Thursday, March 15, 2018

44-6-6 D-Day - June 6, 1944

44-6-6 D-Day - June 6, 1944


D-Day: Plan of Operations on 6 June, 1944 .
24-6-4 D-Day Shipping: Battle of Atlantic, Liberty Ships, LSTs - Shipping > .
Lies and Deceptions that made D-Day possible - IWM > .
On D-Day what did the Germans know? > .
Western Front 1944-45: 1/2 - Animated History > .

Analog & Digital Computing  
Logistics of D-Day ..

The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later Europe) from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.

Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion.

The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 US, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialised tanks.

The Allies failed to achieve any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until 12 June; however, the operation gained a foothold which the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings .

British Army in Europe 44-45 >> .

Allied Controlled Territory following the Invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944 - August 21, 1944 > .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e1ZMHed5cU .

Monday, February 26, 2018

43-7-5 Unternehmen Zitadelle - Battle of Kursk

Unternehmen Zitadelle 

The Battle of Kursk was a Second World War engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk (450 kilometres or 280 miles south-west of Moscow) in the Soviet Union, during July and August 1943. The battle began with the launch of the German offensive, Operation Citadel (German: Unternehmen Zitadelle), on 5 July, which had the objective of pinching off the Kursk salient with attacks on the base of the salient from north and south simultaneously. After the German offensive stalled on the northern side of the salient, on 12 July the Soviets commenced their Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Kutuzov (Russian: Кутузов) against the rear of the German forces in the northern side. On the southern side, the Soviets also launched powerful counterattacks the same day, one of which led to a large armoured clash, the Battle of Prokhorovka. On 3 August, the Soviets began the second phase of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev (Russian: Полководец Румянцев) against the German forces in the southern side of the Kursk salient.

The battle was the final strategic offensive that the Germans were able to launch on the Eastern Front. Because the Allied invasion of Sicily had begun, Adolf Hitler was forced to have troops training in France diverted to meet the Allied threat in the Mediterranean, rather than use them as a strategic reserve for the Eastern Front. Hitler canceled the offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy. Germany's extensive losses of men and tanks ensured that the victorious Soviet Red Army enjoyed the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war.

The Germans hoped to weaken the Soviet offensive potential for the summer of 1943 by cutting off the forces that they anticipated would be in the Kursk salient. The Kursk salient or bulge was 250 kilometres (160 mi) long from north to south and 160 kilometres (99 mi) from east to west. The plan envisioned an envelopment by a pair of pincers breaking through the northern and southern flanks of the salient. Hitler believed that a victory here would reassert German strength and improve his prestige with his allies, who were considering withdrawing from the war. It was also hoped that large numbers of Soviet prisoners would be captured to be used as slave labour in the German armaments industry.

The Soviet government had foreknowledge of the German intentions, provided in part by the British intelligence service and Tunny intercepts. Aware months in advance that the attack would fall on the neck of the Kursk salient, the Soviets built a defence in depth designed to wear down the German armoured spearhead. The Germans delayed the offensive while they tried to build up their forces and waited for new weapons, mainly the new Panther tank but also larger numbers of the Tiger heavy tank. This gave the Red Army time to construct a series of deep defensive belts. The defensive preparations included minefields, fortifications, artillery fire zones and anti-tank strong points, which extended approximately 300 km (190 mi) in depth. Soviet mobile formations were moved out of the salient and a large reserve force was formed for strategic counter-offensives.

The Battle of Kursk was the first time in the Second World War that a German strategic offensive was halted before it could break through enemy defences and penetrate to its strategic depths. The maximum depth of the German advance was 8–12 kilometres (5.0–7.5 mi) in the north and 35 kilometres (22 mi) in the south. Though the Red Army had succeeded in winter offensives previously, their counter-offensives following the German attack at Kursk were their first successful strategic summer offensives of the war.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

43-5-16 Dambusters - Operation Chastise


Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently publicised as the "Dam Busters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis. The Möhne and Edersee Dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley; the Sorpe Dam sustained only minor damage. Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed and several more were damaged. Factories and mines were also either damaged or destroyed. An estimated 1,600 civilians drowned: about 600 Germans and 1,000 mainly Soviet forced-labourers. The damage was mitigated by rapid repairs by the Germans, but production did not completely return to normal until September.


43-5-16 Dambusters

"At 7.30am on 17 May 1943, Flying Officer Jerry Fray took off in his photo-reconnaissance Spitfire for a damage assessment sortie over Germany. At 30,000 feet and about 100 miles from the Ruhr, he could see what looked like a bank of cloud to his east, but as he flew closer he realised it was the sun glinting on the mass of water that filled the valley below the Möhne dam.

He was stunned by the fact that the floodwater was about a mile wide in the valley and was still gushing through a massive breach in the dam wall. He was overcome by the immensity of the destruction below him and wondered ‘if the powers that be realised just how much damage had been done’.

He took a series of photos and then went on to the Eder valley, where the damage and flooding looked even more extensive. He took a second set of photos and then spotted two enemy aircraft approaching. So he turned and in his un-armed photo-recon Spitfire headed for home at full speed."

The pin-sharp aerial photos Fray took were on the front page of every British newspaper the following morning. A short communiqué issued by the Air Ministry outlined the targets as three Ruhr dams and added, ‘The attacks were pressed home from a very low level with great determination and coolness in the face of fierce resistance.’

Realising how important the dams were to the supply of water and hydro-electric power for the coke ovens and steel mills at the heart of the German war economy, the press went into overdrive. The Daily Telegraph proclaimed on its front page, ‘With one single blow the RAF has precipitated what may prove to be the greatest industrial disaster yet inflicted on Germany in this war.’ The legend of the Dam Busters was born.

The story of how a brilliant but whacky inventor, Barnes Wallis, comes up with the idea of a bouncing bomb and of how a new squadron of some of the best fliers in the RAF, 617 Squadron, is put together under Wing Commander Guy Gibson to carry out the daring, high-risk mission to bomb the dams is well known. The raid has probably become the most famous RAF bombing mission of the war. That is partly down to the success of one of the best British war films ever produced. The Dam Busters was premiered on the 12th anniversary of the raid in May 1955. It still feels real and is compelling viewing nearly 60 years later.

Gliders at Fort Eben-Emael
https://youtu.be/hkBLJoWz-ew?t=37s
St Nazaire Raid
https://youtu.be/hkBLJoWz-ew?t=2m30s
Operation Frankton
https://youtu.be/hkBLJoWz-ew?t=4m
Alexandria Raid
https://youtu.be/hkBLJoWz-ew?t=5m20s
Doolittle Raid
https://youtu.be/hkBLJoWz-ew?t=6m30s
Telemark Raid
https://youtu.be/hkBLJoWz-ew?t=8m4s
Operation Vengeance
https://youtu.be/hkBLJoWz-ew?t=9m46s .


BBC Timewatch - Dambusters - The Race to Smash the German Dams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DHtLkx6f6M

Johnny Johnson talks about Guy Gibson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL0ptasNvtE

The Last Dambuster - Johnny Johnson - Dan Snow's History Hit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwl5uebP_5E .

sī vīs pācem, parā bellum

igitur quī dēsīderat pācem praeparet bellum    therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war sī vīs pācem, parā bellum if you wan...