D-Day 1944 and Gen. Eisenhower

By 1943, World War II was in full swing.

The United States was becoming increasingly stronger, and more savvy in wartime procedures. While we were still fighting the war on two far-flung fronts, against the Axis Powers on land, in Europe, and against the Japanese Empire on the waters of the Pacific, plans were made that the bulk of the Allies' resources would go to the war in Europe, to defeat Hitler; and then concentrate on Japan, which the authorities knew would mean a most difficult invasion of the Japanese mainland.

Hitler's German forces, meantime, were having their own two front problems. The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union had bogged down. The Russians were taking tremendous losses, but had effectively stalled the German invasion in the east. In the west Hitler realized that there was going to be an invasion of the continent, and warned his generals of such an event. Hitler's best guess was that the invasion would come in the spring of 1944, and his troops were making strides to fortify facilities on the Atlantic coast. The problem was that the Nazis did not know just where the invasion would occur. It could be anyplace, from Norway in the north, to Italy, or France, in the Mediterranean south.

There was considerable speculation about who would be the commander of the Allies' invasion force. America's entry into the war and its giant military presence dictated that the leader would be an American, but who?

In 1944 General Eisenhower was certainly not among the top military men in the American Army. He had served his time, in a number of assignments since his graduation from West Point in 1915. He was a junior officer during World War I, and did not rise above the rank of Major until 1941, on the eve of World War II. In the period before World War II he had served as an aide to a number of high ranking generals, including Douglas MacArthur, John J. "Blackjack" Pershing, and George Marshall. (Some say that serving these men prepared him for handling difficult, flamboyant generals in World War II, such as General Patton and Britain's General Montgomery.)

Perhaps Eisenhower's greatest achievement in peacetime occurred in the 1920s, when he led an Army Survey team on a trip across America, to find out if a system of transcontinental highways was feasible. This Survey led to the creation of the Interstate system of highways we know today, which Eisenhower pushed through when he became President. That Interstate system of roads was designed to first move large numbers of troops and equipment over vast distances in the United States, in the shortest amount of time possible. Commercial, civilian traffic would always take a back seat to military requirements for the Interstate.

Dwight Eisenhower might have been a dark horse candidate to lead the Allied Forces in World War II, but he had the backing of Army chief of staff George Marshall, who recognized Eisenhower as "not boisterous, but willful." Marshall enabled Ike to step into the role for which he was "predetermined" to handle. By dint of courage and character, he proved to be the right leader at the right time. Historians have called Eisenhower "The second Washington," the indispensable man of World War II. The Invasion of Normandy saw Eisenhower at his finest.

The Invasion of Normandy, code name Operation Overlord, proved to be one of the largest and greatest invasions in history. Preceding the invasion 1,200 Allied planes softened up the German coastal defenses. Then, on June 6th 1944, 5,000 Allied vessels, carrying 160,000 troops. almost simultaneously hit a 50 mile stretch of beaches on the Normandy coast of France. The Americans were assigned Omaha Beach, and Utah Beach as their responsibility.

These 160,000 invading Allied troops came ashore in boats designed by a Nebraskan, named Higgins Landing Craft, an invention, which General Eisenhower called, "The Little Boat that Won World War II." Eisenhower went on to expand his statement, "If Higgins had not invented that LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel) we could never have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different. The Higgins boat broke the gridlock on the ship to shore movement. It is impossible to overstate the tactical advantage that this craft gave allied commanders in World War II."

The Higgins Landing craft was a unique little boat, 36 feet in length, with a beam of 10 feet 10 inches. It was made of both steel and wood, and defended by two 30 caliber machine guns. It could carry 36 fully equipped infantrymen, or 8,000 pounds of cargo. It was not especially maneuverable, but its shallow draft allowed it to run right onto to beach. Having proved its worth in numerous landings, the government ordered many of these little boats, and by the end of the war, Mr. Higgins's factory in New Orleans had produced over 23,000 LCVPs.

Of interest locally, is the fact that one crew member, handling one of these D-Day invasion boats, was an 18 year old Navy man, Amur Huff, from McCook, who later spent his entire career as McCook's favorite "Milk Man."

Heavy winds had blown the invasion craft off their course a bit, making the landings that much more difficult. Casualties were especially heavy at Omaha Beach, the sector of beach that had been assigned to American troops, attacking the high cliffs leading from the beach to the French countryside. The Germans, commanded by General Rommel, of North Africa fame, had placed heavy armaments on these cliffs, which were able to rake the beaches below with murderous gunfire. Coupled with the heavy gunfire, the beaches were heavily mined, and guarded with metal and wooden stakes and barbed wire, compounding the difficulties.

The Allies did not achieve even one of their objectives on the first day of the invasion. The little cities of St. Lo, Carnetan, and Bayeaux remained in German hands, and Caen, the major city of the region was not captured until July 21st. The Germans, firing from the high ground lost 1,000 men in the battle, the Allies ten times that number, with 4,400 confirmed dead.

But the Allied troops had made a foothold on those beaches, and held their positions tenaciously.

Gradually the Allies expanded their foothold on the Normandy Beaches.. By the end of June over 800,000 allied troops had landed on the Normandy beaches. By June 21st they had entered Cherbourg, and on July 21st they captured Caen, both key area strongholds. The Germans made a major counter attack on August 8th. The attack failed, resulting in the trapping of 50,000 German soldiers in a pocket at Falaise. On August 15th the Allies made their long awaited invasion of southern France. The liberation of Paris followed on August 25th. When Eisenhower's forces pushed the retreating German army back across the Seine River, they were able to announce that Operation Overlord (the invasion of Normandy) was officially (successfully) over.

This largest seaborne invasion in history, with nearly 5,000 landing and assault craft, 289 escort vessels, 277 minesweepers taking part, drew troops away from the eastern front against the Soviets, and very much shortened the war in Europe.

But the Normandy landings were achieved only with heavy casualties on both sides. From D-Day through August, the Allies landed some 2 million troops in northern France. The American Army suffered some 124,394 casualties, including 20,668 dead. The Canadians and British suffered 83,045 casualties, including 15,995 killed. The USAF and RAF flew some 480,317 missions in support of the landings, suffering 4,101 lost aircraft and 16,714 lost airmen.

On the German side losses are almost beyond comprehension. Between D-Day and the end of August, German losses on the Western Front are estimated between 400,000 and 500,000, including 290,000 killed or wounded and 210,000 captured.

Totaling the losses on both sides, it is difficult to comprehend that number of young men on both sides of the conflict who lost their lives in that struggle. In Germany they refer to the years of World War II as "The Lost Generation of German Youth."

We could certainly justify using a similar analogy regarding our own losses.