Independent Study Fair Project Reports
Oberlin, Ohio

 
Isaac
The History of D-Day

 

D-Day was one of the most important battles of WW2. During D-Day, the Allies smashed German defenses in France and allowed the Allies to pour into Europe and defeat the Nazi's. For my project, I covered everything I could think about, including defense, commanders, heroes, and what happened before. I chose this project because my dad is in the army. He does intelligence and and is teaching at the U.S. Army War College. Also, because I have always been fascinated with military history.

I hoped to learn exactly what happened during D-Day and how the Allies obtained victory. It was also important to know about the sacrifices that the men of D-Day made because I want to join the army one day. I think I learned a lot about D-Day, but I most definitely did not learn everything. It is impossible to know everything about D-Day because so much happened that was never recorded. The project turned out better than I expected because I collected so much information.

During my research, the web was a huge help for my project. I went to about a dozen web sites. Books I found were also very helpful. The difficult part for me was writing down information and remembering if I had already written it down. I did not use magazines or videos at all for my topic. Another difficulty for me was finding someone to interview, but I found a person to interview on the web who also turned out to be my moms friend's husband. So it all turned out very well.

Before D-Day

The Allies invaded Normandy (a province of France) for a couple of reasons. First, the Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953), demanded that Franklin D. Roosevelt. (1882 - 1945), the 32nd resident of the United States, and Winston Churchill (1864 - 1965), the Prime Minister of England,that they open up a Western Front in Europe. He had been after them to do this for a while; ever since the Soviet Union entered the war in 1940 when Germany broke there peace treaty with Russia and invaded Russia. Stalin believed that without a second front in Europe, the Allies could not win the war. There were also political reasons for opening up a western front, Stalin feared that Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt would sign a peace treaty with Germany. However, Stalin finally convinced Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt to launch an invasion in the west, which eventually led up to D-Day (Operation Overload).

Secrecy was vital for Operation Overload. In fact, it was so secret it was Bigot. What is Bigot? Bigot is a level of secrecy higher than top secret. Only people with a special Bigot pass could look at the Operation Overloads plans. Once at a party, a Major General casually mentioned to the guests that D-Day was going to be before June 15. When Eisenhower (the supreme commander of D-Day) heard of this, he reduced the Major General three ranks to a Lieutenant Colonel and sent him home.

Incidents also happened that made the Allies think that the Nazi's had figured out about D-Day. Once, during a bomb raid in London, a bomb was dropped on a intelligence officer that carried Operation Overloads plans. The officer was killed instantly, and the plans were never found. Another curious incident was a series of English crossword puzzles that included words like Omaha, Utah, Mulberry, Overload, and Neptune. These crosswords contained the names of the two American beaches (Omaha and Utah), the overall invasion strategy (Overload), the channel attack plan (Neptune) and the artificial harbor project (Mulberry). The writers of the crossword puzzle were questioned but could not find any sinister connection to the Nazis. This case was forgotten.

The artificial harbors were called Mulberries. They were invented because the Allies needed a way to deliver fresh supplies to the troops in Normandy. Without supplies, the commanders of the Allies understood the invasion would eventually fail. This remarkable project was done by sinking old ships and huge concrete breakwaters called Phoenix caissons. The roads that would cross the channel were made from pontoons. Mulberries worked efficiently and were a wonderful success.

Soldiers were put were put through harsh and intensive training to prepare for D-Day. They learned how to swim with their uniform, helmet and boots. They could do twenty-five push-ups, run three hundred yards in less than forty-five seconds, crawl fifty yards under barbed wire, carry a man piggy-back twenty-five yards (seventy-five ft.) without stopping, and march nine miles in under forty-five minutes. Once during a landing drill, German U-boats (submarines) attacked the fleet that was practicing and sunk a ship and killed seven hundred men. The Allies did many sham battles. Fake battles were used to help men get a better experience in battle. Paratroopers, also, did many practice jumps to train, but none of them would compare to what they would face on D-Day.

