British Achilles Tank Destroyer

Operation Neptune, the first phase of Operation Overlord, was an overwhelming success. A second front had been established and the Germans’ failure to deny the Allies a foothold in Western Europe on the first day meant it was increasingly unlikely that they would be able to stem the tide of men and materiel flowing onto the beaches and moving inland. By the end of the day the Allies had the equivalent of an army ashore with 150,000 men landing in Normandy by the end of the June 6th. Within a week, thanks in large part to the deployment of the Mulberry artificial harbours, 430,000 men came ashore as well as 62,000 vehicles and 105,000 tonnes of stores. The overcoming of such a bulwark as the Atlantic Wall was a feat that will long be remembered due to its immense size in scope and the enormity and mastery of planning involved to make it such a successful operation. The many plans and operations came together to form one master stroke under General Eisenhower’s very capable command.

The web of deception operations centring around operations Bodyguard and Fortitude, were so emphatically successful and far reaching that long after D-Day many in the German High Command, including Hitler himself, still believed the landings in Normandy were a mere diversion. So utterly deceived were the Germans that they keep the entirety of their 15th Army, 21 divisions, in the Pas-de-Calais area until late July. By this time the Allies had achieved a breakout from the hedgerow hell and were advancing toward Paris and Brittany. The deception meant that the 60 German divisions in France were spread thin to cover the perceived threats created by the Allies various deception plans. Had there been a greater density of troops and higher-quality of troops defending the beaches, Operation Neptune may well have been another Dieppe.

The failure of the German command structure prior to and during D-Day would also have dire consequences on D-Day. Preceding D-Day the German plan for the defence of the beaches was a set of half measures and compromises rather than a unified overarching plan to defeat the enemy. Even in hindsight, it is hard to say definitively whether Rommel’s or Rundstedt’s strategy to defeat the Allies on D-Day would have been more effective, but given Allied air superiority it seems Rommel’s strategy to have the Panzer Divisions nearer to the coast may well have meant more German tanks going into battle on D-Day and less exposure to the effect of Allied air superiority as Allied bombers and fighter bombers rained havoc on the transportation system and anything that moved on the roads. This may be a moot point though because the tangled command structure created by Hitler meant that commanders were unable to use their initiative anyway. Throughout Normandy on D-Day, commanders wasted precious time waiting on orders from far up the command chain. The most obvious examples of this was the 21st Panzer Division’s failure to launch a concerted attack on the invaders until it was too late, and the exasperating delay in the partial release of the strategic panzer reserve.

The role of Allied superiority in firepower also had a great influence on the success of the D-Day landings. Learning from the lessons of the Dieppe raid, the Allies knew that the invasion could only be successful if the troops landing on the beaches were supported by overwhelming firepower. This started on the beach with the employment of specialised tanks to blast enemy strongpoints at close range and overcome the many obstacles which would stymie their advance. Close artillery support from offshore artillery based on landing ships also had an impact. The massive firepower supplied by the Allied fleets offshore had a paralysing effect on both enemy attackers and defenders when their big guns were brought to bear.

Prior to D-Day and throughout the Normandy campaign, Allied air superiority was pivotal to success. Allied air power saw that the Luftwaffe was largely a nonentity during D-Day, as they bombed radar sites and isolated the invasion area. On D-Day German vehicles and troops could not move in daylight without being targeted by the Jabos (fighter bombers). They circled like hawks spotting prey, waiting in ‘cab ranks’ until needed or until a target of opportunity presented itself. The effect on morale and movement was enormous. Once the Germans were pushed out of their concrete and steel beach defences the impact was all the greater.

The achievements of the airborne assault cannot be denied. The airborne assault secured vital D-Day objectives such as bridges, transport and communication hubs, and destroyed deadly artillery batteries that threatened devastation on the beaches. The scattered night landings created complete chaos, fear, and confusion in the enemy’s rear. The work of the resistance also added to the chaos and confusion as they attacked the enemy communication network.

Never to be forgotten was the role of the fighting man on the front line who braved the carnage on the beaches and overcame, scaled the cliffs of Pointe-du-Hoc, made daredevil landings by glider and parachute, braved the harsh sea to get his swimming tank ashore, or cleared minefields under deadly fire. The victory was as much theirs as it was the great generals that commanded these vast armies.

Much has been made of the Allies’ failure to meet some of their D-Day objectives, the most important of which was Monty’s failure to capture Caen. While stopping short of Caen on D-Day did stop progress forward into the tank country beyond, it did bring the Germans into an attritional battle, which was something General Bernard Law Montgomery excelled at. Around Caen in the British sector and in the hedgerows in the American sector, the German forces were beaten black and blue by the awesome power of the Allied forces. The pulverisation of the Germans at Falaise and the thrusting moves of General Patton’s armies saw a headlong retreat of the Germans, back almost to the German border. The result was that all of Operation Overlord’s D+90 objectives were met on schedule. D-Day was the first important step in achieving this towering victory and an undeniably vital and necessary step in ultimately defeating the Third Reich.

British Lorried Rifle Section