and the tanks arrived late
•Area ended up being less heavily defended
•Causalities mercifully light
MEN LANDED: 23,250
CASUALTIES: 200

18. OMAHA BEACHOMAHA BEACH
 Landing was gently rising slope to high sandy
bluffs
 Best German troops waited behind concrete
bunkers
 5:40 a.m. only 5 of 32 tanks reached shore (after
troops)
 All but one of the main artillery guns was lost
 Men came ashore soaking wet, overloaded, and
sea-sick
 MEN LANDED: 34,250
 CASUALITIES: c. 3,000

19. FDR SpeechFDR Speech
6 June 19446 June 1944
A "A "Mighty EndeavorMighty Endeavor""

20. Saving Private Ryan

22. “'Cos you know when you pick up a body
that's been in the water for a while, the flesh
just comes away. Terrible business.”

23. THE LIBERATION OF PARIS
 19 August 1945 Allied forces gain a hold on
Paris
 Hitler still hoped to hold Paris, but very little
fighting
 By 25 August 1945 Paris is liberated
Legacy: The storming of Normandy (D-Day) as
a mighty coalition had struck a telling blow at
its occupiers and “turning point” is indeed
appropriate.

25. BATTLE OF THE BULGE
December 1944–January 1945

26. Hitler Commits Suicide
April 30, 1945
VE DAY-VE DAY-Victory over EuropeVictory over Europe
May 8, 1945May 8, 1945

27. Liberation of the Death CampsLiberation of the Death Camps