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Turning Point of WWII

D-Day is the name given to


the day of the Allied
invasion of France during
WWII. It began on June 6,
1944, and was the greatest
land-and-sea operation in
history.

Scene from the movie Saving Private


Ryan

In 1940, France was occupied by The


Nazis.
In November 1942, the Nazis took
over the rest of France. By then, they
controlled much of Europe between
the Spanish and Russian borders
Great Britain stood alone.

Commanded by Dwight D.
Eisenhower, the Allied forces
decided to invade Normandy,
since their only other option,
Pas De Calais, was highly
secured.
Just after midnight on June 6th,
23,500 American and British
paratroopers landed on the
behind German lines. 1,200
transport planes and 700
gliders were used.

Eisenhower visiting with members of the


101st Airborne before they parachuted
into France on D-Day.

Soldiers in mess line in one of the


marshaling camps in southern
England

Note the barbed wire in the foreground.

Before the Beach Invasion


Needed to rid the area of Nazi
defenses
VERY Early June 6, 1944
Airplanes, battleships bombarded the
Nazi defenses
Paratroopers dropped behind German
lines night before to seize critical roads
and bridges for the push inland

The Invasion
5 major beaches in
Normandy
Utah and
Omaha US
Gold and Sword
British
Juno Canadian
5,300 ships and
11,000 planes had
crossed the English
Channel and
landed on the
beaches of
Normandy

The Time Has Come


On the evening of
June 5th
paratroopers
dropped in to
secure bridges for
the allied advance
Heavy bombers
dropped their
payloads on what
was supposed to
be the beach
defences
In the early
morning the
largest armada of
ships left Britain
for the French
coast

A little after daybreak, 4,000


transports, 800 warships, and an
unknown number of smaller boats
arrived at the beaches of Normandy
with the US and British armies.
H-Hour..June 6th,
1944

Omaha consisted of 8
concrete bunkers, 35
pillboxes, 4 artillery
batteries, 18 anti-tank
guns, 35 rocket launching
sites, no less than 85
machine gun nests, and
countless Germans with
small arms.

Obstacles found on
Omaha Beach

Another obstacle was the Atlantic


Wall. It was built along the western
coast of Europe to guard against an
allied invasion.

The Germans thought the attacks


would be on Calais. Once they
realized Normandy was the true
site of invasion, it was too late.
The allied forces had already
started to establish a firm
control of France.

After Securing Normandy


Allied losses had been high:

U.S. AIRBORNE - 2,499


U.S. / UTAH - 197
U.S. / OMAHA - 2,000
U.K. / GOLD - 413
CAN. / JUNO - 1,204
U.K. / SWORD - 630
U.K. AIRBORNE - 1,500
TOTAL
-9,000 casualties, approx. 3,000
fatalities

Fighting fierce, but superior manpower and


equipment forced German troops off coast of
Normandy in a week
Allied forces went on to liberate Paris August
25, 1944
Force most of German troops out of Belgium

The Liberation of Northwest Europe


September 1944 the
British captured the
Belgian port of Antwerp
It was a key victory for the
allies because they
desperately required its
docking facilities to bring
in supplies.
The problem was that the
Germans occupied both
banks of the 70-kilometre
long Scheldt River estuary
linking Antwerp to the sea.
Realizing the value of Antwerp to the Allied supply line, the 2nd
Canadian Army under the command of Lieutenant-General Guy
Simonds was assigned to the task of securing the Scheldt
Estuary

Liberating The Scheldt


Estuary
The Battle of the Scheldt, was a series of military operations which

took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands from


October 2 to November 8, 1944
By September, 1944, it had become urgent for the Allies to clear both
banks of the Scheldt Estuary in order to open the port of Antwerp to
Allied shipping, thus easing logistical burdens in their supply lines
stretching hundreds of miles from Normandy.
The British captured Antwerp on September 4th, 1944 but the
Germans still controlled the Scheldt Estuary making the port useless

The Scheldt Cont


After five weeks of
difficult fighting, the First
Canadian Army with
support from other
countries was successful
in securing the Scheldt
Estuary
It took numerous
amphibious assaults,
crossing of canals, and
fighting over open
ground.
Both land and water were
mined, and the Germans
defended their retreating
line with artillery and
snipers.
The Allies finally cleared
the port areas on
November 8, but at a cost

The Battle of the Bulge


The Ardennes Offensive known to
the general public as the Battle of
the Bulge, started on December 16,
1944
Three powerful German armies
plunged into the semi-mountainous,
heavily forested Ardennes region of
eastern Belgium and northern
Luxembourg.
Their goal was to reach the sea, trap
four allied armies, and impel a
negotiated peace on the Western
front.

The Battle of the Bulge


Thinking the Ardennes
was the least likely spot
for a German offensive
the line was thin with
American manpower
concentrated north and
south of the Ardennes.
Even though the German
Offensive achieved total
surprise, the American
troops did not give ground
without a fight
Within three days the
Americans, assisted by
the arrival of powerful
reinforcements insured
that the Germans would
not achieve their goal.

Battle of the Bulge Outcome


The German losses in the
battle were critical
The last of the German
reserves were now gone
The Luftwaffe had been
broken
The German Army in the
West was being pushed
back.
Most importantly, the
Eastern Front was now
ripe for the taking and the
German Army was unable
to halt the Soviets
German forces were sent
reeling on two fronts and
never recovered.

The Final Days


In April 1945, the
battle is coming to a
close.
On the 30th April,
Hitler commits suicide
together with his
mistress Eva Braun
hours after they were
married.
Hitler gave strict
orders for his body to
be burned, so that his
enemies wouldn't do
what they had done to
Mussolini, who was
publicly displayed
hanging upside down.

The Soviets Arrive Berlin Falls


By 2 May, the
Reichstag, the old
German parliament
falls and Berlin
surrenders to Marshall
Zukhov, who receives
the honour of being
the conqueror of
Berlin.
The battle for Berlin
cost the Soviets over
70,000 dead. Many of
them died because of
the haste with which
the campaign was

VE-Day
The major Allied ground
offensive from the west
against German territory
began on 8 February
1945
In April, Canadian troops
liberated most of the
Netherlands
The Germans formally
surrendered on 8 May
1945, known as Victoryin-Europe, or V-E Day

Why Did the Allies Win?

Complete material superiority weapons etc.


More soldiers
Better Strategy
Technology
Morale
Material and financial Wealth

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