The Commanders of D-Day knew fuel would be an obvious target for Germans, but they needed a way to deliver fuel to the the tanks, trucks, jeeps, half - tracks, planes, etc., at Normandy. So the Allies made a project called PLUTO - Pipe Line Under The Ocean. They made a underwater pipe - line crossing the channel from England to France. The advantages of PLUTO was that they could carry the fuel to the vehicles over in France, the disadvantages of PLUTO were if PLUTO had a spill, it would not be good for the Allies or the environment. To fool the Nazi's into thinking where they would invade, they created a 'phantom army' around Southern England, it was mostly concentrated at Dover to make the Nazi's think they were going to attack the city of Calais, a couple of miles north of where they really were going to attack. It also made the Germans think there were more men then there really were. Therefore, the Germans sent most of there men and Panzers (tanks) over to Calais.

On Sat, June 3, 1945, troops were already on their ships and were prepared to attack Normandy, but horrible weather was forecast. June 5, the original date for D-Day, was therefore canceled. The question was whether D-Day would happen on the sixth. Eisenhower called a meeting with his main advisors. June 5th, 6th, 7th, were the only days perfect for an attack, these days had a low tide, so ships could land easily, and a full moon so paratroopers could see. The weather report said that the bad weather would calm down on the 6th but more bad weather was forecast on the 7th, so Eisenhower decided that June 6, 1944 would be the day of the attack.

Eisenhower needed to insure that the Nazi's would not react to quickly to an invasion. To make sure they would not react, Eisenhower ordered the bombings of bridges, railways, and roadways so that the German Army could not send reinforcements. For every bomb dropped in Normandy, two were dropped elsewhere, so the Nazi's would not suspect Normandy as the place where the Allies would invade.

The Germans sent secret agents over to England and dropped them by parachutes. They soon radioed back to the Germans and said they had landed successfully. Unknown to the Germans, the secret agents were working for the Allies. These double - agents gave fake information to the Nazi's, like telling them that the Allies would attack farther up north than Normandy at the port of Calais. The double-agents were very useful.

Commanders

Both the Allies and the Germans had generals and leaders to plan and lead Normandy and to defend it. On the Allies side was General Eisenhower. He was promoted from a colonel to a Four Star General and Supreme Commander of D-Day. His job was to make the plans of D-Day, decide where it was, how to attack, when it was and other various things. After World War Two he became president of the United States from 1953-1961.

Another Allied Commander was General Omar Bradley (1895-1981). He was in charge of the American troops at D-Day. After his forces liberated Paris, he was promoted to Commander of the Twelfth Army, which had over 4 million men. He defeated the German forces in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Czechoslovakia. After WW2, he was head of the Veterans Administration from 1945- 1947, Army Chief of Staff (1948-1949) and the Joint Chief of Staff (1949-1953). In 1950 he promoted to a 5-Star General; the highest rank in the U.S. Army. He retired in 1953.

Bernard Law Montgomery was in charge of the British and Canadian forces at D-Day. He was born in 1887 in London, England. In 1942 Winston Churchill appointed him Commander of the British 8th Army. Montgomery, also, successfully captured Sicily (a island off of Italy). After Sicily, he pushed back Erwin Rommel in Egypt. Rommel was one of the great German Generals who fought in Egypt and other various places. Also, Rommel was later in charge of the German defenses of the French Sector of the Atlantic Wall. The Atlantic Wall was a line of defense that stretched all across Western Europe at it's coastline. Several months after D-Day, Montgomery was put in charge of all the British, Canadian and American troops in the Northern sector of his command. Montgomery died in 1976. He was one of the great Generals of WW2.

The Nazi's had many men commanding defenses that would involve D-Day, but their leader was easily one of the most loathsome and racist person ever to walk on the Earth. His name is Adolph Hitler. He was born in Braunau, Austria in 1889 and was the cause of millions of deaths worldwide due to the war he started, and the genocide of the Jews and gypsies. Hitler advocated a philosophy that a pure Arian race would take over the world. He started the Second World War in 1939 when he invaded Poland. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, Adolph Hitler also declared war on America a few days later. He was the Chancellor ( a dictator) of Germany from 1933 - 1945. He died in April 20, 1945 in Berlin, where he committed suicide by taking poison.

