MADE BY BRITISH 50 T H INFANTRY SOLIDER: PALMER RENOLDS

D-Day Scrapbook

Timeline

This timeline represents the events that occurred in order on D-day. (Note: hours in military time). As I arrived at Normandy I was on two days of no sleep yet I had so much ambition to fight for my country. I was dropped off by a British assault boat and met by heavy German artillery. It had taken the allied forces about a day to finally overcome the Nazi forces set up on the large hills. About 25,000 troops were deployed on gold beach, one of the five sectors of Normandy beach. Most of these were British soldiers at gold beach and about 1,000 casualties were claimed in our push to knock out the German occupying forces.

Allied invasion opens

The newspaper states the storming of the beach of Normandy as this was know as Operation Overlord. This mission was to launch an allied invasion into German occupied France. The operation commended on June 6, 1944 where a 12,000 airborne and 7,000 vessel assault commenced. About 160,000 troops crossed the English channel on D-day and about three million allied troops in France by the end of August. The amphibious attack was a success but costly due to the large amounts of casualties. As I stormed the beaches I could see that the ocean had turned a velvet red color. Many men had not even made it from the beach due to the heavy artillery and high placed German soldiers across Normandy.

Allied forces letter

The document to the right is an official letter from president Dwight D. Eisenhower to the soldiers of the allied forces. The letter was sent to me on June 5th, 1944, the day before our invasion. This document encouraged hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers to share courage and that victory was our only option. This letter gave me the essential encouragement and devotion I needed to succeed in our mission of taking back France from Nazi forces. This letter was the motivation for the victories at Normandy and carrying out Operation Overlord.

Artifact 1: Artillery

This artifact is a weapon used by German and allied forces which produced a rapid amount of exploding bullets. These weapons were effective against tanks and aircraft which could not be taken down by normal gunfire. Many of the British vessels at gold beach were destroyed because the German artillery being fired. These weapons were know for there heavy fire and were usually manned by 2-4 men.

Diary entry

This was one of my many diary entry's which relates to the invasion of Normandy and how I am writing to my father back home in Britain. I write about my fears of dying and men I see suffer but don’t know why it happens. I'm afraid my own life will be taken and I wont be remembered, but my perseverance and love for my country continue on and that is what I fight for. I've made many American and French friends which have supported me in my times of struggle.

Artifact 2:

This British/American aircraft is called a Douglous C-47 Skytrain . It was a military transport aircraft developed to transport troops, cargo and the wounded. It was also significant to the fact that it dropped paratroopers. This plane was vital to the invasion due to transporting troops. The stripes on the plane were also significant. These stripes were called Invasion Stripes(alternating black and white stripes on allied force aircrafts. The purpose of these was to have recognition by friendly forces, or too reduce friendly fire incidents.

Invasion

1st picture: British soldiers and I try to get ashore as our transport was eliminated. Many of the men were wounded due to German artillery and gunfire.

2nd picture: the allied forces struggle to push across German-occupied France. Tanks fire at Nazi forces on the beach of Normandy. Smoke arises from weaponry consistently firing. Men help wounded soldiers while other carefully aim to assassinate each Nazi at a time.

Bibliography

"American Experience | D-Day." PBS. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.

D-Day, the Normandy Invasion, 6-25 June 1944." Naval History and Heritage Command. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.

"D-Day: Operation Overlord - Features on Thehistorychannel.co.uk." Welcome to The HistoryChannel.co.uk :: Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2014

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