Curiosities 22 - Planes on D-Day
João Henrique Barboza Jorgetto • Dec 23, 2023
Operation Overlord was the largest amphibious assault in history (it's worth noting: amphibious assault is when the attack force leaves the sea towards dry land controlled by the enemy). An attack would be inevitable and planned for years due to the risk and grandeur the event would have to have.
With a quick historical explanation, it's worth understanding what stage the war was at until then. Since 1940, with the invasion of France, Hitler and his troops were winning numerous victories on the western flank. They had practically expelled the Allied forces from the Continent: France, Belgium, Holland, and Norway, the main countries involved, quickly succumbed to the powerful combined attacks between the Wehrmacht, the German army, and the Luftwaffe, the German air force. That left only England, which, being an island, presented a geographical difficulty for the Axis powers. Punished for years by intense German bombing, England resisted bravely with heroes in its aircraft, who managed to punish German bombers and inflict significant casualties on the lines of experienced pilots from the German Reich.
Returning to history, in 1943 and 1944, it was clear that the European front would have to be attacked. Intense fighting was already taking place in Italy; German forces had practically lost North Africa to the Allies, and on the Eastern European front, the Russians won important victories by pushing the Germans out of their borders. If everyone knew this, even Hitler imagined an invasion would happen at some time or another, and it could only come from the sea. Thus, looking at the map, it was clear that the route would be taken through the French region of the Calais Pass, which was the shortest distance between England and the Continent. The Allies, aware of this, made a considerable effort to simulate the attack in Calais, with gigantic quantities of inflatable tanks and fake vehicles in regions of England that suggested preparation for the invasion while the real attack force hid. In camouflage nets to attack the actual region chosen for the invasion: Normandy.
Aerial image of the "fake" allies
The Germans fell from the "grave" and concentrated their forces in this region, although many soldiers and fortifications still defended the entire French coast. The day was set for June 5th, but weather conditions from the 4th meant the operation was changed to June 6th.
Airplanes begin to play an important role well before D-Day. To prepare for the action, more than 3,000 flights carried out by the Allied Expeditionary Forces were made around the French coast, photographing at very low altitude all the movement and fortification of the areas to be invaded. So that the Germans would not immediately know where the invasion would take place, flights were carried out along the entire length of the French coast. Look at the work this operation generated. Fun fact: the British government even asked civilians to send vacation photos and postcards with images of French ports to the armed forces. More than 8 million images were obtained, mainly of ports and beaches, which ended up helping in the preparation for the attack. Then, the day has come to act. The role of planes was vital in each of the stages.
The dropping of American paratroopers into enemy lines
Undoubtedly, being a paratrooper from the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions was not the best option in the early hours of June 6th. Boarding Douglas C-47 Skytrain planes with almost their weight in equipment, they would jump behind enemy lines, literally "in the dark," without knowing what to expect and with the difficult mission of conquering the cities of the Carentan region and cutting off the routes supply lines that linked the bulk of German troops in France with the divisions defending the beaches. The risk was so significant that General Eisenhower, after greeting the brave soldiers preparing for the mission (in the photo above), told Officer Leight-Mallory that he was sorry for those men, as the expectation was 80% casualties in paratrooper units. More than a thousand C-47 Dakota planes were used to send approximately 13 thousand soldiers and equipment in the early hours of D-Day. Many were shot down by powerful German anti-aircraft artillery, some without even being able to launch their paratroopers.
Jumping into enemy territory in the middle of the night, with the chance of being completely isolated from your troops and having to turn around to carry out your mission, even if it's alone. Quiet, right? Look at their faces.
British gliders and the capture of strategic bridges
Elite British soldiers were tasked with taking two important bridges to capture the Caen region. This mission would be carried out with aerial infiltration of soldiers using gliders. The main bridge was named "Pegasus Bridge," and six gliders with 181 men were assigned to the site. The "Horsa" model gliders landed about 50 meters from the head of the bridge and immediately received enemy fire. One of the gliders was unable to land at the location, landing in a nearby lagoon and killing an English soldier who drowned. The battle for the bridge lasted 10 minutes and another British soldier, Lieutenant Brotheridge, died, becoming the first Allied casualty from enemy fire on the fateful day. As the night progressed, more and more gliders brought reinforcements, as the bridge was also the route for German armored units that would soon move to the location to attack the Allied forces that were disembarking on the nearby beaches.
You can see that they were just soft landings, right?
Throughout the capture of the Caen region, more than 250 Horsas were used to transport soldiers. Many were subject to bad weather and strong winds that ended up toppling them and causing significant casualties to the invasion forces.
Aerial view of the region close to the Caen objectives at the end of June 6
The beaches, disembarkation and planes
Without a doubt, anyone who has heard of D-Day cannot help but remember the horror experienced by soldiers in the amphibious landings on beaches called Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno. If you watched "Saving Private Ryan," you already know the situation the soldiers encountered. But not all beaches were like this and much of this was due to the aerial efforts of bombers and attack planes minutes before the invasion.
With the knowledge of the risks and fortifications the beaches offered, more than 13 thousand allied aircraft participated in the operation, many on attack and bombing missions. That day, the bad weather in England was a negative factor for the support of aircraft that had to take off in longer cycles, undermining the initial idea of massive and constant bombardment of beachheads. American B-17 bombers, Hawker Typhoons, and British Avro Lancasters were used in this mission. When the attack began, English de Havilland Mosquitoes and American B-26 Marauders flew low in search of the German artillery that punished the landings. As the German Luftwaffe was weakened and had little force available, only a few German Ju-88s and BF-109s attempted attacks against the enemies. Still, they faced American and British fighters, such as the P-38 and some Spitfires that protected the bombers used in action. It is a curious fact that many Allied fighter pilots said they were frustrated by the action, as they expected more effective retaliation from enemy planes. This fact was not confirmed on the day. Many never even took off for the mission.
More than 14 thousand flights by Allied planes were recorded and the casualty rate was distributed only among the transports of Allied paratroopers and gliders.
In total casualty numbers, approximately 8,000 Allied soldiers lost their lives in the first days of Operation Overlord, while the German estimate is 9,000 dead. More than 200,000 German soldiers were captured. The mission was only considered completed at the end of August, when more than 2 million soldiers had already been landed in northern France, now secured by the Allies. For the air forces, the entire operation resulted in the loss of 4,000 aircraft and 16,000 pilots and crew.
It was from this attack that the Allied forces pushed the Germans increasingly back towards their borders, conquering Berlin in 1945 and liberating the entire western front of Europe. It was the effort and sacrifice of all these dead that ended the horror that Nazism brought to the world.