World War II Daily: DDay to VEDay

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jabcmb

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

For those that have shown interest in my daily WWII updates - as far back as I can remember I've loved reading and studying WWII, there are a variety of reasons why but they aren't really important. I could spend hours daily for the rest of my life and only discover a small percentage of the stories of stunning valor, horrific loss, and boundless will to win...

I've spent a lot of time over the years reading and studying the Pacific Theater as well as the battles in southern Europe and the Russian push from the east. The stories are compelling across the board, but for the last decade or so D-Day and the Battle of Normandy have been what I have been most passionate about.

When I started these 'Normandy Dailies' (as I refer to them), I had no clear goal or end in mind, though the official military date of the ending of the Battle of Normandy is September 1, 1944. I knew I would continue to that point, which we're quickly approaching, after which I was (and remain) unsure as to what I would do.

The options, as I see them, are:
1- Stop the updates. The Battle of Normandy is over, the Allies have handed the Germans a stunning and decided loss across the board.
2- Continue the updates, focusing on the western front of the attack on the Germans (this one could be fun, there's a tremendous amount of interesting things that happen over the next few months that lead us to VE Day on May 8th).
3- Spread the daily coverage to include the all fronts in the European Theater. This is likely far too audacious in reality - I'm not sure I have the time it would take to do this one.

I'd love to hear feedback as to whether this should continue or not. Please let me know what you think.
I would like to see the updates continue. They have been very informative as well as a great reminder of what the Allies accomplished 70 years ago. The effort you have put into this is much appreciated.
 

crimsonaudio

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 28, 1944: Northeast of Caen, the soldiers of Colonel Piron’s Belgium brigade liberate the villages still in the hands of the German and move into the region of Cauverville-en-Roumois. To the north and south of Paris, German forces continue to retreat across the Seine.

During the Battle of Normandy, Allied forces destroyed over forty German divisions. While no exact figures are available, it’s generally estimated that the German’s lost roughly 450,000 men (240,000 killed or wounded). The Allied victory came at a cost of 209,672 casualties among the ground forces (36,976 killed and 19,221 missing). The Allied air forces lost 16,714 airmen (killed or missing) in connection with Operation Overlord. The final battle of Operation Overlord, the Liberation of Paris, followed on 25 August and Overlord ends on 30 August, with the retreat of the last German unit across the Seine. General Eisenhower later recorded: “The battlefield at Falaise was unquestionably one of the greatest "killing fields" of any of the war areas. Forty-eight hours after the closing of the gap I was conducted through it on foot, to encounter scenes that could be described only by Dante. It was literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh.”

Elements of US 1st Army cross the Marne River at Meaux, while Patton’s 3rd Army is approaching Reims - nearly 90 miles east of Paris. To the west of Paris, the British 21st Army Group also continues its advance.

In southern France, US , British, and Canadian forces (along with the Free French forces) have spent the last two weeks in Operation Dragoon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dragoon), the second-largest amphibious landing in the war. The German garrisons in Toulon and Marseilles surrender. In the Rhone valley, some elements of the German 19th Army have been cut off to the south of Montelimar by forces of the US 7th Army. Included is the German 11th Panzer Division, which launches an attack northward and succeeds in breaking through the line despite incurring heavy losses from Allied artillery and ground attack aircraft.

Pictured: French civilians look over the wrecked birthplace of the French painter, Jean-Francois Millet, in Gruchy, which was one of the most heavily fortified regions on the Normandy coast; British troops crossing the Seine at Vernon - due to the enormous success of Overlord, many troops had to move on foot, as transport vehicles were in dire need of repair; Map showing the progress of Operation Dragoon





 

crimsonaudio

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 29, 1944: In northern France, British forces attack Amiens while Canadian troops capture Rouen. The British 21st Army Group and US 1st Army Group continue to advance. The US VII Corps (part of US 1st Army) captures Soissons and crosses the Aisne River. Elements of US 3rd Army take Reims and Chalons-sur-Marie.

After a week-long battle, US ‘Taskforce Butler’ (consisting of the bulk of the Allied tanks, tank destroyers and mechanized infantry) capture Montélimar in southern France. The Germans suffer 2,100 battle casualties plus 8,000 POWs, while the Americans have 1,575 casualties.

The Soviet government, along with the Polish government recognized by the USSR, make a joint announcement that they have discovered evidence that the Germans have murdered an estimated 1,500,000 people just outside of Lubin, Poland, at the former Majdanek concentration camp.

