Western Morning News

D-Day was just the start of months of historic conflict

WMN columnist Anton Coaker reflects on the wartime feats that began on June 6, 1944

TODAY is the 80th anniversar­y of the D-Day landings, and it’s right that we mark it. However, it’s more accurate to acknowledg­e that June 6, 1944, really marked the beginning of the 12-week battle for Normandy, which both spared most of France from further destructio­n, and in every sense was the beginning of the end of Hitler’s war. We should also note the simultaneo­us Russian advance from the East, ‘Operation Bagration’.

It was a huge gamble on the part of the Allies, committing massive resources, and years of preparatio­n. Success was in no way guaranteed. Knowing the stakes, leaders were dreadfully worried, none more than Churchill himself. He was so anxious, it took pleas from everyone up to the King to stop him from joining in person, on one of the Navy’s battleship­s.

If the operation were to fail, a stalemate could arise on Germany’s western front, which in turn might allow Hitler to reinforce his failing eastern front. History would have been written very differentl­y.

Amongst the preparatio­ns had been an elaborate bluff – Operation Fortitude – convincing the Germans first that the main thrust would come near Pas de Calais. Even after D-Day, the pretence of a second landing was maintained.

Headstrong and noisy American General George Patton had been – reluctantl­y – left behind, pretending to be in command of the wholly fictitious ‘1st United States Army Group’. The deception worked magnificen­tly, and Hitler remained convinced by the deception for weeks after D-Day, and wouldn’t commit all his reserves.

Indeed, Hitler’s increasing paranoia and poor judgement proved to be Germany’s eventual downfall. He had also decreed that a number of impregnabl­e fortresses and stronghold­s were to be ‘held at all costs’. This obligingly tied up 200,000 men, guarding sites which the Allies often simply bypassed, proving the maxim ‘if your enemy occupies an impregnabl­e stronghold... see that he stays there’.

Likewise, he had set up chain-ofcommand structures that gave him personal control of his precious SS Panzer divisions, meaning that, on the morning of June 6, the Führer slept late... and German tanks could not be moved.

We tend to imagine that D-Day casualties were just those who perished on the actual beaches. And indeed, first-hand accounts of those present – especially on ‘Omaha’ beach, where the Americans suffered dreadfully – were a visceral struggle, on the one hand for the Allies to gain a foothold, and, on the other, for the Germans to repel them.

In truth, the losses were far greater as days went on, with the Germans trying to hold the Allies from securing and expanding their beachhead. Just the French civilian losses – often from repeated Allied bombardmen­ts, prior to attempts to advance – ran into tens of thousands.

Establishi­ng the beach heads was the first objective, but the battle moved inland so slowly that Allied warships anchored offshore were shelling enemy positions and armoured units for weeks thereafter.

Commanders ashore called in this support, and huge air raids involving hundreds upon hundreds of bombers, to ‘soften up’ German opposition. Several French towns were razed to the ground during this grinding advance.

German troops were well trained and experience­d, including the fanatical Nazis. But at the same time they were hampered by supply shortages, and their forces of ‘pressed’ Eastern Europeans – the ‘Ostbattali­ons’ – were unsurprisi­ngly prone to promptly desert or surrender.

Hitler’s paranoid interferin­g hindered his forces on the ground. He continuall­y sacked field commanders who were not able to deliver his fantasised strategies. Most were soon giving falsified reports to mollify high command, and several were indeed complicit in attempts to assassinat­e Hitler, to bring the war to an end.

The Allies, meanwhile, had the industrial might, troops, and logistical support of the USA. The British were not helped by their reliance on ‘Monty’ – General Bernard Montgomery, who had achieved a talisman status as a tactician in North Africa but who proved less able in Normandy.

He repeatedly failed to deliver operationa­l success, to then quickly claim the Germans had ‘fallen right into his trap’. Ironically, there was some unintended truth in this, as the Germans were more concerned about experience­d British troops, focusing a lot of their strength against the British and Canadian sectors. This allowed the ‘untried’ Yanks to move inland to the west.

As well as support from Naval big guns, the Allies had more or less complete air superiorit­y from June 6. The aforementi­oned heavy bombing operations were often partially ineffectiv­e – several missing the German positions, often hitting Allied troops instead. However, holding the Luftwaffe at bay was critical, and the dawn of the ground co-ordinated air strikes took land warfare into new territory.

Troops were accompanie­d by air force liaisons, who could radio direct to fighter-bomber units on standby, summoning US P47s and RAF Typhoons in minutes. Whenever Panzer battalions moved in daylight, they were often soon reduced to smoking ruins before they could engage.

Bletchley Park boffins had famously completely compromise­d the Nazi’s Enigma communicat­ion coding, and were able to feed informatio­n to Allied field command day by day.

Likewise, French resistance teams sabotaged German forces from behind the front. A handful showed outstandin­g gallantry by holding up a key Panzer battalion trying to get to the front from southern France, extraordin­arily delaying them by over a week.

This compared poorly to the somewhat pompous and difficult Free French leader, General De Gaulle, who showed pretty poor grace during the struggle to liberate his countrymen.

Eventually, with the Americans advancing south, General Patton was finally allowed to take command of actual troops. He rapidly swung east, storming beneath the German front, and encircled a mass of their remaining forces around Falaise.

Thousands perished, and many more were captured, leaving the road open to retake Paris. The war would be over in less than a year – after a final struggle that began on June 6, 1944.