...1944
Normandy
Invasion, Operation 'Overlord'
JUNE 1944
ATLANTIC - JUNE 1944
4th - Off West
Africa, "U-505" was captured by the USS Guadalcanal and
her task group. Later in the month, tanker "U-490" was sunk in mid-Atlantic by the ships
and aircraft of the "Croatan" group and "U-360" in the South Atlantic by aircraft
from "Solomons". 15th - Submarine
"Satyr" on Arctic patrol torpedoed and sank "U-987" to the west of Narvik. 26th
- Destroyer "Bulldog" on patrol off the
northwest coast of Ireland sank "U-719".
Battle
of the Atlantic - U-boats
passing through the Bay of Biscay were the target for
aircraft covering the Normandy invasion, and also
continued to suffer badly at the hands of the aircraft of
the Northern Transit Area patrol. Throughout the month,
seven were sunk and one severely damaged by RAF, RCAF and
Norwegian aircraft. In the case of "U-1225" to the northwest of Bergen on the
24th, the attacking Canadian Canso (or Catalina) was
badly hit and crashed but not before sinking her. + Flt
Lt David Hornell RCAF, pilot of the Canso of No 162
Squadron, Coastal Command, was posthumously awarded the
Victoria Cross.
Monthly Loss Summary: 3 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 7,000 tons in the Atlantic from all
causes; 13 U-boats excluding those sunk in Bay of
Biscay
EUROPE - JUNE 1944
6th -
Normandy Invasion: Operation 'Overlord'
(map)
Following approval
of the outline plans for the Allied landings in
France at the August 1943 Quebec Conference,
detailed preparation was put in hand for putting
ashore three divisions on the Normandy coast
between the Rivers Vire and Orne. Supplies were
to be carried in initially through two 'Mulberry'
artificial harbours. When Eisenhower and
Montgomery arrived on the scene they insisted on
a five-division assault, including one on the
Cotentin Peninsula to speed up the capture of
Cherbourg. The extra shipping and landing craft
needed meant pushing the date from May to 5th
June. Unseasonably bad weather postponed the
actual landings to the 6th. After gaining
bridgeheads in Normandy, Eisenhower's aims were
to build up enough strength for a decisive battle
in the area, before breaking out to take the
Channel ports and reach the German border on a
broad front. Meanwhile, the right flank would
link up with Allied forces coming from southern
France. A further increase in strength would be
used to destroy the German forces west of the
Rhine before crossing this major barrier and
encircling the important Ruhr industrial centre.
The final advance through Germany could then
follow. Vital to all these steps were the opening
of enough ports to bring in the reinforcements
and vast amount of supplies needed.
Supreme
Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force - US Gen
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Deputy
Commander - Air Chief Marshall Sir
Arthur Tedder
|
Allied Naval
Expeditionary Force
Adm Sir B Ramsey
|
21st Army Group
Gen Sir B Montgomery
|
Allied Expeditionary Air
Force
Air Chief Marshall Sir T
Leigh-Mallory
|
Gen Montgomery remained in command
of ground forces until September 1944 when Gen
Eisenhower assumed direct control. For the
purposes of 'Overlord', RAF Bomber Command and
the Eighth US Air Force were placed under the
operational direction of the Supreme Commander to
add to the aircraft of the Allied Tactical Air
Forces. From his headquarters outside Portsmouth
on 1st June, Adm Ramsey took command of the
immense armada of ships collected together for
Operation 'Neptune', the naval part of
'Overlord'. |
Landing Areas: |
Normandy
coast on the SE edge of the Cotentin Peninsular
("Utah"),
and between Rivers Vire and Orne
("Omaha", "Gold",
"Juno", "Sword") |
|
21st
Army Group - Gen Montgomery
Five US, British, Canadian infantry divisions,
followed by one US infantry and one British
armoured division, total of 130,000 Allied troops
|
Forces landing and areas of
departure: |
US
Beaches
US First Army - US Gen
Bradley
"Utah"
Beach - US 7th Corps from Dartmouth area
"Omaha" Beach - US 5th
Corps from Portland area
"Omaha" Beach
follow-up: one US