Pictured: A French mob shaves the head of a French girl as punishment for having personal relations with a German soldier, Montélimar, France; troops from 23rd Infantry Regiment, US Army 2nd Infantry Division advancing near Brest, France



 

Tidewater

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

Pictured: A French mob shaves the head of a French girl as punishment for having personal relations with a German soldier, Montélimar, France
Being the ex-girlfriend of soldier from an invading army has got to be one of the world's worst occupations. (Ex-dictator is probably the worst).
There was quite the stir in France a few years ago when a demographer found that, while 2 million French soldiers were in German POW camps 1940-1945, birth rates among French women went up during the German occupation of France.
Oops.
 

crimsonaudio

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 30, 1944: The French Provisional Government of General de Gaulle is established in liberated Paris. The US 12th Army Group and the British 21st Army Group continue to advance. The British 30th Corps (part of British 2nd Army) captures Beauvais.

The British 8th Army attacks on the German-held Gothic Line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Line) in Italy under the guidance of Allied commander General Sir Harold Alexander (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Alexander,_1st_Earl_Alexander_of_Tunis). The British 5th Corps spearheads the attack with support from elements of the Canadian 1st Corps. The Polish 2nd Corps is engaged on the coast at Pesaro.

In the east, the Red Army occupies the Ploesti oilfields in Romania, cutting off more than half of Germany's oil supplies, and soviet troops enter Bucharest.

Slowly but surely the Allies are collapsing the pocket surrounding Germany.

Pictured: Sexton 25-pound self-propelled howitzer from the UK 11th Armored Division crosses the Seine River in France on a Bailey bridge, August 30, 1944; an 8-inch US Army field gun in action during the bombardment of Brest, France



 

Tidewater

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

That is a pretty low angle for an 8" cannon. Must be looking at what they're shooting at.

Brest was the only Breton port taken before the end of the war. The luckiest German soldiers were the one garrisoning Lorient and Saint Nazaire. They got to sit out the rest of the war.
 

Tidewater

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Man, I dunno - that entire city was leveled. And that sub bunker!
Yeah, but the Wehrmacht garrisons were outside of town on the defensive perimeter. Once the Allies decided not to waste troops taking the town, they also decided clobber the town from the air.

I will modify the statement. The really lucky Germans were the 150,000 dudes garrisoning Norway. Those guys were getting over.
 
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bama579

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

For those that have shown interest in my daily WWII updates - as far back as I can remember I've loved reading and studying WWII, there are a variety of reasons why but they aren't really important. I could spend hours daily for the rest of my life and only discover a small percentage of the stories of stunning valor, horrific loss, and boundless will to win...

I've spent a lot of time over the years reading and studying the Pacific Theater as well as the battles in southern Europe and the Russian push from the east. The stories are compelling across the board, but for the last decade or so D-Day and the Battle of Normandy have been what I have been most passionate about.

When I started these 'Normandy Dailies' (as I refer to them), I had no clear goal or end in mind, though the official military date of the ending of the Battle of Normandy is September 1, 1944. I knew I would continue to that point, which we're quickly approaching, after which I was (and remain) unsure as to what I would do.

The options, as I see them, are:
1- Stop the updates. The Battle of Normandy is over, the Allies have handed the Germans a stunning and decided loss across the board.
2- Continue the updates, focusing on the western front of the attack on the Germans (this one could be fun, there's a tremendous amount of interesting things that happen over the next few months that lead us to VE Day on May 8th).
3- Spread the daily coverage to include the all fronts in the European Theater. This is likely far too audacious in reality - I'm not sure I have the time it would take to do this one.

I'd love to hear feedback as to whether this should continue or not. Please let me know what you think.
Regret finding this so late, but HUGE thanks for what you have done.

Doing this must take loads of time. so understand if you want to bow out. That said, if you want to pick subjects of interest and continue - or continue in any manner - I'm probably not alone in hoping for for more.
 

Tidewater

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

Thanks for the info on Operation Dragoon. That one was comparatively a giant jailbreak.
Yeah, the Germans had stripped a lot of the units that had been stationed in southern France. Except, as CA mentioned, the 11th Panzer Division. The rest were third-rate and coastal divisions.
 

