D-Day &Battle of the Bulge

December 10, 2009

• Summary– 1942 to 1943

• Axis powers from OFFENSIVE to DEFENSIVE

– 1944 to 1945• Final crushing of Axis powers

• Attack Germany from EAST and WEST– 2 front war

• U.S. cross Pacific Ocean and begin to attack Japan

• U.S. created NEW WEAPON that will change warfare forever

• Soviets have done most of fighting in Europe

• Stalin insist that U.S. & Britain attack from West

– Force Germany to divide troops

• Churchill doesn’t want to do1. Recalled deaths in WWI

2. German U-Boats in English Channel

3. Need MORE training/ equipment

• November 1943: FDR, Stalin, & Churchill meet in Iran• 1st face to face meeting

• Eventually agree they need to cross Channel

• PLAN: U.S. & Britain will invade France & march towards Germany

• 6 months later - massive invasion begins– Code name “OPERATION

OVERLORD”

• D-Day Invasion of Normandy– Most experienced officers– Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

(Supreme Commander)• Planned invasion

• Operation Overlord a.k.a. D-Day– 21 U.S. divisions– 26 British, Canadian, & Polish

divisions– 50 mile stretch of beach in

Normandy, France

• Largest fleet EVER assembled– 156,000 soldiers

• 73,000 are American– 15,500 are U.S. paratroopers

– 11,000 planes– 5000 ships

• 5 beaches in Normandy– Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold, & Sword

• Omaha MOST DANGEROUS

• A little lie…– Allies create fictional army under

Gen. Patton• Fake headquarters• Fake tanks, ships, & detectable radio

– Convince Germans attack will come from Calais…not Normandy

– Worked: Hitler ordered top divisions to Calais

• D-Day– June 6, 1944 6:30AM

• Fire from trenches, mined beaches (bombs)

• Some let off too far from beach– Equipment heavy (drowned)

• Planes shot down• Paratroopers killed

• Allies made gains in France– 1 month: 1 million troops landed in

Normandy

• Germany hopeless– 2 front war– Soviets to the EAST– U.S. & England to WEST

• August 1944: Allies liberate Paris– Hitler ordered to destroy but generals

disobeyed

• Rommel & German generals threat to overthrow– Plant bomb in Hitler headquarters– Kill 20/ Hitler survives

• Rommel commit suicide• Hitler refuses to surrender

• Battle of the Bulge– December 1944– Hitler counterattack– Allies along English Channel– Germans in Ardennes

• Plan: English speaking German soldiers in U.S. uniforms to cut telephone lines, change road signs, spread confusion

• Germans ALMOST succeeded– Created “bulge” in allies lines– Captured many towns– Snow/ clouds prevent allies planes

• Germans stopped by Allies in Bastogne (Belgium)– U.S. troops hold on despite frostbite &

German bombing

• Dec. 1944: Skies clear & allies bomb– Push Germans back & crippled them

• Jan. 1945: Soviets reach outskirts of Berlin

• April 12, 1945: FDR dies– Harry Truman takes over as U.S.

President

• April 1945: Mussolini captured & executed– U.S./ Britain 50 miles west of Berlin

• Allies in position of massive assault of Berlin

• Hitler physical wreck– Shakes, paranoid, still thinks

chance of victory– Giving orders but no one

listening

• April 30, 1945: Hitler & closest associates commit suicide

• May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders in Eisenhower’s Headquarters

• Americans celebrate V-E Day– Victory in Europe