-
"'~ man counter attack by the 21st Panzer 0
e; Division . Although a fe w elements of the
~ 21st Panzer managed to reach the coast in ¡ "'~ the gap between Juno and Sword , Briti sh u armor, effective use of artillery and antitank weapons, backed by rocket firing RAF Typhoons, prevented reinfo rcements from following through. Despite heavy losses by the British tanks , the counterattack was repelled . Although the Bri tish failed to achieve their major objective of capturing Caen, they secured the eastern flank and successfull y th watted the only counterattack that had a chance of di slodging the beachhead . On the Briti sh beaches about 75,250 men were ashore by the end of the day with about 3000 casualties , about l 000 of these Canadian. By nightfall , all fi ve beaches had been secured and reinforcements poured ashore. In terms of ground held, the Allies had not achieved all of their optimi sti c first-day objectives, but the broader goal of establishing a tenable beachhead had been accomplished. Because of German confusion, and a cumbersome chain of command, reinfo rcements arrived too li ttle too late to thwart the landings. Effecti ve Allied air cover had dominated the invaBy the end of D-Day, a total of 156,215 Allied /roops had pierced Hitler 's sion ru¡ea, crippling the defender' s attempt Allantic Wall at Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno . For several weeks to move reinforce ments to the coast. Alafte r the initial thrust, men and supplies poured onto the beaches . Wh en lied aircraft so do minated the coast that a severe storm broke up Mulberry A, the artific ial harbor built at Omaha, US only two German fig hters appeared over Navy LSTs were used to carry their cargo directly up to the beach. The the beaches on the 6th, although a large amphibious ships were beached at high tide and unloaded as the tide receded. number of Allied aircraft were lost to German ground fi re. By theend of the day ,a total of 156,215 Allied troops had pierced Hitler' s Atlantic Wall. But the cost had been high. The Allies had sustained casualties totaling 10 ,300 men. Yet despite the worst that the beach, and infiltrate the German 34 ,000 men had made it ashore and the Hitler's war machine could throw at them , the Allied soldiers had managed to fight defen ses. A maj or turning point on beachhead was secured . Omaha was when Navy destroyers, seeWith the British H-Hour set fo r 0730 , their way ashore and stay there . In the ing the slaughter, maneuvered in so close the Royal Navy had begun its bombard- days and weeks to come , the big naval they were in danger of going agro und , ment of the defenses a full two hours guns would continue to provide support and started giving close-in counter-bat- before the troops went in . The transport even miles inland as the beachhead was tery support. Once a handfu l of naval anchorage was also much closer than on expanded and German defensive posigunnery spotters managed to get ashore the American sector. Thi s meant that the tions were di slodged one by one . The with radios, naval arti ll ery fire was ef- seas were not as rough on the landing Battle fo r France was far from over, but as fectively directed to the stro ng-points craft or the DD tanks . Despite areas of the Mulberry po1ts became operational guarding the beach ex its in the draws. strong German resistance , most of the and the men and materials that would Beyond the western end of the beach a DDs got ashore and provided immediate eventually sweep across France and into large coastal battery which had proved counter-battery fire. The British had also Germany poured ashore , the end of the immune to air and sea bombardment developed a number of other specialized war in Europe came in sight . now came under direct fire from the vehicles known as "fu nnies" to clear huge guns of the battl eship USS Texas, mine fields, destroy pill boxes , traverse Jerry Roberts is Senior C urato r at the whi ch literall y bl asted the cliff, along antitank ditches and shoot fl ames into Intrepid Mus eum in New Yo rk and is currently preparing the M useum 's D-Day with the German batte ry , into the sea. enemy gun emplacements. Omaha suffered the heaviest casualThe British were able to move inland exhibit which will op en on 6 Jun e. Photo ties on D-Day with I 000 dead and 3000 quickly and deploy a defensive perimeter research fo r this article was conducted injured . However, by the end of the day in anticipation of the expected main Ger- by Sea History editor Kevin H aydon.
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SEA HISTORY 69 , SPRING 1994