D-day.. reasons for success?

Question

if you can give the main reasons with maybe a sentence on why it led to success that would help thanks.. best answer for first good one!

Answer 1

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1...Surprise. The Germans expected an invasion in the Pas de Calais. They were surprised too that we tried in such bad weather.

2...Overwhelming air and sea superiority, allowing intense bombardment to prepare the landing.

3...Poor intelligence on the German side. They seem not to have scouted the sea with reconnaissance aircraft or with fast patrol boats. I know we had superiority, but you would think that one or two aircraft might have got back with news of the approaching fleet, or with news that no fleet was deployed to attack Calais (damn it, with a good pair of binoculars they could see Dover from Calais beach and must have known no ships were mustering there - how did they ever fall for that story?)

4...Luck. No battle was ever won without a share of luck, and in 1944 we had our ration.

Answer 2

Note:- Near Villers-Bocage, a single Tiger tank from the 12th SS Panzer Division destroys 25 tanks and other vehicles of the British 7th Armoured Division.

so as to being in Caen on D day +1 only as a POW

the destroyed Tanks were Shermans american made

http://www.waffen-ss.no/SS-Panzer-Divisi…

One of the reasons for its success Montgomery was in charge of all land forces from D Day and his Armoured Divisions were some of the First to push inland and they took on the German Panzer's at Caen and were decimated using American made Sherman's were no match against German tanks

But not one german tank made to Omaha beach giving the Americans the Time they needed to find a way off The Beach.

this Link explains with a map yes all nations were Involved including Paton who's Job was as a Decoy but he did not arrive in Normandy until 7 july 1944 the germans beleived he was the main thrust from calais but from D Day Paton and his 3 army was only secondary from July 1944 until May 1945

I can produce Evidence and Facts to support all of My statments Unlike some I was recently in Auschwitz Krakow Nuremburg and The Imperial war Museum in May June 2009

Source(s):

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=XZG8…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Armoure…

Answer 3

Planning, training and equipping, logistical preparation (Mulberry, PLUTO), experience (Dieppe, Sicily, Anzio) and deception (Operations Bodyguard and Fortitude).



>And I'd like to add that it's a shame the British I Corps was on the far left. They were fine in defense, but an American corps would have been in Caen on D+1.

There is always one armchair general who makes this claim with absolutely no justification. If there is any shame it rests with this type of idle speculation by poor minds – the Normandy landings were only a success because all nationalities made contributions.

Answer 4

The Germans were caught on the horns of a dilemma. They could use Rommel's approach and throw everything at the beachhead, thus exposing themselves to naval gunfire. Or they could use von Rundstedt's and stay back from the beaches, avoiding naval gunfire but exposing their counterattacking forces to air attack. And the Allies did have almost total air supremacy. As it turned out, Hitler had to intervene in the disagreement between the two German geniuses, and he decided on a compromise that was probably worse than either would have been as a unified tactic.
And I'd like to add that it's a shame the British I Corps was on the far left. They were fine in defense, but an American corps would have been in Caen on D+1.

Answer 5

a. Distracting the Germans into believing the invasion would take place at the Pas de Calais, some way up the coast, by a calculated programme of bombing that area, and by putting out the story that George Patton would lead a landing there. The Germans were pretty concerned about Georgie.

b. Destruction by Allied air forces of much of the transport infrastructure in France which lead to the planned landing site. This was greatly opposed by US AAF Commander Toohey Spaatz on the basis that it would detract from the strategic bombing campaign.

c. Concentration of force into a relatively small area. The original plan, if I recall, was for 3-5 divisions to land on three beaches, plus one airborne - this was mercifully upgraded to five landing beaches, with three airborne divisions, and, I think 9-10 divisions on the beaches. Underpinning all this is the simple ability to land and support that many troops at all, which was a massive achievement in itself.

d. Inability due to Allied control of the air, and also reluctance of the Germans, to move masses of armoured reserves against Normandy until it was too late, due to Hitler's obsession with Pas de Calais. There was one German armoured counter-attack against the British 1st Airborne, which was repulsed with the help of battleship and cruiser gunfire.

e. The unsuitability of the weather in the days leading up to 6th June, with a fortuitously forecast break occurring on D-Day, leading to the Germans being unprepared for the landings.

f. The ability of the airborne divisions to capture most of their Day 1 objectives facilitated the movement of troops off the beaches, as well as the landings themselves in cases where airborne troops were used to take out defences.

g. The uneven quality of German troops defending the beaches and airborne landing areas. Some were top class, such as at Omaha, while many were second rate troops, many suffering from illness or injury, and including many 'converted' Russians etc, who obviously had a greater interest in surrendering to the Allies than fighting them.

Source(s):

The Longest Day

The Red Beret - Hilary St George Saunders

Night Drop - by SLAM Marshall ( a history of US Airborne in the Normandy invasion).

Fortress Without a Roof (A history of stategic bombing against Germany).

Many works on D-Day.

Answer 6

Overwhelming air superiority. An eloborate deception campaign which made the germans believe the invasion would come at the Pas-de-Calais even after troops started landing in Normandy. Hitler trying to controll the battle from Berlin instead of letting local commanders do their jobs.