Collecting the ‘The Great Crusade’

Less than one year after the invasion of Poland, Adolf Hitler and the armed forces of the Third Reich had decimated the Western Front, conquered France and drove 338,000 British Expeditionary Force and Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk and back to the British Isles. Following the loss, rudimentary plans began to to retake a French bridgehead, allowing Allied troops to combat the Nazi forces and free France.

By the summer of 1943, the war in Europe had been grinding on for almost four years, bringing about the deaths of millions of soldiers and civilians. Losses were especially heavy in the East, where Soviet soldiers continued to fight the encroaching German troops with alternating victories and defeats. After the German catastrophe at Stalingrad, with the killing of more than 250,000 German and Romanian solders, and 91,000 others taken prisoner, Allied leaders had decided that it was time to re-establish a two-front war and speed up the final destruction of the German war machine.

During the Tehran conference in 1943, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin approved Operation “Overlord”, the amassing of the greatest invasion force that had ever been assembled. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was chosen to lead the multinational assault. At the same time that Overlord was taking place, Stalin would begin Operation “Bagration”, a major Soviet attack in the East, splitting the forces of German defenders.

The first major obstacle in the West was the “Atlantic Wall”, a 1,500-mile-long system of German coastal defenses reaching from the Artic Circle to the northern border of neutral Spain. Thousands of machine gun re-enforced pillboxes, steel landing craft obstacles, and other natural or man-made barriers formed this intimidating line, built to prevent large scale invader landings. Behind many of these fortifications stood artillery emplacements, armored divisions and concentrations of German and other Axis troops.

The Allied commanders’ challenge was to minimize the damage that would occur to their forces while punching holes in this formidable defense structure. Thousands of hours in planning went into the large-scale buildup of British, American, Canadian, Australian, Belgian, Czech, Dutch, French, Greek, New Zealand, Norwegian, Rhodesian and Polish soldiers, sailors, airmen and support personnel who were to take on the difficult task of breaching Hitler’s “Fortress Europe”.

The tide of Allied soldiers from multiple infantries, engineering, signal, artillery, airborne, air corps and other groups soon arrived in England to prepare for the initial assault and the land battles to follow. These men were supplied with thousands of trucks, tanks, aircraft, and millions of tons of equipment and materials. Many of the goods were locally produced by British industry, running at full capacity, or imported from the fields and factories of the United States and other Allies. In addition to the “bombers to chewing gum” provided, construction began on inventive projects such as “mulberries” (prefabricated concrete barges that could be sunk to form docks and breakwaters), and the later used “PLUTO” (Pipeline under the Ocean), pumping stations and underseas pipelines carrying much needed fuel from storage tanks in southern England to the French shores. While supplies and troops continued to land in Great Britain, those men already there were sent to training facilities across the island to practice the storming of beaches and mock defenses, many similar in appearance to those on the French coastline.

Since the Dunkirk withdrawal, Hitler and his military staff believed that if and when the British were to land on the French coast again, they would do so at the French Port of Calais, which was a relatively scant 21 miles across the English Channel from the city of Dover. Though Calais was the shortest distance, it was determined by information received through the French resistance and British intelligence services that the best landing areas would be along the coast of Normandy. Here, defenses were less formidable in fortifications, enemy troop strength and armament.

Allied commanders understood that to be successful in the landing, Axis defenders needed to be taken by complete surprise. To help mask the true goals of the operation, a campaign of deception was carried out in Great Britain using rubber inflatable tanks, armor, and landing craft. Due to these ruses and the orchestration of fake troop movements, fictitious army groups and bogus communications, German agents sent erroneous information back to Berlin. Away from home, Britain placed double agents who also delivered false reports to German authorities and reenforced the ideas that major landings would take place at Calais. Believing these constant feeds of disinformation, Hitler and the German high command strengthened the Calais reserves at the expense of the rest of the Atlantic Wall.

In preparation for the invasion, British and American bombers began numerous flights over northern France, bombing selected railroad bridges and roadways to prevent German forces from coming to the future aid of the defenders in Normandy. After some delays, due to weather, logistics and miscommunications, the Normandy invasion day (D-Day, literally a generic term meaning “the Day”) was launched on June 6, 1944. The landing zones were divided into sections, each of which was assigned to a national combat group. Beaches were named Utah and Omaha in the American sector, Gold and Sword in the British sector, and Juno in the Canadian sector flanked by British troops.