There were two Generals who were in charge of the Atlantic Wall. General Runsdet (1878 - 1953) was one of them, and he commanded all the Nazi forces in Western Europe. He also contributed to the invasion of Poland and France. The other General was Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, also known as the "Desert Fox" because of his campaigns with his Panzer (tanks) divisions in North Africa. After North Africa, Rommel was assigned to defenses in the Atlantic Wall, where he commanded Army Group B. He later took part in the assassination of Hitler, which failed. He committed suicide to save his family.

Defense

Defense along the Atlantic Wall was necessary for the Nazi's, but it obviously got in the way of the Allies. First, I must explain what exactly the Atlantic Wall is. It was not necessarily a wall, but a line of defense that stretched all along the coast of Western Europe. These defenses ranged from mines, hedgehogs, (A kind of metal jack used to rip out the bottoms of boats) to machine gun nests. There were also several huge guns strategically placed so the guns could bombard any beach. One of the more famous guns was Point Du Hoe (or Hoc). That was the sight that the 116th Ranger Battalion had to capture. Other defenses that Field Marshall (what Germans called Generals) Rommel made was dummy mine fields, dummy machine gun nests and dummy artillery so that Allied bombers would bomb the dummies and not the real thing.

A major mistake the Field Marshall Runsdet made with defense was not bringing his three Panzer divisions to the French coast. Field Marshall Rommel had pushed him to do this for a while, but Field Marshall Runsdet refused. Field Marshall Runsdet believed that he should let the Allies come in closer to Paris before he destroyed them with his divisions. This tactic of course, proved to be a mistake because the Allies could get tanks of there own and destroy the Panzers, where at D-Day there were almost no tanks. Could Field Marshall Runsdet have stopped the Allies at D-Day if he had sent up his Panzer divisions? We will never know.

Weapons

The Allies needed armored support and heavy artillery, so they made an invention, a Sherman Tank that could float. The Sherman Tanks had collapsible canvas and rubber sides filled with air so they could float. They moved slowly in the water. The weather also proved to be more powerful than the tanks. There was choppy seas and wind. Most of the tanks sunk in the water before they got ashore. If tanks got ashore they there would have been less casualties.

Before the Allies had invaded Normandy and waded ashore, 1,000 bombers of the British Royal Air force and 1,365 bombers of the American 8th Air force were to pummel Normandy with 9,000 tons of bombs. However, misty and cloudy skies made it hard for the pilot to see where the bombs were dropping. As a result, the bombs missed their targets and blew up Normandy's green fields, terrifying the cows.

Soldiers used light machine guns, flame throwers, light mortars (a small artillery fighting piece) and the standard weapon back then, the Garand M-1. The M-1 was 9.5 pounds and 43.22 inches. Soldiers used flame throwers during D-Day to destroy German machine-gun emplacements by spurting the jelly - like fire into them burning everything inside. The mortars were also used to attack German machine gun nests and other things like groups of soldiers. Weapons were and are one of the most vital and necessary tools in D-Day.

Terrain

Each of the five beaches had a terrain that made the fighting difficult easy or difficult and bloody. Omaha's terrain is an example. Omaha, an American landing site, was backed up by a one hundred-foot bluff. Soldiers had to go upwards to destroy German defenses. Juno, another beach for the Canadians, had a bluff twice as high as the one in Omaha. As a result, Omaha and Juno were the most bloodiest beaches during D-Day. Sword and Gold, the British beaches had a roughly flat surface. These beaches (Gold and Juno) terrain were also one of the reasons that the beaches were so successful, because they didn't have to climb up to destroy the enemy, which made their job easier.

Navy

They Navy contributed greatly to the Allies by sending various amounts of destroyers, landing craft, amphibious trucks and many other types of ships. These amphibious trucks were called Ducks. They were the fusion of a boat and a truck. During D-Day Ducks carried artillery. But the choppy weather and rough seas sunk most of the Ducks and artillery before they got ashore. Ducks were proved to be not helpful during rough weather. It is clear that ducks were only useful during calm weather.