infantry division from Plymouth area |
British
& Canadian Beaches
British Second Army - Gen
Dempsey
"Gold" Beach
- British 30th Corps from Southampton area
"Juno" Beach
- Canadian forces of British 1st Corps from
Portsmouth area
"Sword" Beach
- British 1st Corps from Newhaven area
follow-up: British
armoured division from Thames area |
Naval Task Forces and Commanders (RN refers to both Royal and Dominion
Navy vessels) |
Western
Rear-Adm A G Kirk USN |
Eastern
Rear-Adm Sir P Vian
|
Assault Phase |
Warships |
Warships |
Battleships
|
3 US |
3 RN |
Cruisers |
10 (5 RN, 3 US, 2 French) |
13 (12 RN,
1 Allied) |
Destroyers & escorts |
51 (11 RN, 36 US, 4 French) |
84 (74 RN, 3 French, 7 Allied) |
Other warships, incl. minesweepers
& coastal forces |
260 (135 RN, 124 US, 1 Allied) |
248 (217
RN, 30 US, 1 Allied) |
Total Warships |
324 (151 RN, 166 US, 6 French,
1 Allied) |
348 (306 RN, 30 US, 3 French,
9 Allied) |
Major Amphibious Forces |
Landing
& Ferry Vessels |
Landing
& Ferry Vessels |
LSIs, landing ships & craft |
644 (147 RN, 497 US) |
955 (893
RN, 62 US)
|
Ferry service vessels & landing
craft |
220 (RN & US) |
316 (RN
& US) |
Totals incl. Warships |
1,188 |
1,619 |
Grand Total |
2,807 |
Plus minor landing craft |
836 |
1,155 |
Naval &
Maritime Forces
The two Naval Task
Forces totalled 672 warships for assault convoy
escort, minesweeping, shore bombardment, local
defence, etc, and 4,126 major and minor landing
ships and craft for initial assault and ferry
purposes: a grand total of 4,798. To this can be
added the following:
(1) Home
Command for follow-up escort and Channel
patrols, plus reserves: 1
battleship (RN); 118 destroyers and escorts (108 RN, 4 US, 1 French, 5 Allied); 364 other warships
including coastal forces (340 RN, 8 French, 16 Allied).
(2) Western
Channel Approaches A/S Escort Groups and
reserves: 3 escort carriers (RN), 55
destroyers and escort vessels (RN).
(3) Merchant
ships in their hundreds - mainly British liners, tankers, tugs, etc
to supply and support the invasion and naval
forces.
(4) British 'Mulberry' harbour
project of two artificial harbours and
five 'Gooseberry' breakwaters including: 400
'Mulberry' units totalling 1.5 million tons and
including up to 6,000-ton 'Phoenix' concrete
breakwaters; 160 tugs for towing; 59 old
merchantmen and warships to be sunk as blockships
for the 'Gooseberries'. All were in place by the
10th June.
(5) Specially
equipped British vessels for laying
PLUTO - Pipeline Under The Ocean -
across the Channel from the Isle of Wight to
carry petroleum fuel.
The assault forces
sailed from their ports of departure on the
5th to a position off the Isle of Wight, and
headed south through swept channels down 'The
Spout' towards Normandy. Two midget submarines
were already on station off the British sector,
ready to guide in the landing craft. Partly
because of elaborate deception plans, partly
because of poor weather, both strategic and
tactical surprise was achieved. The invasion was
not expected in such weather conditions and
certainly not in Normandy. The Germans expected
the Pas-de-Calais with its much shorter
sea-crossing to be the target although realised
that diversionary landings might be made in
Normandy.
Soon after
midnight on the morning of the 6th, the
invasion got underway with the US 82nd and 101st
Airborne Divisions dropping behind 'Utah' beach
and the British 6th Airborne between 'Sword'
beach and Caen. At dawn, after heavy
preliminary air and sea bombardments, and with
complete Allied air supremacy, the landings went
ahead. Royal Marine Commandos Nos 47, 48 and 41
took part in the assaults on the British and
Canadian beaches. Against varying degrees of
resistance, the toughest on 'Omaha', all five
beachheads were established by the end of the day
and 150,000 Allied troops were on French soil.
'Omaha' linked up with the British and Canadian
beaches by the 8th, and two days later -
the 10th - 'Utah' made contact with
'Omaha'. On the 12th, 330,000 men and
50,000 vehicles were ashore. As US Seventh Corps
fought its way across the Cotentin, the rest of
US First Army thrust forward around St Lo.
