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From D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge

From D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge. Operation overlord 2 nd Front in Spring ‘44. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower chosen by FDR as Supreme Allied Commander Brits & Soviets wanted Gen. George C. Marshall Roosevelt cannot spare Marshall

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From D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge

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  1. From D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge

  2. Operation overlord2nd Front in Spring ‘44 • Gen. Dwight Eisenhower chosen by FDR as Supreme Allied Commander • Brits & Soviets wanted Gen. George C. Marshall • Roosevelt cannot spare Marshall • Gen. Bernard Montgomery chosen as ground comm. in charge of operational planning of invasion

  3. Supreme Allied Commander FDR picks Dwight D. Eisenhower British and Soviets want George C. Marshall

  4. General Montgomery

  5. Choosing a Location NORMANDY 4x the distance Weaker defenses PAS-DE-CALAIS Shortest route across channel Strongest German defenses

  6. Where to Land? • Allies decide on Normandy • Hitler initially expected Normandy • Rommel & Rundstedt convinced him wld come at the Pas-de-Calais • Shortest route across channel • Shortest route to Ruhr

  7. Allied Deception • Hitler knew the Ruhr was Allies’ ultimate target • Calais landing puts Allies closer to Ruhr • “Dummy”camp at Dover est under command of Patton • Also suggest a landing in Norway

  8. Normandy • Four times the distance • Weaker defenses • Normandy ports • Bradley & Americans advance on Cherbourg • British & Canadians seize Caen

  9. When weather changed history • Ike Chooses June 5 • Storms in channel delays invasion • 36 hour break in storm • “Ok, we’ll go.” • Poor weather favors Allies

  10. Capt. J.M. Stagg 1900-1975Book published 1971

  11. How to defend? • Rundstedt argued for a mobile defense • Vigorous counterattack after main landing identified • Rommel • Stop invasion on the beaches • First 24 hours crucial • “The Longest Day”

  12. Rommel and Runstedt

  13. Ike visits the 101st Airborne

  14. Jumping into the Night • 13,000 paratroopers jump into Normandy on night of June 5 • 101st“Screaming Eagles” • 82nd“All American” • British 6th“Red Devils” • Missing the Drop Zone

  15. C-47s and Gliders

  16. Day of Days? Something else? • Rundstedt convinced Normandy was a Diversion • Happy Birthday Mrs. Rommel • Panzer Divisions held in reserve • sssssssssshhhhhhhhh! Der Führer ist Schlaf!

  17. Allied Casualties June 6 • British – 2,700 • Canadian – 946 • American • “Bloody Omaha” • 6,603 • 2499 kia

  18. Band of Brothers

  19. D-Day

  20. Omaha Beach

  21. Normandy Hedgerows • One million troops landed by July 1 • Caen not fall until July 18 • Patton’s 3rd Army breaks out • Trapping Germans in the Falaise Pocket

  22. Trapped in Falaise Pocket • Mid August 1944 • Over by August 22 • 80,000 – 100,000 Germans encircled • 15,000 KIA • 50,000 POWs

  23. American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach

  24. La Cambe • German military cemetery in Normandy • Over 21,000 soldiers buried here

  25. Liberation of Paris

  26. General LeClerc

  27. Battle for Normandy & NW France • Wehrmacht • 240,000 casualties • 200,000 POWs • British, Canadians, Poles • 83,045 casualties • Americans • 125,847 casualties • Allied air forces • 16,714 killed & missing

  28. Operation Market Garden Sept. 17-25, 1944 • Germany looks ripe for the taking • Over by Christmas! • Ike favors a broad front • Monty favors a single-thrust into the Ruhr

  29. Allied overconfidence • Deutschland istKaputt! • Logistical Problems • Supplies still coming from Normandy ports • Antwerp closer • Taken in Sept. • Germans control Scheldt Estuary

  30. A Bridge too Far • 41,000 airborne troops • Secure bridges over series of rivers & canals • Gain control of Rhine & cross into Germany • 17,000 casualties • British 1st Airborne • 10,000 (2,000 get out)

  31. Battle of the Bulge

  32. Battle of the Bulge

  33. Massacre at Malmedy

  34. Joachim Peiper • SS Panzer leader from Eastern Front • Tried & sentenced to death for Malmedy Massacre • Sentence commuted & released 1956 • Murdered July 13, 1976

  35. "I recognize that after the battles of Normandy my unit was composed mainly of young, fanatical soldiers. A good deal of them had lost their parents, their sisters and brothers during the bombing. They had seen for themselves in Köln thousands of mangled corpses after a terror raid had passed. Their hatred for the enemy was such; I swear it and I could not always keep it under control." • "Imagine yourself acclaimed, a decorated national hero, an idol to millions of desperate people, then within six months, condemned to death by hanging." • "It's so long ago now. Even I don't know the truth. If I had ever known it, I have long forgotten it. All I know is that I took the blame as a good CO should have been and was punished accordingly.“ • - Jochen Peiper on the Malmedy massacre

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