D-Day

media type="youtube" key="uPU4p7UQOtU" height="344" width="425" D-Day Also known as Operation Overlord By Charlie B

1944, America was at war with Germany. World War II had been going on for a long time now and the Americans wanted it to come to an end. With the American military under the command of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, anything could happen. And something was going to happen. He and the leaders of the Canadian and British armies started to plan an attack on the Germans to drive them out of France and because they thought the war should end. The plan was to have the allies, Americans, British, and the Canadians, come from sea and air, and then have them land on Omaha, Sword, Juno, Utah, and Gold beaches then come storming through Normandy, France. Since Operation Overlord was a success, the war fell into the hands of America.

D-Day started with British and Canadian planes taking off first so they could bomb railways and streets so the Germans couldn’t get their troops, artillery weapons, and mortar teams through. Next the battle ships and LCs, aka Higgins Boats, left port at noon to cross the English Channel to France. At six thirty a.m. June 6th, 1944, Operation Overlord was a go.

Even though the allies made it across the English Channel, the Germans were ready with 50 infantry and 10 panzer (tank) divisions spread across the coast under the command of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. The allies came by air and sea. They came in ships and Higgins boats and some soldiers came down from planes with parachutes. The Germans started to shell the boats and air craft and they did a lot of damage. Once on land, the allies charged up the beaches and they were met by ground infantry, mortar fire, and heavy machine gun fire. The invasion was underway.

Utah beach came first. When the Americans took Utah beach they had a lot of air support, so many of the bunkers were already destroyed when they got there. The allies stormed through Sword and Juno beaches without much of a fight and for Gold beach the allies had to weave through a ton of underwater obstacles. Omaha was taken last and it was a very bloody and long battle. Tons of allies lost their lives on Omaha beach plus many tanks and boats were destroyed by the Germans artillery and mortars. The Americans started to doubt they would win the battle at Omaha beach. The allies were struggling to take out the German guns and they were so powerful that on the way over to the beach men were sent hurling into the water and other boats had to pick them up. After a long time, the Americans, Canadians, and British got past Omaha beach and entered the streets of Normandy. There they fought the German resistance to the death. Operation Overlord was a success.

In the end, no one really knows how many people died on D-Day but we do know that thousands of allies died and thousands of axis lost their lives. The Americans conquered France and gave the people back their freedom. Soon after that Adolf Hitler committed suicide plus the Germans surrendered and were removed from power. The second Great War came to an end in 1945 when the Americans dropped the Atom- Bomb on Japan. The allies then, won the war.

Works Cited McGowen, Tom. __D-Day__. New York: Children's P, 2004. 01 June 2009 .