Original D Day Date example essay topic

The Day of Defeat Operation Overlord, more commonly known as D-day, took place on June sixth, 1944; though, it was not originally planned to happen when it did. In August 1943, "President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, meeting in Quebec, Casablanca, or at Yalta with Stalin, would approve or disapprove these plans. One of the first decisions to be made was the agreement to defeat Germany first and fight a holding action in the Pacific until Hitler fell". (Dank, 7). They agreed that an invasion of Western Europe would be appropriate, almost a necessity, to defeat Germany, and they felt early May would be the proper time for such an undertaking, which was unprecedented at this time in world history due to its sheer size and scope. This would allow enough time for the detailed planning of the invasion, the practicing of paratrooper drops, the build up of troops, and the never ending briefings.

After additional planning, the leaders decided that, in the best interests of the invasion, it should be postponed until a later date. .".. this operation is fraught with hazards. Unless these hazards are squarely faced and adequately overcome, the operation cannot succeed. There is no reason why they should not be overcome, provided the energies of all concerned are bent to the problem". (web). The date that the invasion would finally take place would be June sixth. June sixth was chosen as the date for Operation Overlord because of many factors which included; a lack of troops that would be available at the original set date; tidal conditions; weather; and a late rising moon. Originally the invasion was going to take place sometime in early May, but when early May approached some of the troops were still engaged in battles elsewhere and would not be available by the time the invasion was scheduled to take place.

If the invasion was to have been carried out when it was originally planned, the troops would have had to have been spread so thinly, in an attempt to try and cover for absent troops, that the outcome of the mission might have been jeopardized. Since every man was needed for the invasion to succeed it was decided to delay the start date. This invasion would be either a victory over Hitler, or an unfathomable defeat. No matter which outcome, there was going to be a large fatality rate and every man had to be present for it to succeed.

A new date had to be chosen, and it had to be sometime in the near future since troop buildup had already begun and there was concern that Hitler would discover this and prepare for the upcoming invasion. There were many conditions that had to be factored into the selection of a date, and June sixth was the soonest date available that had conditions favorable to the success of the mission. One condition that was necessary was low tide. The tide had to be low in order for the ships to drop soldiers behind obstacles placed under water.

"Since Hitler's Atlantic wall was not completed and would not be sufficient enough to halt the invasion" (web), Field Marshal Rommel ordered huge obstacles to be placed under the water around the Normandy shore, so that any invasion would be harder to carry out. They used concrete walls, large steel beams, war debris from the first World War, and just about anything that could be piled up to create an underwater barrier. With the low tide, the allied soldiers and artillery could use the debris as protection from the massive amounts of gunfire they were expecting to encounter. June sixth was the first of four days that would have a low tide, which allowed the invasion to happen the first day, and if successful, supplies could then be shipped in the next three. June sixth was also a day that was going to have nice weather. The sun was going to be out, and a light breeze was going to be blowing inland; all around it was going to be a nice day.

These were the best conditions for fighting because the troops would not be slowed down by rain soaked sand, and there would not be any sand storms that could get in their eyes or jam their guns. The light breeze that was forecast to be blowing inland would clear the beaches of the smoke screens that would be laid down and drift the smoke into the German defenses. The next three days were forecast to have the same conditions, which meant supplies and reinforcements, could be shipped in clear weather. "The stormy weather [of the preceding week had] lulled the Germans into a false state of security. They never expected that the allies would be daring enough to attempt a landing in such weather". (web) A late rising moon was not a necessity, but the paratrooper's safety was greatly increased because of it. A late rising moon meant there would be a longer delay between when the sun went down and when the moon came out.

During this window of time, it would be completely black, and the enemy would not be able to see the dropping paratroopers. After the paratroopers landed the moon would then come out and they would have usable light to maneuver to their destinations. "18,000 paratroopers wanted a late rising moon" (web m / prep. html). Since the Allies were not ready when the original D-Day date approached, a new date had to be selected. Many factors were considered in the selection of a new date, and June sixth was chosen as the soonest date that had conditions favorable to the success of the mission.

Since Field Marshal Rommel had ordered debris to be dumped in the water around the Normandy shore, creating huge obstacles, one condition was absolutely essential to the Allies; low tide. The tide had to be low to allow allied troops to deploy from landing craft behind the obstacles placed under water. The light breeze that was forecast would clear the beaches of the smoke screens that the Allies would lay down, and a late rising moon was a definite benefit, as it would greatly increase the paratroopers's af ety, since the enemy would not be able to see them. Works Cite do Dank, Milton.

Turning Point of World War II. New York: Franklin Watts, 1984. o "Outline of Operation Overlord" Section VII web 17 April 2003 o "D-Day: Operation Overlord" web 23 April 2003 o "Preparations" web m / prep. html 23 April 2003.