Normandy American Memorial

The Assault and the Beachhead , Many months of planning and detailed preparation preceded the Allied landings in Normandy. The air bombardment to isolate the battlefield began in March 1944. During the next three months the Allied air forces, by systematically bombing bridges and rail centers, disrupted all forms of transportation between the Seine and the Loire; meanwhile strategic air operations were continued deep into enemy territory to compel the German Air Force to remain on the defensive., In the darkness of the early morning hours of 6 June three airborne divisions (the British 6, the U.S. 82d and 101st) dropped beyond the beaches to destroy enemy forces and to cover the deployment of the seaborne assault troops. Simultaneously the Allied naval forces swept the English Channel of mines and preceded the assault vessels to the landing areas. At 0630 hours, under cover of naval gunfire and air bombardment, six U.S., British and Canadian divisions landed in the greatest amphibious assault recorded in history., At Utah Beach, the U.S. 4th Division pushed rapidly inland to join the U.S. airborne divisions. At Omaha Beach, progress of the U.S. 1st and 29th divisions was slower, casualties were heavier, the fighting bitter. On Gold, Juno and Sword beaches, the British and Canadians forged steadily ahead. Within a week, under cover of continuous naval gunfire and air support, the individual beachheads had been linked together., Meanwhile, naval personnel were establishing temporary anchorages and artificial harbors by sinking ships and prefabricated concrete caissons. These expedients were of priceless aid in the unloading of troops and cargo over the unsheltered beaches., The Allied armies grew rapidly in strength. Driving northward, American forces, aided by strong naval and air bombardment, freed Cherbourg on 26 June. On 9 July, the British and Canadians fought their way into Caen: nine days later U.S. units took St. Lo. The Allies could now unleash their planned attack to break out of the beachhead. While British forces heavily engaged the enemy on the Allied left flank, American troops west of St. Lo undertook the major effort to drive through the enemy defenses. On 25 July, following a paralyzing bombardment by the U.S. Eighth and Ninth Air Forces and the Royal Air Force, the U.S. 4th, 9th and 30th Divisions opened a gap in the enemy line which was promptly exploited by the 1st Infantry and 2d and 3d Armored Divisions. Other American forces progressively added their efforts, liberating Coutances on 28 july. In a week the drive had cleared Avranches. , After nearly two months confinement to the beachhead area, the Allied armies had finally broken into the open and were moving forward on a broad front., From Normandy to the Elbe , Reacting to the break-out by the Allied forces from the Normandy beachhead, the enemy launched a counteratack toward Avranches with the desperate hope of cutting of our advancing columns, but was repulsed with heavy losses. Thereupon, the American forces swung northward toward Argentan while at the same time the British and Canadians advance southward on Falaise, threatened with encirclement, the enemy turned back. Harassed by aircraft, hammered incessantly by artillery, his retreat became a rout. By 22 august, the pocket was eliminated., Preceded by aircraft of the US Eighth and Ninth Air Forces and the British Second Tactical Air Force, whose constant attacks hastened teh disorganization of the retreating enemy, the Allied armies crossed the Seine, liberated Paris, and swept onward as the distance from Normandy increased the supply problem became acute. Strong enemy garrisons still held most of the channel ports. Thus placing a tremendous burden upon our limited harbor facilities, the adachievement of Army and Navy supply services in sustaining the advancing armies contributed vitally to the liberation of northern France., By mid-September, British and Canadian troops had freed Brussels and Antwerp and entered the Netherlands. The U.S. First Army had swept across Belgium and Luxembourg to the German border, while the Third Army, aided by airborne supply, reached the Moselle in a rapid advance. In Brittany the garrison of Brest surrendered to the newly activated Ninth Army on 18 September. On the right flank the U.S. Seventh and French First Armies, supported by the U.S. First Tactical Air Force, advanced from the beaches of southern France to extend the Allied front solidly to the Swiss frontier., Progress in the next three months was slow, the fighting bitter, as opposition stifferened. A minor advance was effected in the Netherlands when the Allied First Airborne Army landed in the Arnhem-Eindhoven area in a valiant but unsuccessful effort to seize the crossings of the lower Rhine; there followed a series of gallant amphibious operations to clear the water approaches to the port of Antwerp. In the center, American troops broke through the Siegfried Line, seized Aachen, and fought their way to the Roer River. Farther south the fortress of Metz capitulated after a bitter struggle, while on the right flank the Americans and French reached the Rhine at Strasbourg and Mulhouse., In the Ardennes on 16 December the enemy launched his final major counter-offensive, unleashing three armies on a narrow front. The stalwart defense and the superb fighting skill of the American soldier finally halted this drive. Prompt and continuous countermeasures by ground and air forces succeeded in eliminating the German salient by mid-January. On New Year's Eve an enemy attack near Colmar was also repulsed after a furious struggle., Allied operations to clear the west bank of the Rhine in February and early March were brilliantly successful, the armies intended for the defense of Germany were shattered beyond repair. In rapid succession, our forces then seized a bridge at Remagen, forced a crossing at Oppenheim, and staged their major amphibious and airborne assault north of the Ruhr Valley. As our ground forces rushed eastward, preceded by aircraft which harassed and demoralized the retreating enemy, the Ruhr was encircled in a gigantic double envelopment. Sweeping through Germany, the Allied armies met the advancing troops of the U.S.S.R. at the Elbe. His forces having completely disintegrated, the enemy capitulated on 8 May 1945, thus bringing to an end the campaign begun eleven months before on the beaches of Normandy., The Development of the Global War , 1941 – 1945 , These smaller maps portray the vast and decisive effort exerted by the United States of America and her allies in the many interdependent theaters of global war , They relate the major events to each other in terms of time and space,