How the Navy saved D-Day

As a historian, I’ve read a lot about our war against Hitler in Europe and I thought I knew about D-Day. I’m one of those who watch the movie. The longest day (1962) as long as it is on television. The many human stories of those who braved the beaches or parachuted inland are inspiring, especially as they are based on interviews with participants in the invasion. The story of the terrible situation on Omaha Beach was repeated in the Steven Spielberg film. Saving Private Ryan (1998), which created an even more realistic experience of what it was like to be pinned down under the cliffs of Omaha Beach.

These movies give the impression that D-Day was mostly about the men who landed on the beaches, a story centered on the armies of the countries that landed on that day. Of course, everyone knew that the Navy transported troops and supplies to the beaches. The idea of ​​the Navy playing a central role was parodied in Emily’s Americanization (1964) as an admiral decides the Navy is being ignored and wants the first man killed on Omaha Beach to be a sailor.

What drove the admiral’s orders crazy was that the D-Day planning virtually guaranteed that the first casualties of the invasion would be Navy personnel whose job it was to defuse mines and clear obstacles so soldiers and vehicles could reach the beach. A little reflection brings to mind the fact that the soldiers, their vehicles, and all the supplies the combatants needed arrived on the Normandy coast by ship.

Craig Symonds, retired from teaching history at Annapolis, makes us aware that the Navy played a much larger role in the success of the Normandy invasion than is generally acknowledged. During a key hour when everyone was pinned down on Omaha Beach, the ships provided crucial firepower in driving the troops inland. The stories of heroism of the soldiers on the beach are all true, but the significant presence of sailors among those immobilized has been overlooked. Symonds also pays attention to the years of planning before D-Day, as the Navy mission helped determine the timing of the invasion.

In Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings, Craig Symonds tells the prequel to the landings. He makes it clear that an invasion of Europe was not Churchill’s preferred strategy. The Russians were calling for an immediate landing to create a western front to relieve the pressure on their lines. Symonds brings up the delaying tactics of the British as the Americans pushed for an invasion as soon as possible. There were also very practical resource constraints as the US Navy fought major wars in the Pacific and Atlantic. A central question in planning the invasion was whether the Navy could get everything necessary for success to the right places at the right time.

Before we take a closer look at how the Navy saved D-Day, let’s examine the overall strategy. He had often read that Churchill urged attacking the “soft underbelly” of Europe by fighting in the Mediterranean. Symonds takes this further. He argues that Churchill wanted to follow a strategy similar to the one he used against Napoleon by relying on the British Navy to dominate the oceans and seaports. Attacks against the Nazis would take place on the periphery of the Mediterranean rather than on the European continent, which would save the lives of many soldiers but would also require a decade or more before Hitler’s regime would collapse from within. The Russians were very sensitive to the hints of this strategy because they were dying by the thousands and wanted help on the Continent against the German army. Meanwhile, the Americans were focused on the need for a swift invasion through France. However, they had to compromise by taking part in campaigns in the Mediterranean, as they saw that British reservations about the American army’s ability to fight the tough German soldiers were well founded. Campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, and then Italy brought even more difficulties from a cross-channel invasion. Entering the Atlantic coast of France too early was recognized as a path to tragic failure.

The landings in the Mediterranean, along with the amphibious landings in the Pacific, taught the Americans important lessons about this extremely dangerous military approach. Symonds makes us aware of many difficulties in planning and carrying out amphibious landings. One issue he stresses is the importance of landing craft: the vessels of all sizes needed to bring men and supplies to the beach and unload them ready for action. A great deal of ingenuity in the American Navy and business went into the development of an astonishing variety of naval vessels.

Manufacturing and delivering enough of those ships in time for the invasion was a crucial issue that may well have postponed the landings. Somehow, the impossible schedules were met in time for the June invasion. Personnel also had to be trained to operate those vessels and perform detailed maneuvers on D-Day to unload, return for more cargo (human, mechanical and otherwise) and continue to repeat these operations so that there was a significant force in place. the end of the first day.

Now we come to how the Navy saved D-Day. First, they saved it by sticking to difficult schedules to have equipment and supplies in the right places at the right time to launch the invasion. Making that happen takes up much of Symond’s book.

Second, we see the crucial role of the Navy in getting men and equipment to the beach. Very precise programming had to be followed when divers went ashore to clear obstacles and explode mines. Confusion due to the weather and problems with the tight schedule meant that many of these men could not get off the beach, so they huddled under the cliffs of Omaha Beach as part of the force that had to organize under fire to find a way off the beach.

After the divers came the men who piloted the landing craft. The importance of the naval personnel is indicated by the fact that those in charge of the boats (soldiers or very young officers) were in command until the troops were on the beach. This led to situations like a general wanting a pilot to land where he didn’t think it was appropriate. At the general’s command, the young pilot responded with a reminder of who was in command, and the general acknowledged that point.

One of the problems on the beach, especially in Omaha, was the number of landing craft that were disabled and crowded the beach. They were unable to return to continue transporting men and equipment as originally planned. Debris from the disabled landing craft caused many complications for other landing craft trying to find a place to dump their contents. A large number of naval personnel were also expected to remain on the landing craft which was found stranded under the cliffs of Omaha Beach with no weapons or other necessities carried by the invading troops.

Third comes a role that should have been seen more clearly in the famous D-Day movies. Symonds recounts all the things that went wrong during the invasion, as bombing from ships and air raids had almost no impact on the omaha beach. At 9:00 am some generals were thinking of withdrawing the troops because everything was completely bogged down. At this point, the destroyers moved as close to the beach as possible and fired on the Nazi strongpoints. Identifying where the German soldiers were massed was extremely difficult, but there was some coordination between the men on the beach and the ships to help pinpoint where the heavy fire originated. For an hour, the destroyers attacked German strongpoints and opened escape routes from the beach. This firepower was crucial to the success of that day, but he had not seen it recognized in the stories of how D-Day was saved.

As soldiers began finding their way out of Omaha, Symonds points to another relatively unknown story. Many of the soldiers and sailors pinned down under the cliffs began the perilous climb down the 150 foot precipice under direct German fire from above. Their success in coming out on top and overwhelming the Germans, Symonds says, is matched only by the Union charge on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga during the American Civil War.

Symonds continues the story after 6 June when the obstacles were cleared and supplies, equipment and men continued to arrive to preserve and extend the foothold created by the landing. A storm two weeks after the landing was a greater threat to success than any German counter-attack, but incredible challenges of nature were overcome to keep the soldiers supplied and on the move.

The story of Operation Neptune takes us through all the planning necessary to place the Army at the point on the beach when the active command of the invasion men shifted from the Navy to the Army. The extreme difficulty of invading fortified Europe is seen in the details of the planning and then how the invasion worked despite the inability to carry out the plan due to the weather and the results of the combat. Through the mist and mist of planning details, a story of competence and determination emerges. On the beaches, we see the Navy playing essential roles that many historians have not appreciated.

Everyone who participated in D-Day made success possible. However, the Navy played a crucial role that clearly saved the situation at Omaha Beach and actually made D-Day a success.

Reference:

Craig L. Symonds, Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014).