Of the 6,000 ships the Navy provided, 700 of them were used as floating artillery. The biggest of these ships, like the destroyers the Arkansas and the Texas, could fire shells as far as seventeen miles! The ships ranged from giant destroyers to little rocket launching ships, not much bigger than L.C.V.P.s (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel). There were so many ships that they literally rained the German defense with shells. The amazing thing is that a surprising amount of Germans survived the largest bombardment in history.

The landing craft that carried the soldiers to to the beaches of France were called L.C.V.P.s. They were the smallest of all the landing craft and could hold thirty - two men. They were built to to go right into shallow water. Their square bows could be lowered like a drawbridge and men could run out. Conditions inside the L.C.V.P.s were horrible. There were no seats and everybody was cramped and seasick. The deck was slick with vomit. L.C.V.P.s were uncomfortable but very useful during D-Day.

Soldiers

Soldiers were the backbone of the entire attack at D-Day. This may come as a surprise to some people, but there were dozens of types of soldiers. Each of them filled with a unique function and each have their characteristics. Like a flamethrower carried a flamethrower, demolitioners carried explosives and wires, etc. Every single soldier showed undaunted courage and bravery. Being a soldier is not easy, but neither is fighting a war.

The standard L.C.V.P. carried carried many types of soldiers to D-Day. Of the thirty - two men, there was one junior officer and five riflemen with M-1's. Each had 96 bullets, five hand grenades and four smoke grenades. Next came another four men with rifles, but they were a special wire cutting team used to cut barbed wire. The next section came two Browning Automatic teams with two people to a team. They had a gun called a bar that shot rapid fire. Each had nine hundred rounds of ammunition. After that, came two men with bazookas. They were followed by a four man light mortar team and a flamethrower team made up of two men who used a device that spurted a slightly jellied gasoline through the air. finally, there was a five - man demolition team. They were supposed to stick dynamite (T.N.T.) onto concrete walls, gun emplacements or any stronghold. There were many types of soldiers that contributed to D-Day, each in their own unique way.

To get behind enemy lines during D-Day, paratroopers used Hara Gliders and bomber - like planes. The first paratroopers were called pathfinders. Their job was to guide the other paratroopers to the correct position. However, because it was night and it was hard to see, most of the pathfinders themselves were dropped in the wrong position. The rest of the paratroopers were also dropped in the wrong area. The British paratroopers job was capturing bridges which would prove vital for the Allies. Paratroopers had a tough time in D-Day.

The Rangers of the 116th Ranger Battalion, 29th infantry division had to capture a difficult battery position at Point Du Hoe (Hoc). There were about 6 guns or more. The guns were on top of a steep, rocky cliff. The Rangers had to climb up the cliff to capture the German guns. The Rangers used grappling hooks to climb up the cliff. The Germans simply cut the ropes or shot down the Rangers. Finally, though, the Rangers managed to kill the Germans and climb up the cliff. When they were on top, they did not find guns, but telephone poles. The Germans had moved the guns to a safer position. The Rangers eventually destroyed the guns with heat grenades.

Sites

The sites of D-Day each have their own stories and casualties. Each was successful and helped bring a closer end to World War Two. The five beaches of D-Day were Omaha U.S.), Utah (U.S.), Juno (Canada), Sword (UK) and Gold (UK). Omaha and Juno were easily the bloodiest because so many people died. The other three beaches were pretty easy to capture compared to Omaha and Utah because there were so little casualties compared to Omaha and Utah. The beaches of D-Day all had different levels of difficulty. Omaha was the zone for the 1st and 29th infantry divisions. It was so bloody they nicknamed it Bloody Omaha. Originally, there were poorly trained troops stationed there, but by coincidence two well trained divisions were stationed there for training. That extra man power contributed greatly to the enormous loss on Omaha, which was about 2,000 lives. Another reason was probably because Omaha was backed by one hundred-foot bluffs.

