D-Day: The Turning Point of World War 2

The Landings of Allied Forces in Normandy on D-Day

Almost everyone has heard or read about World War 2. It has caused the deaths of more than 70 million lives. It started on September 1,1939 when the Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. Things were going in Hitler's way as his forces occupied most of Europe until D-Day had occurred.

6 june 1944, the day when the US forces along with their allies, mainly British and Canadian forces landed on Nazi Germany occupied France's port named Normandy. This is simply called D-Day or Normandy landings. This day was the turning point of World War 2. 

The D-Day was the largest seaborne attack in history. It was Tuesday and the codename for it was Operation Neptune. 

After being evacuated from France through the port of Dunkirk in 1940, the British forces needed reinforcement to counter the vast forces of Nazi Germany. With the help of US and Canadian forces they waited for the perfect condition of the weather. But the weather was not in favourable condition. Somehow, they chose June 6, 1944 for invading Nazi Germany occupied France.

Dunkirk Evacuation

The Nazi German forces thought that the Allied forces(British forces and their allies) would attack them again to take control of the lands of France they captured by using the Dunkirk port through Dover Strait as Dunkirk port is one of the closest ports of France from Britain. So, the majority of the Nazi forces were deployed in the Dunkirk region to counter the Allied forces. But the Allied forces had a different plan as they chose to attack through Normandy by using the English Channel.

At first, the bombing of naval forces occurred to destroy the bunkers and the logistics of Nazi forces or the Wehrmacht. Then the airborne forces of Allied forces landed in France shortly after midnight and seized some important areas and sent information about the areas to the naval forces. After that the amphibious landing occurred in Normandy port.

The coast of Normandy was divided into 5 sectors where the Allied forces landed via amphibious landings. These were Omaha, Gold, Juno, Utah and Sword. Omaha and Utah beaches were mainly invaded by the US forces whereas Gold and Sword beaches were mainly invaded by the British forces and Juno beach was invaded mainly by the Canadian forces.

The Nazi forces built trenches, bunkers in almost every possible area where the Allied forces could possibly land. So, after the landings of the Allied forces, the Nazi forces had the advantages of having bunkers and had positioned themselves on a high level where they could easily see the Allied forces coming towards them. The Allied forces had to cross the beach to attack the Nazi forces which led to a lot of casualties on their side. That is why, the casualties on D-Day from the Allied forces were much more in comparison to the Nazi forces. The casualties from the Nazi forces were estimated from 4000 to 9000 men whereas the casualties from the Allied forces were at least 10000 men from which 4414 men were confirmed dead. 

Though the Allied forces had heavy casualties on D-Day, the turning point of that war started from that day as they liberated the Nazi occupied France's regions one by one gradually from the Western front within some months. 

After liberating France from the Nazi forces, the Allied forces had liberated Belgium, the Netherlands one by one and finally they entered the Nazi Germany from the west within a year. Then on May 7, 1945 and on May 9, 1945 the Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allied forces on the Western front and the Eastern front respectively. Victory in Europe Day(V-E Day) was declared on May 8, 1945.

Victory in Europe Day(V-E Day)

In conclusion, because of the turning point of World War 2, D-Day is referred to as one of the most important historical days of World War 2. Many memorial museums were built in the Normandy regions where we can learn about almost every battle which occurred on D-Day in detail.

 

References:

1. D-Day

2. Dunkirk Evacuation 

3. Surrender of Nazi Germany and V-E Day