June 6, 1944 - D-Day

Today is the 62nd anniversary of the Allied assault on the beaches of Normandy, codenamed Operation Overlord, in an effort to penetrate the Atlantic Wall and begin the invasion of Europe.

D-Day was a turning point in the war, at the cost of great life.

The Allied forces lost 53,700 lives and had 155,000 wounded men, while Germany had 200,000 dead and wounded, as well as another 200,000 men captured.

A moment of silence for the fallen.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d145/Rexus1214/57be1519.jpg

As for the discussion...what do you think made Operation Overlord such a success? There's a few rather obvious reasons, but then there's always personal opinion. So, let's have it!

a lot of luck!

More like a lot of strategy....is the pic from Omaha beach?

A lot of stupidity on the Germans part.

Originally posted by Fire
a lot of luck!

Originally posted by WrathfulDwarf
More like a lot of strategy

Originally posted by Darth Macabre
A lot of stupidity on the Germans part.

I would have to say a generous portion of all three plus the incredible fortitude of the British, Canadian and American soldiers.

If anyone is interested in the Canadians' efforts at Juno beach (I doubt it's taught outside of Canada) just check out this site.

They landed on the second most defended and difficult beach (Omaha being the first). The 1st Hussars ( of London, Ont.) were the only allied regiment to complete all of their objectives and by the end of the day the 3rd Canadian Division had penetrated farther into France than any other Allied force.

WD I won't ignore the fact that overlord was a good piece of strategy but there was also quite a lot of luck (from the germans making bad decisions) involved in the victory, certainly on Dday itself

I'm not such a believer in luck when it comes to military strategy...however, if by luck you mean motivation and determination...then yeah, I agree with that...

No I mean that if the germans had had their armor on the beach then it would have been a different story. Atleas that's my take on it. other things like the lack of airsupport and lack of backup troops was good planning from the allies.

The lack of armor was just german stupidity and luck for allied command

Originally posted by WrathfulDwarf
I'm not such a believer in luck when it comes to military strategy...however, if by luck you mean motivation and determination...then yeah, I agree with that...

Although "luck" is a sketchy term to use. Weather, wind and other fudge factors can come into play that can drastically affect military strategies.

Originally posted by Fire
No I mean that if the germans had had their armor on the beach then it would have been a different story. Atleas that's my take on it. other things like the lack of airsupport and lack of backup troops was good planning from the allies.

The lack of armor was just german stupidity and luck for allied command

But in way I think they got a pretty good "heads up! we're coming at you" warning from the allies. Overload included a lot of early air attacks prior to the amphibian attack. Maybe there was lack of communication or carelessness on the part of the germans. I might read more about it. Battles are not my strong on WWII history.

Originally posted by Fire
No I mean that if the germans had had their armor on the beach then it would have been a different story. Atleas that's my take on it. other things like the lack of airsupport and lack of backup troops was good planning from the allies.

The lack of armor was just german stupidity and luck for allied command

The Germans had the armour but it was under Hitler's control and the big mistake here was No one dare wake Hitler up from his sleep. And when the Germans finally acted it was far too late in the day.

I know, but for the soldiers defending the atlantic wall, it didn't matter for which reason the armor wasn't there.

*Silence for the fallen heroes* cry

Preparation. Repeat that word as many times as you can, and that is how it was done. it';s also why the Germas could never have done the reverse; they didn't have the materials to prepare as the Allies did.

True, good thing The US joined in

Preparation is good a point. 👆

Official history has been tampered with in the most extraordinary way, so that
we continue to see the world in the childlike simplicity of good and evil, heroes and villains. It is rarely like that.

Originally posted by Deano
Official history has been tampered with in the most extraordinary way, so that
we continue to see the world in the childlike simplicity of good and evil, heroes and villains. It is rarely like that.

Go back to your conspiracy thread and stop contaminating good discussions.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Preparation. Repeat that word as many times as you can, and that is how it was done. it';s also why the Germas could never have done the reverse; they didn't have the materials to prepare as the Allies did.

Amen to that. I read that the US was so savvy when it came for preparation for D-Day, that weeks before the assault they had spies secretly drop by the beach in the dead of night to collect buried sand. Why would the US do this? Because the sand was brought back for scientists to analyze and determine just how much weight the beach could support when it came to tanks, jeeps, and so on. Now that is preparation.