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17. OPERATION: OVERLORD
Mission 17: Operation: Overlord, D-Day
It had been decided by Britain, the U.S. and the Soviet Union at the Tehran Conference in December of 1943 that Operation Overlord would be commenced as soon as possible in order to reopen the western front in France. Preparations were already underway and almost 3,000,000 troops were concentrated in Britain. The objective was the liberation of France and then a continued offensive to finally take Berlin. Expecting an invasion, the Germans had concentrated many forces in France and had fortified the English Channel coast, but since many of these fortifications were unfinished and they did not have enough troops to line the entire coastline they were depending on mobile tank formations to be able to drive any Allied landing back into the sea. The Germans had no idea how large the landing was going to be.
The Allies allocated 1,600,000 troops, 15,000 cannons, 6,000 tanks and 11,000 aircraft for the landing. The Germans had 526,000 troops, 6,700 cannons, 2,000 tanks and 160 aircraft that were able to oppose. Allied superiority during the landing was even higher as they were concentrating much of their strength at one landing site. Due to this numerical superiority and meticulous organization the landing at Normandy was a success. Although the Allies suffered serious losses, the Germans were unable to mount an immediate counter-strike as they had expected the Allies to land in Pas-de-Calais and needed time to move their tank formations to Normandy. This allowed the Allies to extend the bridgehead and secure the necessary depth of defense.
When the 7th German Army began an offensive in the Cannes area and wedged into the Allied defences, the British-American command decided against sending in forces to patch the holes and instead lashed out along several different sections of the front, eventually encircling the Germans and destroying them. Allied air superiority limited the Germans to moving at night and so paved the way to Paris and the quick liberation of France
At the same time the Soviets were completing the Yasso-Kishenev operation, which began the liberation of the Balkans.
The Allies allocated 1,600,000 troops, 15,000 cannons, 6,000 tanks and 11,000 aircraft for the landing. The Germans had 526,000 troops, 6,700 cannons, 2,000 tanks and 160 aircraft that were able to oppose. Allied superiority during the landing was even higher as they were concentrating much of their strength at one landing site. Due to this numerical superiority and meticulous organization the landing at Normandy was a success. Although the Allies suffered serious losses, the Germans were unable to mount an immediate counter-strike as they had expected the Allies to land in Pas-de-Calais and needed time to move their tank formations to Normandy. This allowed the Allies to extend the bridgehead and secure the necessary depth of defense.
When the 7th German Army began an offensive in the Cannes area and wedged into the Allied defences, the British-American command decided against sending in forces to patch the holes and instead lashed out along several different sections of the front, eventually encircling the Germans and destroying them. Allied air superiority limited the Germans to moving at night and so paved the way to Paris and the quick liberation of France
At the same time the Soviets were completing the Yasso-Kishenev operation, which began the liberation of the Balkans.
Mustang P-51 Fighter Aircraft
