W A L L A C E
N G
RESEARCH ESSAY 2014 VS IP
Beach Conditions
Why Normandy? Geography and History are more inter-disciplinary than one might first assume, with the case study being the Invasion of Normandy, the strategic Allied Operation to invade occupied France at 5 different beaches across the English Channel with a large scale of naval, land and air troop deployment. This historic invasion and its subsequent battles are colloquially known as D-Day and throughout the essay, we will examine how the Geography of the Beaches played a role in decisions of the Generals and how the events that played out during the invasion taught the world the importance of strategic planning.
D-Day The Invasion D-day officially commenced on 6th June 1944.
The Battle
Split into 2 phases: an airborne assault and an amphibious landing The Battle lasted 2 months
The End
With Caen, the last objective, being captured on 8th August, D-day ended.
‘We sat in our landing craft and never looked over the side until we got ready to get off that thing. When we landed in that water, we started to circle. That water was so rough. The guys were seasick. I saw water spilling up over the sides of the LCVP [a British landing craft for personnel and vehicles], but believe me, I didn't raise up to look over it. It was splashing in on us from shells busting and rifle fire hitting our boat. But I never raised up. None of us did.’ -Felix Branham went ashore at in the second wave at Omaha Beach as a demolition man for the 29th Division
RESEARCH ESSAY 2014 VS IP
The Normandy Invasion To begin off the essay, we would examine different geographical factors that would lead to certain decisions being made by the Allies.
Weather
Moonlight Conditions Moonlight condition is a factor to be taken into account. The invasions are scheduled to be executed either at dusk, night or early morning so that the Allies would have some protection from being spotted. However, the Generals, Eisenhower, Montgomery and Walter Smith also required for the light of the moon such that the airborne assault would have some navigational advantage to land troops, gliders and aircraft as it improves the visibility of the ground. Therefore, the Generals were looking at days that are relatively close to a full moon with a spring tide. On the day of the Invasion, 5 June, there was to be a full moon on the very next night on 6 June and preparations were made to execute the plans. However, deterioration in the weather caused the tacticians to reconsider the efficacy of execution, after prolonged discussions and having the Chief Meteorologist (J.M Stagg) approval, the Generals called for the attack to commence. Due to the overcast skies, which had rattled Air Chief Marshal Leigh Mallory, Allied air support was limited and thus, the enemy defenses of certain beaches such as Juno and Omaha received no serious damages.
The weather was considered important because the first wave of attack was to have a 12 000 plane attack on the beaches before the actual landing of troops so as to destroy most of the Atlantic Wall the Germans have set up in preparation for a likely invasion. The landing of troops by air to seize strategic areas such as bridges, communication lines, road crossings and terrain features also contributed to the requirement of good weather, any alarm raised due to bad landing of these pre-invasion troops would have resulted in the compromise of the attack that officially commenced at 6.30 am British Double Summer Time. The bulk of the bombs dropped by the Allied Bombers missed their mark due to fog and thus this allowed for German’s to retain most of their defense structures on the beaches, complicating landing efforts of the Allies.
Fig 1: ‘Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory! I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!’
-The foregoing is part of a letter (shown on the right) announced to all participants of the Invasion by General Eisenhower, How does his writing try to instill pride and bravery into his soldiers? Does his writing allude to the real dangers (such as the Atlantic Wall fortifications) facing the soldiers? 2
Fig 1
2 1
RESEARCH ESSAY 2014 VS IP
Wind Conditions
The figure beside this shows the defenses put up by the Germans on Juno Beach.
Erratic wind conditions caused the landings on Omaha to drift eastwards, which caused confusion among the Allies and gave the Germans time to activate their beach defenses. Beach terrain also caused further disorientation among the Allies due to the difficulty in movement on sand, especially in the case of unloading equipment and tanks. Sand also caused further problems for most of the infantry as after suffering from seasickness due to rising tidal current and sea spray, having to face the German Defense, unloading the equipment and getting out of harm’s way. This increase in stress and fear impeded Allied performance as the soldiers get disoriented from the sudden transition from sea to land.
Tides Tide is the last important factor that had to be taken into account before the Invasion could take place. The Generals were looking to use the presence of a spring tide to turn the odds to their favor for the spring tide would mean deeper waters which would aid in maneuvering the floats carrying soldiers and the relatively low reach of the ocean meant that soldiers would have an easier time looking out for tactical defense structure such as landmines and batteries. This factor affects the driving force behind any tactical offense, the manpower. Having the extra aid of water in float maneuvering as well as clear sight of enemy defense would mean that the soldiers would have a higher chance of survival as well as carrying out their necessary task of reclaiming French soil.