4Q Basket Case

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

Anzio was January 1944. Normandy June '44. Dragoon August '44. They weren't exactly simultaneous, but I agree Anzio was a waste of limited resources.
To conduct an amphibious landing, some resources are crtitically important. These include LCIs' landing craft infantry and tank (LCIs and LCTs), and especially Landing Ships, tank (LSTs). While the Brits at Arromanches used their Mulberry artificial harbor, even after the big storm, the Americans just resorted to the standard American technique of beaching the LSTs at high tide, and unloading the ship until the next high tide refloated the beached ship. In other words, the Americans were using their LSTs for logistics well after the fighting had swept away from the beaches. As I posted earlier, Cherbourg did not become operational until the end of July, so maybe there is my answer. It took that long to shift the LSTs, etc. to the Med for Op DRAGOON.
As for the Italian front, after Sicily from the German perspective, Italy was all flank and little front. After Salerno, Op SLAPSTICK (Taranto) and Op BAYTOWN (the "Toe of Italy" at Reggio) got the Italians to quit the Axis (mid-September 1943), I would have gone pretty passive in Italy and concentrated scarce resources on other more decisive theaters. Blood and ammunition expended in Italy after September 1943 was just a waste.
If I was Smiling Al Kesselring, I would have hoped and prayed that the Allies would have attacked Italy exactly as they did. Start at the Toe and working their way up the Boot, defensive line after defensive line.
The Allies took Corsica in September 1943 and that put Livorno, La Spezia and even Toulon and Marseilles within Allied fighter range. In January 1944, the entire German force in the former Vichy territory was six coastal divisions, three infantry divisions and two Panzer Divisions (9th Panzer and 2nd SS Panzer). Marseilles and Toulon were pretty big ports and once they were seized and the inevitable German damage to the port facilities repaired, they could have supported Allied logistics very well. Rather than executing landings at Anzio, I believe a landing in the south of France in January 1944 could have taken Marseilles & Toulon and gotten those ports ready for logistical support by the time of the breakout from Normandy.
Yup - that's why earlier in the thread when you mentioned Falaise I *shuddered*. It was a massacre.
For those that have shown interest in my daily WWII updates - as far back as I can remember I've loved reading and studying WWII, there are a variety of reasons why but they aren't really important. I could spend hours daily for the rest of my life and only discover a small percentage of the stories of stunning valor, horrific loss, and boundless will to win...

I've spent a lot of time over the years reading and studying the Pacific Theater as well as the battles in southern Europe and the Russian push from the east. The stories are compelling across the board, but for the last decade or so D-Day and the Battle of Normandy have been what I have been most passionate about.

When I started these 'Normandy Dailies' (as I refer to them), I had no clear goal or end in mind, though the official military date of the ending of the Battle of Normandy is September 1, 1944. I knew I would continue to that point, which we're quickly approaching, after which I was (and remain) unsure as to what I would do.

The options, as I see them, are:
1- Stop the updates. The Battle of Normandy is over, the Allies have handed the Germans a stunning and decided loss across the board.
2- Continue the updates, focusing on the western front of the attack on the Germans (this one could be fun, there's a tremendous amount of interesting things that happen over the next few months that lead us to VE Day on May 8th).
3- Spread the daily coverage to include the all fronts in the European Theater. This is likely far too audacious in reality - I'm not sure I have the time it would take to do this one.

I'd love to hear feedback as to whether this should continue or not. Please let me know what you think.
I think these are fascinating and most informative.

I count myself relatively well-informed on the European Theater of WWII, but I'm nowhere near in your league, and learn something from every one of your updates.

It has to be a lot of work, but if you're up for it, I'd love to see more. I actually look forward to each new one.

Thanks for all the work. Maybe, if it's getting to be too much, you could switch to every few days or weekly. Regardless of what you decide, I'm most grateful for what you have done.
 

crimsonaudio

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 31, 1944: The Normandy landings and subsequent build up of the Allied armies had been remarkably successful - as of today, the rosters of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces showed that a cumulative total of 2,052,297 men and 438,471 vehicles had landed in the American and British zones. The last German troops west of the Seine River are finally pushed back this day, but the area between the Seine and the Loire Rivers - designated in the Overlord plan as the "Initial Lodgment Area" - had essentially been secured on 25 August, ten days ahead of the Overlord timetable. The speedy push continues today, as the British 11th Armored Division captures Amiens and the US Third Army reaches the Meuse River.

German armies have lost large numbers of troops in Normandy and the subsequent pursuit. To counteract this, about 20,000 Luftwaffe personnel are reallocated to the Army, invalided troops are redrafted into the front line and Volkssturm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkssturm) units are formed using barely trained civilians.