Normandy was the general area that the Allied commanders picked for D-Day. It was the sight of all five beaches. It was chosen by Eisenhower because it was close enough for air support, and also close enough so that unloading operations could take place. Eisenhower knew that the Germans thought they would attack farther up north at Calais, the narrowest part between France and England. The Allies emphasized this idea to fool the Germans even more. The Allies thought that the widest area would strategically be the best. As it turned out, Normandy was going to be the sight of the greatest amphibious assault in the history of the world.

Juno, the Canadian beach, was the next bloodiest beach, mainly because tricky tides and currents forced boats off course and put them thirty minutes behind schedule. So when they arrived on the beach the obstacles and mines were covered, and that it why many of the casualties were when mines hit the boats and blew them up. Another problem was the defense. They faced eleven heavy batteries (huge guns), nine medium batteries, as well machine gun nests, pill boxes, and other concrete fortifications. Their objectives was to capture the Caen - Bayeux road. The Canadian 3rd, despite these many challenges, overcame them and drove 14,000 soldiers into France.

Utah was the landing zone for the 4th division. Smoke confused the Allies and made them land in the wrong place. If they had landed in the right place, they would have faced the same slaughter that they faced at Omaha. Another reason it was so easy was because the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions were distracting most of the German defenders. The 4th division lost only two hundred men. The flat terrain also contributed to this victory. Utah was a easy beach.

The British beaches were Sword and Gold. They were to be captured by the 3rd and 50th infantry division. The beaches were both a success. At Gold, machine gun fire sprayed the beaches, causing many casualties. The British destroyer, the H.M.S. Ajax, silenced a battery with it's gun, but that was not enough. Machine gun fire still sprayed the beach with bullets because the warships were missing there targets. Finally, the soldiers smashed through the Atlantic Wall and drove inland. Sword beach was different. It was as easy to capture as Utah, because defenses were weak and scattered. They drove 5 miles inland. All the beaches had their own difficulties and barriers, but the Allies were successful at capturing them.

Heroes

Operation Overload might not have been won if it was not for the heroes of D-Day. The first wave of attackers at Omaha were pinned down at the edge of the beach. There was not much difference for the second wave. They to were at the edge of the bluff. Out of range from the machine guns. Then, a few brave men stood up and fought back. There were countless heroes whose deeds were never recorded, but their actions helped to end the war.

Private Ingram E. Lambert was one of the heroes who could not be stopped. His L.C.V.P. and a couple other L.C.V.P.s landed way off-course. They faced heavy machine gun fire as soon as the ramps were let down. They scrambled across the beach for cover. No one did anything for about fifteen-twenty minutes. Finally, Lambert got a bangalore torpedo, a highly explosive charge with a long pipe designed to blow a path through barbed wire and minefields. When Lambert used the bangalore, it did not blow up and Lambert never had a chance to fix it because machine gun bullets killed him at that precise moment. He might not have succeeded in his mission, but his actions inspired his platoon leader to finish the job, and Lamberts Company, (C Company), was on the move. Lambert did a great act of bravery.

1st Lieutenant William D. Moody was another hero that helped the Allied war effort during D-Day. He was a officer at C company of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, the outfit at Point Du Hoe/Hoc. His company's job was to destroy guns at a place called Pointe de la Percee. The first casualties was when Moody lost twelve men from an anti - tank gun. By the time they got cover at the cliffs, only twenty-four of the sixty-four men were alive. Moody had to do something, so he and two other men followed the cliff for about three hundred yards away from their positions. He found a path where they could secretly attack the Germans. The attack was successful and his company was the first on high ground.

Of the many men who helped obtain victory in Omaha, one of them was Captain Joseph T. Dawson. He commanded Company G of the 16th regiment. Dawson lost about 1/4 of his men getting to the cliff. They still advanced. Dawson and some of his men went through a minefield. While Company G was catching up, Dawson and another man went ahead and discovered a machine gun nest. Dawson threw a grenade and destroyed it. Company G became the most powerful and deepest advance in Omaha. All these heroes completed acts of bravery in order to win the war and save their comrades, and out of pure courage. These soldiers were truly heroes.

