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D-Day – June 6, 1944

D-Day – June 6, 1944. Eisenhower Plans the Invasion. Operation Overlord was the code name given to the Allied invasion of France It involved landing 21 American divisions and 26 British, Canadian, and Polish divisions on Normandy Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The Dummy Army.

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D-Day – June 6, 1944

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  1. D-Day – June 6, 1944

  2. Eisenhower Plans the Invasion • Operation Overlord was the code name given to the Allied invasion of France • It involved landing 21 American divisions and 26 British, Canadian, and Polish divisions on Normandy • Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword

  3. The Dummy Army • The Allies set up a “fake” army in Dover, 21 miles across the English Channel from Calais, France • This dummy army used cardboard tanks, useless ships, and detectable radio traffic • The deception worked and Hitler ordered his top tank division to Calais

  4. Heroes Storm the Beaches • More than 11,000 planes prepared the beaches • On four of the beaches, the landings were lightly opposed with few casualties • On Omaha beach, the Germans had dug trenches and built heavily artillery nests • Mines were hidden all along the beach

  5. The Struggle to Take the Beach • The American forces there suffered numerous casualties from the gunfire, the mines, the bombs, and drowning • One writer called D-Day “the longest day” • By the end of the day, the Allies gained a toehold in France • Within a month, more than 1 million Allied troops landed at Normandy

  6. Allies Advance • In August of 1944, the Allies had liberated Paris • Hitler ordered the capital destroyed by retreating armies, but the leaders disobeyed and left the “city of lights” as beautiful as they’d found it • On July 20, 1944, a German officer planted a bomb at Hitler headquarters • The explosion killed or wounded 20 people, but Hitler survived • General Rommel (Desert Fox) took poison to escape being put on trial

  7. Claus von Stauffenberg

  8. Germany Counterattacks • In December of 1944, Hitler organized a counterattack in the Ardennes • Hitler’s plan had English-speaking German soldiers disguise themselves and cut phone lines and disrupt communication • The Battle of the Bulge Almost succeeded

  9. The Germans are Defeated • The Germans caught the allies by surprise • The Americans fought the Germans back at Bastogne and held off German forces until the sky was clear enough for air support • The battle was a desperate attempt by Hitler to drive a wedge between American and British forces

  10. Allies Push to Victory • In January, the Soviet Army reached the Oder River outside Berlin • The Allies advanced north through Italy • In April 1945, Mussolini tried to flee to Switzerland, but was captured and hung in Italy at a gas station • Allied forces had crossed the Rhine River into Germany and reached the Elbe River (50 miles from Berlin)

  11. Hitler Falls in Berlin • Hitler had been shaken by tremors, paranoid from drugs, and kept alive by mad dreams of victory • He gave orders nobody followed and planned campaigns nobody would fight • On April 30, 1945, Hitler had committed suicide along with a dozen of his closest friends • On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered • FDR had died a few weeks earlier, however, and Harry S. Truman was to see the nation through to final victory

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