British manpower resources are limited after five years of war and through worldwide commitments - replacements were no longer adequate to cover losses and some formations are disbanded to maintain the strength of others. The Canadians are also short of manpower, due to a reluctance to require conscripts to serve outside Canada or Canadian waters (public backlash following Canadian conscription in WWI meant the government treaded carefully here).

American losses now call on replacements from the US - they are often inexperienced and unused to the harsh conditions of the latter part of the campaign. There are also complaints about the poor quality of troops released into the infantry from less-stressed parts of the US Army.

In the east of Italy, the British 8th Army along with the Canadians break through the formidably defended German Gothic Line on Italy’s Adriatic coast. To the west, the US IV Corps (part of US 5th Army) advances after German forces conduct withdrawals from some positions along the Arno River.

Pictured: Members of the 3rd Battalion, 358th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division, attempt to conceal a 57mm anti-tank gun in an over-sized haystack in the French countryside; situation map as of August 31, 1944



 

TIDE-HSV

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

Yeah, but the Wehrmacht garrisons were outside of town on the defensive perimeter. Once the Allies decided not to waste troops taking the town, they also decided clobber the town from the air.

I will modify the statement. The really lucky Germans were the 150,000 dudes garrisoning Norway. Those guys were getting over.
A large portion of those troops were not native Germans. In fact a lot were Romanians, who grew up in German-speaking families and considered themselves German. They were called "Volksdeutsch." I don't know whether it's in the spirit of "Let bygones be bygones," or it's the almighty tourist Euros the Germans bring, but there's been a huge sea change in the public attitude of Norwegians towards Germans. They've even moved the monument to the Norwegian resistance to such an obscure place that it's hard to find it. (I found it and and had Liz take a shot of me in front of it.) My two visits there were separated between the mid-70s. and the late 2000s. I stayed in one little village on the Hardangerfjord both times - Ulvik (Wolf Creek). That little town was garrisoned with Romanian Volksdeutsch. They burned every building in the village except the church when they "withdrew." On my first visit, the history of that was plastered everywhere, especially the church. When I returned a few years ago, I couldn't find it anywhere. The funny thing is that they still print everything in English and Norsk, including menus and street signs, so, on each visit, I've had to act as ad hoc translator for German tourists. I only needed my Norwegian a few times...IMG_0228.jpg
 

Tidewater

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

A large portion of those troops were not native Germans. In fact a lot were Romanians, who grew up in German-speaking families and considered themselves German. They were called "Volksdeutsch." I don't know whether it's in the spirit of "Let bygones be bygones," or it's the almighty tourist Euros the Germans bring, but there's been a huge sea change in the public attitude of Norwegians towards Germans. They've even moved the monument to the Norwegian resistance to such an obscure place that it's hard to find it. (I found it and and had Liz take a shot of me in front of it.)
Now that's interesting. At Stavanger the German defensive works are everywhere and still standing.
 
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Tidewater

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

Perret said:
“Every division in the pursuit was forced to send its own trucks back to Normandy to haul some of it supplies. Later COM Z (Army-speak for the “Communications Zone, or rear area jamokes) brazenly claimed it had delivered these supplies to them. Lee (Deputy Commander US Forces and the head Log guy) appeared to believe that combat units were in France to serve him and not the other way around. He demanded thirteen infantry battalions – the rifle strength of one and a half division – the guard rear-area installation form black market thieves. Ike gave him five battalions, over the vehement protests from Bradley.”
I cannot recommend Perret highly enough. It shows the US Army at its best.

As for the infantry shortage:

Intense combat and heavy losses in 1943 meant that in 1944 many divisions still in the United States were stripped of trained men to build up the replacement pool. Some divisions were stripped of available manpower a second time later in 1944. This in turn affected the training cycle of the divisions, causing some to deploy late and requiring most to have some problems with their initial combat deployment. Four armor, one airborne, and seventeen infantry divisions (nearly one-quarter of the total formed) were eventually subject to large scale stripping of men (nearly all of the other divisions in training also had smaller numbers of personnel stripped out prior to deployment). Fourteen of the seventeen infantry divisions were stripped twice. The aggregate affect was tremendous. The 69th Infantry Division lost 1,336 officers and 22,235 men, nearly enough personnel to form two divisions. (I should point out that "lost" in this sense means "had to give up as replacements to other units.")

Ernie Pyle said:
I love the infantry because they are the underdogs. They are the mud-rain-frost-and-wind boys. They have no comforts, and they even learn to live without the necessities. And in the end they are the guys that wars can't be won without.
 
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