On the night of June 5-6, the Royal Air Force dispersed thousands of metal strips along the French coast to confuse German radar. This was followed by dropping dummy paratroopers to confuse and draw the Germans away from the designated invasion sites. Shortly after midnight, more than 18,000 Allied paratroopers, each laden with up to 120 lbs. of ammunition, rations and equipment, were dropped behind the beach fronts to secure German artillery and help the additional 156,000 troops that would land in the morning hours to face a German force of over 50,000 defenders. At the same time, Allied aircraft began to fly over 14,000 sorties carried out to protect Allied movements and destroy German positions. In response to the air strikes, the Luftwaffe counterattacked with only 319 sorties as most German fighter planes had been kept in Germany to ward off Allied bombers. An armada of more than 7,000 naval destroyers, battleships, minesweepers, assault craft and merchant ships were at full steam, beginning operation “Neptune”, the carrying of troops and supplies for the great invasion.

At 6:30 a.m., the first troops, carried in assault boats piloted by USCG (Coast Guard) and USN (Navy) drivers landed on the French coast. On some beaches, soldiers met little resistance from the surprised enemy, while on others (such as Omaha – 2,400 American casualties) many were killed or wounded as they crossed the mined sand, ran headlong into gun fire from fortified positions or were dragged under the churning surf while they floundered with their 80-plus lbs. of equipment. American rangers faced incredible odds when they scaled 100-foot-high cliffs to attack the firing defenders and destroy enemy artillery. Paratroopers who had landed earlier from the American 82nd, 101st, and British 6th airborne fought bravely against growing resistance as the Germans realized the scale of the invasion. Some 258 gliders landed behind the beachfront bringing Allied soldiers and supplies to attack the Germans from the rear.

The bravery and determination shown by all the soldiers could be seen by the four American Medals of Honor and one British Victoria Cross earned on the first day alone. The fierce fighting continued on through the day, but ended with the Allies establishing a beachhead for the main invasion force. This, however, came with terrible costs as 4,414 Allied servicemen lost their lives in the first 24 hours, and an estimated 5,000-9,000 Axis soldiers were killed, wounded or went missing during the same short, one-day period.

Following the initial attack, additional troops were brought to the shore in LST’s (landing ship tanks), LCT’s (Landing craft tanks), LCF’s (landing craft flaks) and other craft, that quickly ferried men and equipment from the waiting ships. Later, older vessels and selected “liberty ships” were scuttled offshore along with the concrete mulberries to create an artificial harbor. From here more ships landed vehicles, supplies and men on to the beachhead, bound for the fierce inland battles waiting after the coastline finally fell silent.

The French countryside proved difficult to conquer as the Allies faced an increasingly defiant enemy in the farm field “bocage” (sunken lanes bordered by century old hedgerows), dark forests, and deep, torrid rivers. Though D-Day and the subsequent battles that followed were necessary to secure Europe’s freedom, the costs of the Normandy Campaign were great. By its end on July 24, The United States had suffered 135,000 casualties, the United Kingdom 65,000, Canada 18,000, France 12,200, and Germany 320,000. Besides the combatants killed or wounded, an unknown number of civilians died, caught in the crossfire of Hitler’s brutal European war.

American infantry in D-Day wore the basic combat uniforms of M-1 helmet, wool shirt, trousers, M41 field jacket, shoes and leggings. They carried the M7 gas mask bags, assault vest, gas brassard, life belt, 1928 haversack, cartridge belt, ammunition pouches, canteen, shovel in carrier, first aid pouch, ammo bags, grenades and bayonet. The haversack contained ammunition, rations and sundries. U.S. paratroopers wore M2 (or M1’s with paratrooper liners) helmets, special jump smocks, jump boots and trousers that could accommodate more supplies. They carried much of the same equipment as the infantry, but greater amounts of ammunition, grenades and M3 knives. American troops used M1 Garand rifles, carbines, 1903 Springfields, BARs, M1 Thompsons, M3 “grease guns” and model 1911 sidearms.

British and Canadian infantry wore battledress jackets and trousers, 1937 pattern web equipment, small haversacks, picks, bayonets and combat boots topped with the new Mk3 helmets. Contents of the kit included ammunition, rations, bandages and sundries. The Enfield No. 4 Mark 1 rifle accompanied many of men along with carbines, Bren and Sten machine guns, Browning hi-power sidearms and Enfield or Webley revolvers.

German defenders wore the gray green M35 jacket, gray trousers, black leather belt with ammo pouches, M38 gas mask in canister, canteen, studded boots and distinctive German metal helmet. Other equipment included haversacks, shelter quarters, map cases and bayonets. Soldiers were armed with the K-98 and G43 rifles, MP38 and 40 machine pistols, MG42 machineguns and the P08 Luger and P38 sidearms. Soldiers of the Waffen SS wore the gray M43 Jacket and trousers with belt and SS buckle. Much of their equipment was the same as that of the army with the exception of more MP40 machine guns and extra magazine pouches.