Fig. 2 The caption reads ‘The Allies Achieve Total Surprise At Normandy’ -What does this tell you about the cartoonist’s impression of the Allies and the Axis powers? -How true is this impression? -Is complacency the reason the German’s lost? Fig. 2
The Element of Surprise The Invasion also had the element of surprise as a result of this Geographical prediction made; the Germans have been anticipating an attack on Normandy Coast for quite some time. However, due to their understanding of the weather, they never suspected the Allied Invasion would happen on 5th June and thus they had let their guards down with many senior officials being away on leave including Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the German General in charge of the defense of the coast and thus the Germans were completely taken aback when the first planes dropped their payload on their territory. This is because the Germans also understood that for the Allied Invasion to be successful, careful observation of the tide and wind would be crucial as the landing had that of an amphibious nature and since technology was not as advanced as it were now, maneuvering the landing craft would be exceptionally difficult without the right factors. Therefore, after realizing that weather on 5th June was rather rough, they assumed that the Allies would not risk pulling off the Invasion. However, the Allies called the German bluff and the Invasion took them by surprise. In this analysis, you can also see that Geography not only plays a role in the practical aspect. However, how it is interpreted also becomes a determining factor during wartime. 3
RESEARCH ESSAY 2014 VS IP
Geography and German Complacency
Fig 3a and 3b shows the past and present conditions of Omaha Beach -How can the physical characteristics of the beach aid or impede Allied assault?
Fig 3a
Seasons and the German Oversight Seasons are a factor when Generals are considering calling for an attack. In the Normandy Landings, Europe was in the midst of late spring with summer arriving in about a month, the weather was thus affected and is characterized by wet days with rain. Operation Overlord’s dependence on moonlit conditions also played another role in the limitation of the amount of days in a month where the conditions are favorable for an attack The German’s, in a bid to predict when the invasion might occur, thus exploited the narrow window for the launch of the invasion. During the actual invasion, overcast skies due to the seasons were also what caused navigational problems and this impeded the Allied advance into Occupied France.
Fig 3b
Even though the Germans understood the importance of a timely attack by for the Allies to succeed, German Commanders appeared to have ignored the advantage of understanding the Geography in this case. German Commanders assumed that just because the weather was erratic on 5th June, the Allies would not dare to invade Normandy and thus most commanding officers were away from their posts and responsibilities when the Invasion occurred. Therefore, German forces were taken aback and the Allies gained the element of surprise, which the benefits of which has already been explained in the previous page. Evidently, calling for the Invasion with rather rough weather cost the Allies multitudinous deaths but resulted in the winning of the Battle. An additional point I would like to include is also the fact that this complacency was a result of previous victories and this overconfidence caused subsequent planning to be jeopardized. Up till 1944, Germany had enjoyed a string of victories and the success of its campaigns lead to Germany being complacent and this cost them the war. Therefore, this proves that Germany did knew of the importance of geography and the only reason why they neglected it in the subsequent future, a mere two years, was a result of complacency.
Geography, a Friend or a Foe? Throughout the entire essay, we have revealed the intrinsic relationships between Geography and History in the Invasion of Normandy, proving that physical aspects of Geography have more of a role to play in the theatrics of War. However, is Geography a friend or a foe? In our main case study, one had to wait for the day the conditions are actually up to expectations before calling for the Invasion proving that planning for the invasion had actually crippled the confidence the Generals had for the Invasion. Even on the day of Invasion, erratic weather caused landing crafts to steer away from their positions and navigational difficulties caused less damage than anticipated. However, the need for planning is still fundamental for it gives the party tactical advantages and the element of surprise, failure to do may breed the feeling of complacency in which Germany was guilty, resulting in their ultimate defeat. In conclusion, whether Geography is a friend or a foe is matter of perspective. However, it is of paramount importance that one realizes that planning would tip the scales in your favor, which means to say, the more you understand geography, your enemy, the more likely it would become a friend and aid you in the midst of battle.
4
Citations: 1) http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent1/?file=dday_0024p1 2) http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/06/remembering-d-day-facts-and-quotes/ 3) http://www.memorial-caen.fr 4) Ricky Bougaardt, D-Day Normandy Revisited: A Photographic
Pilgramage (Chaucer Press (June 1, 2004))
5