d-day – june 6, 1944

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D-Day – June 6, 1944

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D-Day – June 6, 1944. Eisenhower Plans the Invasion. Operation Overlord was the code name given to the Allied invasion of France It involved landing 21 American divisions and 26 British, Canadian, and Polish divisions on Normandy Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The Dummy Army. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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D-Day June 6, 1944

D-Day June 6, 1944Eisenhower Plans the InvasionOperation Overlord was the code name given to the Allied invasion of FranceIt involved landing 21 American divisions and 26 British, Canadian, and Polish divisions on NormandyUtah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword

The Dummy ArmyThe Allies set up a fake army in Dover, 21 miles across the English Channel from Calais, FranceThis dummy army used cardboard tanks, useless ships, and detectable radio trafficThe deception worked and Hitler ordered his top tank division to Calais

Heroes Storm the BeachesMore than 11,000 planes prepared the beachesOn four of the beaches, the landings were lightly opposed with few casualtiesOn Omaha beach, the Germans had dug trenches and built heavily artillery nestsMines were hidden all along the beach

The Struggle to Take the BeachThe American forces there suffered numerous casualties from the gunfire, the mines, the bombs, and drowningOne writer called D-Day the longest dayBy the end of the day, the Allies gained a toehold in FranceWithin a month, more than 1 million Allied troops landed at NormandyAllies AdvanceIn August of 1944, the Allies had liberated ParisHitler ordered the capital destroyed by retreating armies, but the leaders disobeyed and left the city of lights as beautiful as theyd found itOn July 20, 1944, a German officer planted a bomb at Hitler headquartersThe explosion killed or wounded 20 people, but Hitler survivedGeneral Rommel (Desert Fox) took poison to escape being put on trialClaus von Stauffenberg

Germany CounterattacksIn December of 1944, Hitler organized a counterattack in the ArdennesHitlers plan had English-speaking German soldiers disguise themselves and cut phone lines and disrupt communicationThe Battle of the Bulge Almost succeeded

The Germans are DefeatedThe Germans caught the allies by surpriseThe Americans fought the Germans back at Bastogne and held off German forces until the sky was clear enough for air supportThe battle was a desperate attempt by Hitler to drive a wedge between American and British forcesAllies Push to VictoryIn January, the Soviet Army reached the Oder River outside BerlinThe Allies advanced north through ItalyIn April 1945, Mussolini tried to flee to Switzerland, but was captured and hung in Italy at a gas stationAllied forces had crossed the Rhine River into Germany and reached the Elbe River (50 miles from Berlin)

Hitler Falls in BerlinHitler had been shaken by tremors, paranoid from drugs, and kept alive by mad dreams of victoryHe gave orders nobody followed and planned campaigns nobody would fightOn April 30, 1945, Hitler had committed suicide along with a dozen of his closest friendsOn May 7, 1945, Germany surrenderedFDR had died a few weeks earlier, however, and Harry S. Truman was to see the nation through to final victory