Paratroopers

The American and British paratroopers both fought bravely. Although the American paratroopers were not as successful as the British paratroopers, they were still successful. The British Airborne was to attack the eastern flank of the British and Canadian beaches. They had to capture some difficult German positions. They also had to capture two bridges and a canal intact. Then they had to destroy five bridges five miles from the Orne River. Finally, they had to capture a Nazi coastal battery at the city of Merville. The American 82nd and 101st had to secure the roads and towns there so the invading Allied force could come without any trouble. The 101st landed way off their targets into man - made swamps seven feet deep. Although the 101st was scattered they eventually finished their objectives in small groups. Paratroopers overcame many hardships but prevailed.

Field Marshall Erwin Rommel was born in Heiden, Germany on November 15th, 1891. He fought in WW1 and in the May of 1917 earned the Pour le Merte, a very high ranking metal. During Hitler's reign, Hitler promoted him to a Major General and his bodyguard during the Polish Campaign. Later, in 1939, Rommel was put in charge of the 7th Panzer division. With that division, he helped capture France and his division earned the title, ghost or phantom division because no one knew where they were. Later, he was put in command of the Afrika Corps, and was placed in Africa. he was later pushed back by Montgomery in Africa. After Africa, he was put in charge of Army Group B, which defended Normandy. Following D-Day, he saw the hopelessness in WW2 and participated in the plot to assassinate Hitler. Then he had to commit suicide to protect his family on October 14, 1944. He was buried with full military honors.

Many people have studied D-Day. Among the people who study D-Day is the military historian. A military historian needs to do a lot of research. he also needs to do a hypothesis about how the Allies won the war and what the Germans might have done to win the war, and theories like that. another person whose job might be related to D-Day is a general. To be a general one must start at the bottom of the military and rank up, which requires a lot of training, like staying in shape, target practice and how to handle certain situations. A candidate for a general must be smart, and know how to handle large groups of men and defeat the enemy. Being a general requires a lot of training, mentally and physically.

Miscellaneous Facts
* Winston Churchill was American

* some people say that D-Day was not to defeat the Germans but the Russians because they saw the fore coming of the Cold War

*Juno was divided into two sectors, Mike and Nam

* The Canadians at Juno were given bicycles, which were quickly discarded

* paratroopers of the 101st painted and shaved themselves to look like Native Americans

 

Doing this project was a lot of fun. It was hard work and was not easy. I enjoyed learning all about D-Day. Finding someone to interview was hard and doing it was somewhat embarrassing. Doing this project was good for me because it swelled my brain with more facts. I.S.P. was also good for me because my mom and I got closer together when she edited my project. I could have decorated my project a little more if I had time. I.S.P. was a great learning experience for me.

 

Glossary

Armored Division - a division of tanks and armored vehicles, not as big as a infantry division

Atlantic Wall - a series of defenses such as guns, soldiers, mines and batteries that defended the western coastline of Europe

Battery - a huge gun

Division - a group of about 20,000 men

Field Marshall - a German rank equal to a high ranking general

Glider - Aircraft that have no propellers, they carried paratroopers to D-Day

H-Hour - the hour that the Allies would attack Normandy

Infantry - soldiers

Motor shell - a tubular device that explodes, when it does, it erupts into thousands of pieces that zip around with the force of bullets

Mulberry - docks that the Allies brought with them, they are made from sunken ships and concrete

Operation Overload - the code word for D-Day

rank - a system that determines what rank you are, you can be promoted to a higher rank and can lose a rank

 

Bibliography

Bliven, Bruce. (1956). The Story of D-Day. New York.

DK. (2004). WW2 Battles and Leaders. New York.

Drey, Ronald. (2004). Remember D-Day. Washington D.C.

Meyerhoff, Peter. Normandy. [Online] Available http://search.eb.com/Normandy/week1/buildup.html.

Rimlett, John. (1994). Rommel in his Own Words. Mechanicsburg.

Snyder, Louis. D-Day. [Online] Available http://www.gogroilerencyclopedia.

Stalin, Conrad. (1977). The Story of D-Day. Unknown.

Unknown. Normandy. [Online] Available http://galnet.galegroup.com/sewlet/SRC?txba=Normandy.

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