Read D-Day part one here: Planning

Read D-Day part two here:  Airborne assault

Read D-Day part three here: The Beaches of Normandy

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As the Allies continued their build-up in Normandy, the light number of Allied divisions that participated on June 6 kept many in the German leadership convinced the attack was a diversion. As a result, they were reluctant to move forces from the Pas de Calais to Normandy. On June 6, German Field Marshal Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt requested permission to move two panzer divisions to Normandy, but Hitler was asleep when his headquarters received the request and no one dared to wake him. The approval came 12 hours later, with several more hours passing as the divisions mobilized.

After 10 days, the Allies had about 500,000 men in Normandy. During that same time frame, the German presence in Normandy increased from six infantry divisions and one panzer division to 14 infantry and nine panzer divisions.

By the end of June, Allied presence in Normandy increased to 1 million military personnel.

Hedgerow Hell

As the British and Canadians continued their push on Caen, the Americans fought to capture the port city of Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula and the city of Saint-Lô, a critical road juncture that would unite Cherbourg and Caen. But as they pushed into Normandy, they encountered a new problem: hedgerows.

Properties along Normandy were divided by hedgerows, some several hundred years old, which had grown thick overtime. The hedgerows proved to be good cover for the Germans; many Allied forces found themselves under attack by hidden machine guns and artillery. Some of the hedgerows were so thick that they required the use of tanks to blast through them.

Having trained mainly for attacking the beachheads, the advancing Allies found themselves unprepared to deal with the hedgerows. It took the ingenuity of officers and enlisted men alike for the Allies to ultimately be victorious in the hedgerows.

Break out

The American VII Corps, led by General “Lightning Joe” Lawton Collins, pushed into the Cotentin Peninsula, capturing Cherbourg on June 27 after encountering heavy German resistance. Before surrendering the Germans destroyed the city’s port installations and blocked the harbor with sunken ships. It was not until July 16 that the Allies could use the port.

Collins then turned his attention to Saint-Lô, capturing the city after fierce fighting on July 18. On the eastern flank, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s forces captured Caen on July 20.

With the three cities captured, the Allied position in Normandy was bolstered. The Allies then moved to break out through the German defenses and begin their drive to Paris and Germany. The Germans were convinced the Allies would attempt to break out at Caen, thus the German high command strengthened its forces in the area.

On July 25, the American First Army, led by General Omar Bradley, exploited a weak spot of the German Seventh Army and broke through at Saint-Lô, creating a gap in the German position. The American Third Army, led by General George Patton, swept through the gap, driving east across France. In response, Hitler ordered the Seventh Army to attack the American flank at Mortain. The attack failed, and the Seventh Army found itself threatened by the Americans in the south and the British and Canadians in the north.

Closing the trap

Bradley hoped to prevent the German Seventh Army from escaping, so he ordered several elements of First and Third Army to swing north and link up with the Canadian First Army, who were attacking south from Falaise. The link up, however, proved slow. The Canadians encountered heavy resistance, while Bradley ordered his men to slow down out of concern they might collide with the Canadians in the field. The delay allowed 35,000 German troops to escape.

Nevertheless, on Aug. 19, the Allies linked up, trapping the remaining Germans inside the “Falaise Pocket.” In what General Dwight Eisenhower dubbed a “killing ground,” 10,000 Germans were killed. Pilots conducting strafing attacks against the German forces during the battle later attested to being able to smell the dead bodies from the air. An additional 50,000 Germans surrendered.

The victory allowed Patton to drive his forces across the Seine River toward the German border. This eliminated any attempts by the Germans to make a stand or counterattack along the Seine.

The Allied position in France was secured.

Consequences

From the invasion of Normandy to the Germans retreating across the Seine, Allied forces suffered roughly 209,000 casualties. In contrast, the Germans sustained approximately 216,000 casualties with an additional 200,000 captured. The true numbers, however, are unknown.

While the success of the Normandy invasion and the subsequent campaign did not necessarily determine the outcome of the war, it no doubt hastened the end. Had the invasion failed, it is unknown if the Western Allies would have tried again or focused their attention back to the Mediterranean. If they attempted another landing, it would take time before preparations were complete.

What is clear is the invasion’s success proved vital in the Cold War that followed World War II. The Soviet Red Army had been pushing the Germans back on the Eastern Front with victories at Stalingrad, Kursk, Moscow and Belorussia. Had the invasion failed, the Soviet Union may have dominated most of Europe after the war, giving them a significant advantage in the ensuing Cold War. The successful invasion, followed by the Western Allies’ drive through France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Western Germany, prevented that from happening.