Further east the British and Canadian Corps of
British Second Army battled their way around Caen
against fierce German counter-attacks. By the 18th
the Americans had reached the western side of
Cotentin and Seventh Corps headed north for the
port of Cherbourg.
Between the 19th
and 22nd, violent Channel gales wrecked
the US 'Mulberry' harbour off 'Omaha' and
seriously damaged the British one off 'Gold'
beach. Many landing craft and DUKWS were lost and
a total of 800 driven ashore. Only the British
harbour was repaired and the need for Cherbourg
became that much more important. By the 27th,
with strong gunfire support from Allied warships,
the port was in US hands. Although the
installations were wrecked and the waters heavily
mined, the first supply ships were discharging
their cargoes by mid-July. As Cherbourg fell,
British troops of Second Army started a major
attack to the west of Caen (Operation 'Epsom')
but were soon held by the Germans.
By the end of
June nearly 660,000 men had landed in France.
Although the Allies were well established on the
coast and possessed all the Cotentin Peninsular,
the Americans had still not taken St Lo, nor the
British and Canadians the town of Caen,
originally a target for D-day. German resistance,
particularly around Caen was ferocious, but the
end result was similar to the Tunisian campaign.
More and more well-trained German troops were
thrown into the battle, so that when the Allies
did break out of Normandy the defenders had lost
heavily and lacked the men to stop the Allied
forces from almost reaching the borders of
Germany.
|
Normandy
Beaches - In spite of the vast number of
warships lying off the Normandy beaches and escorting the
follow-up convoys, losses were comparatively few,
although mines, especially of the pressure-operated
variety were troublesome: 6th - Destroyer "WRESTLER" escorting a Canadian assault group
to 'Juno', was badly damaged by a mine and not repaired. 8th
- Frigate "LAWFORD" on patrol in Seine Bay, also after
escorting an assault group to 'Juno', was bombed and
sunk. 9th - Old light cruiser "DURBAN"
was expended
off Ouistreham as one of the 'Gooseberry' breakwaters.
Sister ship, the Polish-manned "DRAGON"
was damaged
in early July and joined her in this final but important
role. 12th - By now the battleship "Warspite", the ship that ended the war with
the greatest number of Royal Navy battle honours, had
left her gunfire support duties off the Normandy beaches
to be fitted with replacement gun barrels. On passage to
Rosyth, Scotland she was damaged by a mine of Harwich and
out of action until August. Then she was back in the support
role bombarding Brest. 13th
- Escorting a follow-up convoy to the beaches, destroyer "BOADICEA" was sunk in the English Channel off
Portland Bill by torpedo bombers. 18th -
Battleship "Nelson" was slightly damaged by a mine as she
fired her guns off the beaches. 21st - Destroyer "FURY" was mined and driven ashore in the gales
that played havoc with the Mulberry harbours. She was
refloated but not repaired. 23rd - Adm Vian's
flagship, the AA cruiser "Scylla", was also mined in Seine Bay.
Seriously damaged, she was out of action until after the
war and then never fully re-commissioned. 24th -
Mines claimed another victim. Destroyer "SWIFT's" back was broken
and she went down five miles off the British beaches. 25th
- As cruiser "Glasgow" in company with US warships bombarded
Cherbourg, she received several hits from shore batteries
and was out of action for the rest of the war. Nine days
after carrying King George VI on a visit to Normandy,
cruiser "Arethusa" was slightly damaged by a mine or bomb
while anchored off the beaches. Three US destroyers and a
destroyer escort were also lost off Normandy in June.
Channel Patrols -
Attempts by German light forces to interfere with
invasion shipping had little effect and they suffered
heavy losses. However, on D-day, torpedo boats sank the
Norwegian destroyer "SVENNER". Then on the night of the 8th/9th
another force of destroyers and torpedo boats tried to
break through from Brest but was intercepted by the 10th
Destroyer Flotilla of 'Tribals' off Ushant. Destroyer "ZH-1" (ex-Dutch) was damaged by
"Tartar" and torpedoed and sunk by
"Ashanti", and "Z-32" driven ashore by the Canadian
"Haida" and "Huron" and later blown
up.
continued
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